UCLA Newsroom: Top 13 UCLA Stories of 2013

::Source: UCLA Newsroom::

A Nobel laureate; leading-edge scientists, scholars and doctors; national champion athletes; and selfless philanthropists were among the multitude of True Bruins who played pivotal roles in making 2013 a remarkable year for UCLA.

For this unofficial year in review, we look back on 13 noteworthy moments that capture UCLA's stellar achievements and inspire optimism that much more is yet to come.

1. STRUMMING THROUGH BRAIN SURGERY

Musician Brad Carter made a remarkable recovery after UCLA neurosurgeons performed deep brain stimulation to quiet tremors in his hands. He played live on the Web during surgery.  📷

2. BRUINS RULE

Bruin teams made headlines. Men's baseball and women's soccer raised UCLA's NCAA national title count to No. 110, an unprecedented feat, while Bruin football beat USC 35-14. Photo by Brad Williams. 📷

3. DONORS GIVE RECORD-BREAKING TOTAL OF $512 MILLION

David Geffen’s $100 million gift was just one of 79,764 gifts to UCLA during the 2012-13 fiscal year. In 2013-14, a $20 million gift from the Pritzker Family Foundation was announced.  📷

4. IT BENDS. IT STRETCHES. IT COULD BE YOUR NEXT PHONE SCREEN.

Interest lit up worldwide when news broke about engineering professor Qibing Pei's invention of a light-emitting device that could forge the future for electronic displays. 📷

5. RANDY SCHEKMAN WINS NOBEL PRIZE

Biologist and UCLA alumnus Randy Schekman was presented with the 2013 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine by His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden in Stockholm. 📷

6. JANE AUSTEN, GAME THEORIST

"Austen's novels are game theory textbooks," political science professor Michael Suk-Young Chwe wrote in a book that sparked media acclaim and even a tweet from Chelsea Clinton. 📷

7. THE ORIGIN OF DOGS

Wolves were likely domesticated by European hunter-gatherers more than 18,000 years ago and evolved into today's dogs, reported UCLA biologist Robert Wayne. Photo by Monty Sloan. 📷

8. THE GREENING OF LOS ANGELES LAUNCHES GRAND CHALLENGES 

UCLA announced its first Grand Challenge — to help the L.A. region achieve total renewable energy and local water by 2050, while protecting biodiversity and enhancing quality of life. 📷

9. CAMPUS A POWERFUL ECONOMIC ENGINE FOR STATE

UCLA has an economic impact of more than $12.7 billion in the region and across the state, according to a study by the Sacramento-based Center for Strategic Economic Research. 📷

10. PRESERVING L.A.'S HISTORIC WATTS TOWER

Engineers, working with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, are using sophisticated sensors and computer analyses to keep the L.A. icon from cracking and collapsing.

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11. BREAKING GROUND ON LUSKIN CONFERENCE AND GUEST CENTER

Chancellor Gene Block (from the left), donors Meyer and Renee Luskin, and Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Scott Waugh paved the way for construction of the building. 📷

12. USING DVD BURNERS TO MASS-PRODUCE SUPERCAPACITORS

UCLA scientists pioneered a technique that uses a DVD burner to fabricate tiny graphene-based supercapacitors that can can charge up to 1,000 times faster than standard batteries. 📷

13. AGE-TRACKING BIOLOGICAL CLOCK FOUND IN OUR GENOMES

UCLA researchers uncovered a biological clock embedded in our genomes that may shed light on why our bodies age and how we can slow the process. 📷Tags: engineering | awards and honors | UCLA campus | lists