Alumni
Welcome to the Jacobs School of Engineering alumni page
WELCOME
As a graduate of UC San Diego's Irwin and Joan Jacobs School of Engineering, ranked #11 in the top engineering schools nationally, you are a part of our vast network of visionaries, problem solvers, and trailblazers, shaping industries and driving progress worldwide. Our engineering alumni community, now over 48,000 and continuously growing, remains closely knit no matter where life takes you.
If it's been a while since you last connected, this is an ideal place to start. The alumni office at the Jacobs School is here as your gateway to get involved. Whether you are looking to reunite with fellow Tritons, contribute your time and expertise, or access resources, there's a team ready to support you.
NETWORK AND GROW
Tritons Connect
Tritons Connect is an online community of UC San Diego alumni, students, staff and faculty. It's a Triton exclusive network where you can be matched with a mentor, post and apply for job opportunities, join a community group, access a directory of Triton community members, and so much more!
Career Center Alumni Resources
As you think about what's to come in your professional journey, remember the Career Center can be one part of your strategy. Working with thousands of students and alumni every year, the Career Center understands the trends and has likely experienced or helped with whatever challenge you're facing.
Jacobs School Job & Internship Portal
Jacobs School alumni are sought after by industry leaders for their engineering knowledge and abilities. The Corporate Affiliates Program provides you access to career opportunities brought to you by our Corporate Partners. Create a profile on the Jacobs School Job & Internship Portal, and explore current job openings.
Master of Advanced Studies
Offering three highly critical engineering master's programs tailored to the needs of working, engineering professionals and industry needs, the Master of Advanced Studies degree program allows for students to continue working while earning their master's in an in-class academic environment.
GET INVOLVED
All across the globe, Tritons are networking at one of our signature events, or staying involved in our vibrant alumni community through a regional alumni club or an affinity group. Check out our current line-up of events below.
JANUARY | Regional Events
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UC San Diego Mixer at JPM2025
January 12, 2025 at 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM PT
STEM Kitchen + Garden
Gather with alumni and friends in downtown San Francisco before the start of the 43rd Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference.
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Los Angeles Regional Club: Lunar New Year Mixer
January 30, 2025 at 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM PT
Fifty One
Celebrate the Year of the Snake with a happy hour and hosted appetizers.
Closed
FEBRUARY | Online, Local, Regional Events
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New York Regional Club: Lunar New Year Celebration
February 04, 2025 at 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM ET
Pier 57 Oyster Classroom
Learn and play Hong Kong Style Mahjong while enjoying dumplings with fellow alumni.
Closed
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UC San Diego Alumni Board Public Meeting
February 07, 2025 at 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM PT
Zoom Meeting
Receive an update from the Alumni Board on their activities and initiatives.
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Jacobs School Alumni in Seattle
February 07, 2025 at 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM PT
The Nest Rooftop Bar
Meet and mingle with engineering alumni living in Seattle and the Puget Sound.
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Triton Pregame Celebration at UC Irvine
February 08, 2025 at 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM PT
Newkirk Alumni Center
Enjoy food and drinks with fellow Triton alumni before watching the men's basketball team take on UC Irvine.
Closed
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Entrepreneurial Journey Alumni Speaker Series: Navigating Global Entrepreneurial Opportunities with Nathan Klarer
February 11, 2025 at 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM PT
AL21 Suite, Institute for the Global Entrepreneur, Franklin Antonio Hall
Dive into a discussion around the landscape of global trade and investment with alumnus Nathan Klarer '14.
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UC San Diego Alumni and Friends Reception in San Francisco
February 17, 2025 at 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM PT
San Francisco Marriott Marquis
Join alumni and friends at the 2025 International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) for an evening of networking and insights from distinguished alumnus Chad R. Walsh, '91.
Closed
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The Basement 10 Year Anniversary Celebration
February 19, 2025 at 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM PT
Join us as we kick off a year-long anniversary celebration with tours, prizes, cake, and meaningful connections. Come celebrate a decade of innovation and community.
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CLAC Alumni Day
February 19, 2025 at 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM PT
Price Center West - Marshall Room
At this event, current UC San Diego undergraduate students will have the opportunity to ask questions and network with alumni.
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UC ALUMNI CAREER NETWORK | Charting a Green Career: Insights from Environmental Industry Leaders
February 20, 2025 at 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM ET
Explore diverse career paths in environmental science, from sustainability to research. UC alumni will share their experiences, strategies for navigating trends, making career pivots, and overcoming challenges.
Closed
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Seattle Regional Club: February Happy Hour Mixer
February 22, 2025 at 4:00 PM – 7:00 PM PT
Dough Zone Dumpling House Harbor Steps
Enjoy a relaxed evening with hosted appetizers while networking with UC San Diego alumni in the area.
