News Release

Six Jacobs School Undergraduates Represent UCSD at Statewide Research Symposium

MAE senior Nelson Bravo explains the mechanics                   of a one-legged jumping robot San Diego, CA, May 27, 2005 -- Six Jacobs School of Engineering students were among the nine UCSD undergraduates who presented their research at the annual California Alliance for Minority Participation in Science, Engineering, and Mathematics Program (CAMP) Symposium. The program encourages ethnically underrepresented students to pursue graduate degrees and careers in science, engineering, and mathematics. Most of the students presented their research as part of the symposium's physical sciences and engineering division, and their research was carried out under the supervision of faculty mentors from the Bioengineering, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, and Structural Engineering departments. The Jacobs School undergrads represented a broad range of research projects: >Nicholas Gastelum: "PRG4 Contributes to a Sacrificial Layer Mechanism of Boundary Lubrication of Articular Cartilage." Mentor: Dr. Robert Sah, UCSD Bioengineering Department  >Yonas Alemu: "The Characterization of P-Ge/N-Si Photodetectors for Si-based Nanophotonics, Grown by Low Temperature." Mentor: Prabhakar Bandaru, UCSD Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department >Nelson Bravo: "Analysis and Manufacture of a Light, One-Legged Jumping Robot." Mentor: Nathan Delson, UCSD Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department >Jessica Palaez: "The Effect of Unbalanced Brace Force on Laterally Loaded Concentrically Braced Frame Beams." Mentor: Chia-Ming Uang, UCSD Structural Engineering Department >Jose Borunda: "Studies of Tape Edge Wear." Mentor: Frank Talke, UCSD Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department          Undergraduate Nicholas Gastelum at work      in professor Robert Sah's bioengineering lab  A sixth participant from the Jacobs School, Bioengineering major Yvette Valenzuela, gave her presentation as part of CAMP's Biological and Life Sciences division. Her presentation -- "A Novel Cell Culture Model for Reactive Gliosis" - covered research she is doing with mentor Gabriel Silva, an assistant professor in the Bioengineering department. The CAMP Statewide Undergraduate Research Symposium is supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the University of California, and the UC Regents. CAMP is one of approximately 30 Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation programs funded by NSF in the United States and Puerto Rico. The symposium was held recently at the Beckman Center of the National Academies of Sciences and Engineering in Irvine, CA. Participation in CAMP is one of several UCSD Academic Enrichment Programs (AEP) that offer research-oriented academic preparation to encourage students to go on to graduate          UCSD participants at the CAMP Symposium: (l-r) Julie Zamarripa,    Jessica Pelaez, Jose Borunda, Nick Gastelum, Jacquie Azize-Brewer      (CAMP Program Coordinator), Arthur Sandoval, Yvette Valenzuela,     Blanca Tapia, Nelson Bravo, Tyheshia Smith-Kruck, and Maria Tobar school and advanced degrees. A special emphasis of the AEP program is to increase the number of low-income and ethnically underrepresented students in graduate school and in academic/research professional positions. AEP itself is part of Student Educational Advancement (SEA) in the UCSD Division of Student Affairs. The next statewide CAMP Symposium is scheduled for February 24-26, 2006. Students and faculty mentors can register beginning in the fall quarter 2005 at the CAMP website (below).

Media Contacts

Doug Ramsey
Jacobs School of Engineering
858-822-5825
dramsey@ucsd.edu