News Release
UC San Diego Engineering has Hired 90 Faculty over 5 years
San Diego, CA, October 2, 2018 -- The Jacobs School of Engineering at the University of California San Diego welcomes 15 new faculty in 2018. These talented individuals are among the 90 faculty hired into the Jacobs School of Engineering over the last five years.
“We are attracting people who want to work in our collaborative and energetic culture that welcomes bold ideas with mission-driven impact,” said Albert P. Pisano, Dean of the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering.
And the Jacobs School faculty are, in fact, leading teams that are achieving extraordinary results. For the second year in a row, the Jacobs School ranks #1 in the nation among public engineering schools for research expenditures per faculty member, according to the US News rankings.
Read about the new Jacobs School of Engineering faculty below. Download a PDF of the 2018 new faculty brochure here.
COMPUTER SCIENCE & ENGINEERING
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TAYLOR BERG-KIRKPATRICK
Assistant Professor
Berg-Kirkpatrick focuses on developing machine learning techniques for understanding structured human data – including language, but also sources like music, historical ciphers, document images, and other complex artifacts. His research group aims to design unsupervised methods for such data that are able to learn without relying on labeled examples.
Previously: Assistant Professor, Carnegie Mellon University
Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley
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JUSTIN ELDRIDGE
Assistant Teaching Professor
Eldridge’s research focuses on machine learning theory and artificial intelligence; his Ph.D. thesis developed correctness guarantees for clustering methods. His teaching practice will focus on data science for undergraduate students.
Previously: Presidential Fellow, The Ohio State University
Ph.D. The Ohio State University
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AARON FRAENKEL
Assistant Teaching Professor
Fraenkel uses machine learning and experimental design to study large-scale abusive behaviors on the internet, particularly robot-driven events. His teaching expertise is in the end-to-end practice of data science, drawing from his industry experience with cybersecurity, anti-fraud, and anti-abuse systems.
Previously: Senior Scientist, Amazon.com
Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley
ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING
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TZU-CHIEN HSUEH
Assistant Professor
Hsueh develops analog and mixed-signal integrated circuits for communications systems, data centers, and computing networks. His research focuses on wireline electrical/optical transceivers, channel equalizations, clock-and data recovery, data-conversion circuits, on-chip performance monitors, and signal processing techniques.
Previously: Senior Research Scientist, Intel Corporation
Ph.D. University of California, Los Angeles
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KENJI NOMURA
Assistant Adjunct Professor
Nomura aims to develop next-generation electronic devices that are transparent, flexible and low-cost, for applications such as solar cells, wearable sensors, and displays. His research combines experimental and theoretical methods to design and develop new oxide semiconductor materials and high-performance optoelectronic devices.
Previously: Principal Engineer, Obsidian Sensors, Inc
Ph.D. Tokyo Institute of Technology
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JOHN R. SANFORD
Professor of Practice
Sanford is interested in the application of artificial intelligence to the design of antennas, filters, signal processing routines and self-organizing networks. He recently served as CTO of Ubiquiti Networks, where he helped develop the world’s highest capacity wireless network. He has also founded two successful startups.
Previously: Chief Technology Offi cer, Ubiquiti Networks
Ph.D. École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
MECHANICAL & AEROSPACE ENGINEERING
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MAZIAR GHAZINEJAD
Assistant Teaching Professor
Ghazinejad applies active learning techniques to develop curricula and pedagogical models in engineering mechanics, design, and materials engineering. He has developed new courses on microanalysis, design, and nanoengineering. His research also focuses on fabrication and device integration of nanomaterials and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS).
Previously: Assistant Professor, California State University, Fresno
Ph.D. University of California, Riverside
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JOHN T. HWANG
Assistant Professor
Hwang develops optimization algorithms for boosting the efficiency and performance of engineering vehicles and systems. His methods optimize up to tens of thousands of parameters for the design or control of a system. He has applied these methods to the design of commercial airliners, satellites, small electric aircraft, and material systems.
Previously: Research Engineer, NASA Glenn Research Center
Ph.D. University of Michigan
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TANIA K. MORIMOTO
Assistant Professor
Morimoto’s research interests include robotics, haptics, and human-in-the-loop interfaces. Her main work involves the design and control of flexible or soft robots for increased dexterity and accessibility in unstructured environments, including minimally invasive surgical interventions.
Previously: Ph.D. Stanford University
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ABHISHEK SAHA
Assistant Professor
Saha’s research focuses on fundamentals of combustion and fluid mechanics with application in propulsion, energy, printing, and materials synthesis. He studies flame-dynamics towards clean and efficient operation of car/aircraft engines. He also investigates droplet-dynamics to improve inkjet printing and thermal sprays.
Previously: Research Staff, Princeton University
Ph.D. University of Central Florida
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OLIVER SCHMIDT
Assistant Professor
Schmidt specializes in computational flow physics with an emphasis on flow instability, direct numerical simulation, and modal decomposition techniques. The goal of his research is to synergize data-driven modal decomposition and stability theory to facilitate physical understanding, modeling, and control of complex flows.
Previously: Postdoctoral Scholar, California Institute of Technology
Ph.D. University of Stuttgart
NANOENGINEERING
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JINHYE BAE
Assistant Professor
Bae focuses on understanding the deformation and assembly of soft matter at the nano- and micro-scales. Her research integrates the unique characteristics of soft materials such as hydrogels and elastomers into new approaches for applications in biomedical devices, soft robotics, actuators, and sensors.
Previously: Postdoctoral Research Associate, Harvard University
Ph.D. University of Massachusetts Amherst
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JON POKORSKI
Associate Professor
Pokorski exploits both polymer chemistry and engineering to make materials that tackle complex biomedical problems. The Pokorski lab is particularly interested in engineering lowcost devices for immunotherapy, developing the next generation of polymer-conjugated protein therapeutics, and implementing novel chemistry for advanced wound dressings.
Previously: Assistant Professor, Case Western Reserve University
Ph.D. Northwestern University
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NICOLE STEINMETZ
Professor
Steinmetz engineers plant-virus-based nanomaterials for human and plant health applications. She uses chemical biology methods to repurpose plant viruses to yield nanoparticles for applications such as drug delivery, molecular imaging, and next-generation vaccines and immunotherapies targeting cancer, cardiovascular disease, and infectious disease.
Previously: Professor, Case Western Reserve University
Ph.D. University of East Anglia
STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING
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SHABNAM SEMNANI
Assistant Professor
Semnani focuses on characterization and modeling of geomaterials across scales, and development of multi-scale and multi-physics models through a combination of computational, experimental, and statistical techniques. Some of the applications of her work include carbon sequestration, hydrocarbon recovery, and geothermal energy production.
Previously: Ph.D. Stanford University
PAST NEW FACULTY HIRES STORIES (2014 - 2017)
26 New Faculty Hired into the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering in Fall 2017
Read the story / PDF of new 2017 faculty brochure
13 New faculty focus on robotics, data and cybersecurity and more
Read the 2016 story / PDF of the 2016 brochure
17 new faculty join the Jacobs School of Engineering at UC San Diego in 2015
Read the 2015 story / PDF of the 2015 brochure
19 new faculty join the Jacobs School of Engineering at UC San Diego in 2014
Read the 2014 story / PDF of the 2014 brochure
Media Contacts
Daniel Kane
Jacobs School of Engineering
858-534-3262
dbkane@ucsd.edu