Closed
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UC San Diego Men's Basketball vs Hawai'i
February 22, 2025 at 7:00 PM – 10:00 PM PT
Liontree ArenaCelebrate your Triton pride with a King Triton Bobblehead giveaway and cheer on the team as they compete against Hawai’i!
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Los Angeles Regional Club: Basketball Watch Party
February 27, 2025 at 7:00 PM – 10:00 PM PT
Busby's West
Join the Los Angeles Regional Club for a men's basketball watch party as the Tritons take on the Matadors of Cal State Northridge.
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MARCH | Illustrious Alumni Awards, Regional, Virtual Events
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Washington, D.C. Regional Club: Alumni Happy Hour
March 04, 2025 at 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM ET
Ella's Wood Fired Kitchen
Join us for a fun opportunity to network and build our alumni community in Washington D.C.!
Closed - New York Regional Club: Tritons Take Off-Broadway featuring Cody Sloan
March 04, 2025 at 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM ET
Pershing Square
Enjoy a night at the theater and support Triton alum Cody Sloan '21.
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- Taiwan Regional Club: Triton 5K Hike
March 08, 2025 at 9:45 AM – 2:00 PM TT
Chili's Dazhi
Join fellow alumni for a 5K hike in Taipei followed by lunch!
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- Seattle Regional Club: Movie Night
March 14, 2025 at 7:30 PM – 10:00 PM PT
Level Seattle - South Lake Union
Get ready for movie night! We'll be watching the Netflix Documentary "Hack Your Health: The Secrets of Your Gut".
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- Silicon Valley Regional Club: Happy Hour
March 20, 2025 at 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM PT
Steins Beer Garden & Restaurant
Join fellow Triton's for the first Silicon Valley Club happy hour of 2025!
More Details
- Los Angeles Regional Club: Autry Museum of the American West Museum Tour
March 23, 2025 at 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM PT
Autry Museum of the American West
More Details
- Triton Table Talk | Leadership Principles to Succeed in Business, Sports, and Life
March 25, 2025 at 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM PT
Whether you're an aspiring leader, a seasoned executive, an athlete, or someone committed to personal growth, this conversation will offer actionable strategies to help you lead with confidence and purpose.
More Details
- Illustrious Alumni Awards: New York
March 27, 2025 at 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM ET
Current, The Pier Sixty Collection
More Details
APRIL | Illustrious Alumni Awards, Campus, Regional, Virtual Events
- Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering 60th Anniversary
April 11, 2025 at 9:30 PM – 5:15 PM PT
UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering
More Details
- Legal Bootcamp for Startups with Wilson Sonsini
April 11, 2025 at 8:30 AM – 1:00 PM PT
UC San Diego Design and Innovation Building
Join Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, a leader in the representation of life science innovation and technology, as we bring an exclusive boot camp to our entrepreneurial ecosystem. This intensive half-day program is designed for those in the process of —or considering—starting a new venture. Learn from our featured speakers as they cover topics ranging from corporate formation and financing to intellectual property and patent strategies.
More Details
- Illustrious Alumni Awards: Bay Area
April 23, 2025 at 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM PT
Julia Morgan Ballroom
More Details
- Life After Graduation: Choosing Your Path Forward
April 23, 2025 at 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM PT
Graduation marks an exciting new chapter, but deciding what comes next can feel overwhelming. Should you dive into your career, pursue graduate school, or take time to explore a gap year? Join us for an insightful virtual conversation designed to help you navigate these pivotal decisions with clarity and confidence.
More Details
- 43rd Annual Research Expo
April 30, 2025 at 1:30 PM – 5:30 PM PT
Atkinson Courtyard, UC San Diego
More Details
- Triton Giving Day
April 30, 2025
Online
More Details
ALUMNI STORIES
Triton engineers are everywhere, and so is their impact. Read stories from fellow alumni, learn what they do and how they are making the world a better place. Read more on the Jacobs School Alumni Stories page.
Shraddha Chaplot ‘08, a UC San Diego alumna and former electrical engineer, has become a transformative leader in education through her innovative approach to learning.
After transitioning from a technology career, Chaplot founded Playful Ponderies and has led partnerships with several California schools, including Drew School in San Francisco, Saint Francis High School in Mountain View, and York School in Monterey.
Her educational philosophy centers on creating real-world, experiential learning opportunities that empower students to discover their potential and purpose. At each institution, Chaplot developed groundbreaking programs that connect students with industry professionals, enabling them to work on meaningful projects across diverse fields like robotics, mental health, sustainability and design. Her signature approach involves personalized learning experiences that challenge students to think beyond traditional classroom boundaries.
