January 3, 2000 New Faculty Tara Madhyastha Assistant Professor of Computer Science Tara Madhyastha's research on data storage in computer systems focuses on how to make the storage and retrieval of data faster. The input/output (I/O) interface between the computer processor and the data-storage system often limits the performance of data-intensive applications, such as data mining (looking for patterns in large datasets) and satellite data processing. Madhyastha is pursuing a variety of methods for improving I/O performance, including techniques that automatically analyze data-access patterns. Madhyastha received her B.A. in computer science and English from Rutgers University and her M.S. and Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Before joining the UCSC faculty she was a postdoctoral research fellow at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. Hongyun Wang Assistant Professor of Engineering (Applied Mathematics and Statistics) Hongyun Wang specializes in theoretical biophysics and the analysis of complex molecular structures. His research seeks to explain the mechanism by which chemical energy is converted into mechanical work in biological systems. Wang has constructed quantitative models of ATP synthase, an enzyme consisting of two "molecular motors" that plays a key role in the conversion and storage of chemical energy in living cells. Wang received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in mathematics from Beijing University in China and his Ph.D. in mathematics from UC Berkeley. He conducted postdoctoral research in UC Berkeley's Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology before joining the UCSC faculty. He will be a member of the Department of Applied Mathematics and Statistics once it is established in the School of Engineering.