News Release

Research Expo: Access Game-Changing Research and Technologies

San Diego, Calif., April 2, 2012 – There are many ways to engage with the Jacobs School of Engineering at the University of California, San Diego, but the only way to get face time with 230-plus graduate students working on game-changing research in a single afternoon is to attend Research Expo on April 12. Research Expo provides a glimpse into the engineering future – a future that will touch all of San Diego’s technology sectors. With $146.4 million in research expenditures in fiscal year 2010-2011, there’s a lot to look at.

New green methods for making hydrogen fuels. Microrockets that can circulate in the human body without external fuel. Improved seismic safety in hospitals and other structures. New approaches to help utilities integrate solar power into the energy grid. Self-healing hydrogels that could ultimately be used for medical sutures and targeted drug delivery. New approaches that could extend the life span of solid-state and non-volatile memories technology. And golden nanoparticles that zap bacterial infections such as Staphylococcus aureus.

Electronic microscopic image of a nanoforest, or “3D branched nanowire array.” Green tint added for contrast. Image Credit: Wang Research Group, UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering.

With 182 full-time faculty members and almost 1,500 graduate students affiliated with six departments and numerous research centers, there are many connections to be made with the Jacobs School of Engineering – connections that could lead to fruitful research collaborations and partnerships, new hires and new companies.

The start of a phase 2 clinical trial, announced this March, provides just one example of where research collaborations with Jacobs School faculty and students can lead. San Diego startup company InflammaGen Therapeutics announced the start of a phase 2 clinical trial to test the efficacy and safety of a new approach for preventing multi-organ failure in shock patients. The clinical trial is based on decades of research by Geert Schmid-Schönbein, a bioengineering professor at the Jacobs School of Engineering at UC San Diego.

This work could prove life-saving – septic shock is responsible for 215,000 deaths in U.S. hospitals each year – but the clinical trial might easily have never happened. Schmid-Schönbein met investor John Rodenrys through a program run by the von Liebig Center for Entrepreneurism and Technology Advancement here at the Jacobs School and together they launched InflammaGen Therapeutics. That was seven years ago, and in the meantime, the two have maintained a close working relationship that has been fundamental to the preliminary successes they have achieved thus far. (Learn about more von Liebig Center entrepreneurism stories from the Jacobs School here.)

The mission of the Jacobs School of Engineering at UC San Diego is to educate tomorrow’s technology leaders, conduct leading edge research and drive innovation, and transfer our discoveries for the benefit of society. Research Expo offers access to these future technology leaders, as well as their research.

A connection sparked at Research Expo is just the beginning. Don’t miss it.

Research Expo at a Glance

* More than 230 graduate students will present their advanced research in topics that touch all of San Diego’s tech sectors from biotech and military to cleantech, telecom, wireless health, and now nanotech. Poster session from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. April 12.

* Faculty members from each of the Jacobs School’s departments will talk about their groundbreaking research from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m.

* The networking reception from 4:30 to 6 p.m. offers Research Expo attendees the opportunity to meet students, faculty, alumni and professionals from industry, government and nonprofit sectors.

Media Contacts

Ioana Patringenaru
Jacobs School of Engineering
858-822-0899
ipatrin@ucsd.edu