Chaplot’s notable achievements include expanding Drew’s engineering enrollment fourfold, establishing the Innovation @ Saint Francis program with numerous multidisciplinary projects, and launching the Plant A Seed AgTech initiative at York School. Chaplot’s impact is evident through the testimonials of her former students and partners, who describe her as an inspirational educator who instills confidence, curiosity and passion for problem-solving.
Her current mission is to scale her educational model across more high schools, emphasizing that every individual can contribute to society. Chaplot continues to champion her vision of empowering the next generation of leaders and innovators through purposeful, hands-on education.
Read more of Shraddha's story
IN THE KNOW
Keep up with Dean Al P. Pisano and the latest research breakthroughs, recognitions and other great stories at the Jacobs School.
See what the campus and fellow Tritons are up to. You'll find stories, accomplishments and more in the UC San Diego Magazine.
GET IN TOUCH
Tritons and friends,
Extending warm greetings to you. It is a privilege to serve UC San Diego and our alumni in my role as the Director of Alumni Relations.
My commitment is to bolster the bond between alumni and UC San Diego long after graduation. I aim to build connections with alumni and find ways to connect them to the campus, provide them with information and news, recognize their accomplishments, and involve them in our community through events and more.
Along with engagement, I also lead efforts to build and sustain philanthropic opportunities that support the Jacobs School of Engineering in ways that are meaningful to our alumni and their families.
I invite you to connect with me by email, LinkedIn or Tritons Connect to share your story and interests. Go Tritons!
Warmly,
Jesse De La Trinidad
Director of Alumni Relations
UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering
SUPPORT A CAUSE
The gifts we receive from our alumni, regardless of size, have an immediate impact on our community. These contributions provide students with access to top-tier education and facilities, accelerate research, and establish scholarships and fellowships. Philanthropy truly makes a difference, and you can be a part of it.
By making a gift to the Jacobs School of Engineering, you can support the department, program or initiative of your choice.
Support scholarships and fellowships for students
Alumni continue to have a lifelong impact and influence on the university. Support students, both undergraduate and graduate, by making a donation to the Dean's Scholars of Excellence Fund. Students who have demonstrated excellent academic merit from all backgrounds, including underserved communities, will be empowered to excel in their pursuit of education.
Support your top-ranked departments
CONTACT US
We are here to help you create a legacy of support. Get in touch with our team to discuss your giving options, including one-time or recurring gifts, estate gifts, and gifts of stock and other assets.
NEWS
Company Based on UC San Diego Technology Gets Infusion of Capital
December 15, 2017
Tortuga Logic, a hardware security company co-founded by computer science professor and Qualcomm Institute academic participant Ryan Kastner and two computer science alumni, is now positioned for new growth thanks to $2 million in seed funding from a venture-capital firm. Tortuga Logic offers a suite of hardware design tools to identify security vulnerabilities throughout the process of designing a semiconductor, including Prospect and Unison (used in the semiconductor, aerospace and defense industries). With its new funding, Tortuga Logic will develop new products and increase the feature sets of existing products. Full Story
Smart earplug company developed by UC San Diego undergrads acquired by Bose
December 7, 2017
Hush, a noise-cancelling smart earplug startup that was conceptualized by UC San Diego engineering undergraduates in professor Nate Delson’s Product Design and Entrepreneurship class has been acquired by audio giant Bose. Full Story
Franklin Antonio, UC San Diego alumnus and Qualcomm co-founder, gives $30M toward new campus engineering building
November 17, 2017
University of California San Diego alumnus and Qualcomm co-founder Franklin Antonio is donating $30 million to the university in support of programmatic expansion of the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering. In recognition of the generous gift, UC San Diego will name a planned building for engineering research and education Franklin Antonio Hall. Full Story
Alan Turing Memorial Scholarship Celebrates Diversity in Computer Science
September 28, 2017
The Center for Networked Systems (CNS) at UC San Diego established the Alan Turing Memorial Scholarship in 2015 to encourage a more diverse community in computer science education and research. The award honors the memory of Alan Turing, the mathematician and cryptanalyst who founded the field of computer science. During World War II, he devised the techniques that led to breaking codes produced by Germany’s Enigma machine—a breakthrough credited with accelerating the Allied victory by more than a year. After the war, he was persecuted for being gay. He died by his own hand in 1954. Full Story
When Artificial Intelligence is Funny
September 15, 2017
What do you do if you’re an animal shelter and have to name a big litter of guinea pigs that suddenly become available for adoption and need to be named? Why, contact Janelle Shane, who earned a Ph.D. in electrical engineering at UC San Diego, of course. Shane works on lasers in her day job, but her hobby is using neural networks to create paint color names, band names and much more.Her efforts have received an onslaught of media coverage, from Gizmodo, to Wired, to The Atlantic Online. When the Morris Animal Refuge in Portland, Ore., came to her, Shane agreed. Full Story
