News Release
2019 Jacobs School of Engineering highlights
San Diego, Calif., Dec. 19, 2019 -- The Jacobs School of Engineering celebrated many achievements and milestones in 2019. Here are just a few that we're proud to highlight as the year draws to a close.
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| Groundbreaking for Franklin Antonio Hall. |
In 2019, we broke ground on Franklin Antonio Hall, our newest engineering building. The building is designed for active learning, collaborative research and the transfer of innovation to society, and will serve as an important new facility for undergraduate and graduate-student learning, both inside and outside the classroom. Read more about Franklin Antonio Hall and watch a fly-through of the building.
We hired 18 new faculty across our academic departments with the clear-eyed determination, technical smarts, creativity, and openness to collaborate across disciplines and industries to get things done. Learn about our new hires.
The Jacobs School of Engineering jumped to #11 in the nation in the US News and World Report Best Engineering Schools rankings. This ranking is up from #12 last year and #17 just three years ago.
Ten faculty members and affiliates of the Department of Bioengineering at UC San Diego are among the world’s most influential in their fields, according to a new research citation report from the Web of Science. The list highlights researchers with the top 1% of most-cited publications in their field over the past 11 years. Read more about these bioengineers.
We launched the Center for Nano-Immunoengineering to develop bio-inspired materials and technologies to activate, program, and reinstate optimal immune system function. Learn more about the Center and get involved.
The Institute for the Global Entrepreneur received a $1 million philanthropic seed investment from the Legler Benbough Foundation for its new Founders Fund. The fund aims to build a legacy of philanthropy from successful founders who go through entrepreneurship programs at the Jacobs School. The Institute also announced a new MedTech accelerator in collaboration with the Altman Clinical and Translational Research Institute; and the Shah Family Entrepreneurial Fellowship for Jacobs School graduate students. Learn about these opportunities for entrepreneurs.
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| A smart wheelchair designed by engineering students was one of many robotic technologies on display at the Contextual Robotics Forum. |
From companies worth billions of dollars to startups employing a small number of people, UC San Diego engineering alumni are at the core of the robotics ecosystem here in San Diego County. This was clearly evident at the sixth annual robotics forum organized by the UC San Diego Contextual Robotics Institute. Read a recap of the Forum.
The Computer Science and Engineering Department held its first annual Celebration of Diversity, including the Red Chair—a place for students, staff and faculty to share their thoughts, concerns, fears and hopes for a more diverse future in computer science. The Red Chair, and the Celebration of Diversity that surrounded it, grew out of the Deparment's strategic plan for diversity, equity and inclusion. By implementing the plan, the computer science department hopes to further embrace all identities, empowering the computer science and engineering community to drive change and elevate inclusiveness.
After years of planning, testing and innovating, 5G coverage has arrived, though there are still challenges to overcome before it’s ubiquitous. Industry and academic leaders gathered at the 2019 5G and Beyond Forum hosted by the Center for Wireless Communications at UC San Diego to discuss the latest technical and policy achievements and challenges.
The Gordon Engineering Leadership Center celebrated 10 years of providing hands-on engineering leadership training, technical courses, one-on-one mentoring, forums, challenge projects and think tanks for engineering students who are interested in generating new products and creating jobs for the benefit of society. In that time, the center has reached over 1,400 students at the undergraduate and graduate levels.
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| The UC San Diego shake table. |
Upgrades to the world’s largest outdoor earthquake simulator, operated by structural engineers at the University of California San Diego, began in 2019. The simulator, also commonly known as a shake table, received a $16.3 million grant from the National Science Foundation to upgrade the facility to expand its testing capabilities, enabling the shake table to more realistically recreate the motion of the ground during strong earthquakes. Learn more about the upgrade.
The Institute of Engineering in Medicine celebrated 10 years of using engineering principles to drive innovation in medicine. This institute builds on UC San Diego’s cross-disciplinary research culture. It connects engineers and physicians with the goal of improving health care delivery through next-generation tools and technologies. Watch the 10th anniversary video.
Research Expo featured the research results of 200 graduate students from all six of our engineering departments, plus TED-style talks by faculty members from our new agile research centers. This year’s grand prize winner, nanoengineering PhD student Jia Zhuang, is working to develop nanoparticles that could serve as a more stable and easy way to store and mimic red blood cells for transfusions. Learn more about all of the Research Expo award recipients.
Media Contacts
Ioana Patringenaru
Jacobs School of Engineering
858-822-0899
ipatrin@ucsd.edu