A $100K gift from Cognex to UC San Diego Supports Research at Intersection of Deep Learning and 3-D Image Reconstruction
August 18, 2017
The University of California San Diego has received a $100K gift from Cognex Corporation, a leader in machine vision. The gift will allow teams of professors and graduate students at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering to explore research at the intersection of deep learning and 3-D image reconstruction. Full Story
Engineers talk VR, AI and nanotechnology at San Diego Comic-Con
July 20, 2017
It’s not every day that engineers get to speak side by side with the people behind hit movies and TV series. But that is exactly what two engineering faculty members are doing this week at Comic-Con in San Diego. Full Story
Engineer's Lifelong Dream of Becoming an Astronaut Comes True
June 7, 2017
An alumnus of the University of California San Diego is part of the new class of astronauts NASA announced June 7, 2017. Robb Kulin earned his master’s and PhD degrees in materials science from UC San Diego. He made nearly every decision in his career with an eye toward going to space, according to his Ph.D. advisor, nanoengineering professor Kenneth Vecchio from the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering. Full Story
Triton Entrepreneur Night: Pitch Perfect
May 10, 2017
Sensors that tell you if Chinese food from last weekend is still safe to eat. An app to let your professor know you have no idea what he’s talking about. A grocery store guide to find the exact aisle and shelf location of your favorite cereal. These aren’t just crazy ideas — they’re actual startups currently in development in The Basement, UC San Diego’s two-year-old incubator and accelerator program managed by the UC San Diego Alumni Office. Full Story
Nanoparticles for treating bacterial infections take top prize at Research Expo 2017
April 24, 2017
B.J. (Byungji) Kim, a materials science and engineering graduate student at the University of California San Diego, won the grand prize at Research Expo 2017 for her work on nanoparticles that help the body’s immune system fight infections caused by Staphylococcus aureus bacteria—without the use of antibiotics. Kim received the Lee Rudee Outstanding Poster Award and a $1,000 cash prize, as well as the Katie Osterday Best Poster in mechanical engineering, which came with a $500 cash prize. Full Story
Family honors legacy of Jacobs School alumnus Sho Funai with an endowed prize
April 11, 2017
By the age of 23, Sho Funai had already embarked on a promising engineering career. His research contributed to aspects of safely using composite materials such as those found on the newest Boeing aircraft. After graduating magna cum laude with a bachelor’s in structural engineering at the University of California San Diego, he went on to earn a master’s at the Jacobs School of Engineering at UC San Diego and started working full time at Goodrich Aerostructures. He was weeks away from submitting his master’s thesis on impact damage to composite materials when his life, full of promise was cut short in a hit and run collision in March 2012. Full Story
UC San Diego Designated as a Changemaker Campus
April 6, 2017
The University of California San Diego has been designated as a Changemaker Campus by Ashoka U for its role as a leader in social innovation education. Only 40 universities around the world have received this designation and UC San Diego is the first University of California campus to be recognized. Full Story
Alumnus Taner Halicioglu Kicks off Campaign for UC San Diego with $75 Million Gift
March 27, 2017
As a child, Taner Halicioglu discovered how things worked by dissecting electronic equipment—it could be a radio or walkie talkie, and even a TV at one point. At UC San Diego, the self-described nerd didn’t mind that the campus lacked a football team—access to the Supercomputer Center was just as exciting. And today, he is a visionary: with a $75 million gift, Halicioglu will ensure that his alma mater represents the future of data science. Full Story
Reinventing the Wheel: Former Triton Racing members invent novel public health device
January 11, 2017
What do race cars, aerospace engineering and HIV/AIDS have in common? They all played a part in the making of FluxErgy, a medical diagnostics company started by two UC San Diego aerospace engineering alumni. Full Story
Software system labels coral reef images in record time
January 10, 2017
Computer scientists at the University of California San Diego have released a new version of a software system that processes images from the world’s coral reefs anywhere between 10 to 100 times faster than processing the data by hand.This is possible because the new version of the system, dubbed CoralNet Beta, includes deep learning technology, which uses vast networks of artificial neurons to learn to interpret image content and to process data.CoralNet Beta cuts down the time needed to go through a typical 1200-image diver survey of the ocean’s floor from 10 weeks to just one week—with the same amount of accuracy. Coral ecologists and government organizations, such as the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, also use CoralNet to automatically process images from autonomous underwater vehicles. The system allows researchers to label different types of coral and whether they’ve been bleached, different types of invertebrates, different types of algae—and more. In all, over 2200 labels are available on the site. Full Story