Undergraduate News


2017 News Releases

Undergraduate engineers, Birch Aquarium collaborate on innovative exhibits

Undergraduate engineers, Birch Aquarium collaborate on innovative exhibits

December 19, 2017

Ten UC San Diego undergraduates left an indelible mark on the Birch Aquarium this summer thanks to the Summer Engineering Experience (SEE) internship program. SEE was designed by the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering to provide sophomore and junior engineering students with hands-on experience creating, pitching and developing a project from start to finish.  Full Story


Company Based on UC San Diego Technology Gets Infusion of Capital

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


ECE Professor Elected ACM Fellow in Class of 2017

ECE Professor Elected ACM Fellow in Class of 2017

December 14, 2017

A faculty member affiliated with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Professor Alexander Vardy, is one of three UC San Diego faculty elected Fellows of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) announced on December 11.  Full Story


New UC San Diego Chapter Sends LGBT+ Delegates to oSTEM Conference

New UC San Diego Chapter Sends LGBT+ Delegates to oSTEM Conference

December 14, 2017

For the first time, a delegation of faculty and students from the University of California San Diego attended the annual Out in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (oSTEM) National Conference. The four-day conference took place Nov. 16 to 19 in Chicago.  Full Story


Computer Graphics and Vision Expert Elected ACM Fellow

Computer Graphics and Vision Expert Elected ACM Fellow

December 11, 2017

UC San Diego computer science and engineering professor Ravi Ramamoorthi has been elected a Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), the world’s largest educational and scientific computing society. Ramamoorthi is the founding director of the Center for Visual Computing at UC San Diego. Full Story


Teaching the joy of coding

Teaching the joy of coding

December 7, 2017

CSE 190 is a computer science class at the University of California San Diego that is designed to prepare undergraduate students to teach others how to code in the wild—in libraries, as well elementary, middle and high schools. The class is taught by Sarah Guthals, who earned a Ph.D. in computer science at UC San Diego in 2014 and received a Forbes 30 Under 30 award in 2016 for her efforts to teach children how to code. Full Story


UC San Diego Scientists Create Device for Ultra-Accurate Genome Sequencing of Single Human Cells

UC San Diego Scientists Create Device for Ultra-Accurate Genome Sequencing of Single Human Cells

October 31, 2017

An interdisciplinary team of researchers at the University of California San Diego has developed a technology for very accurate sequencing and haplotyping of genomes from single human cells. Their findings were published online in advance of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)* print edition.“Accurate sequencing of single cells will enable the identification of mutations that cause cancer and genetic disease,” said senior author Kun Zhang, a professor of bioengineering in the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering. “At the same time, precise haplotyping will allow for the genotyping of haplotypes, combinations of different genes or alleles as a group from either parent.” Full Story


11 UC San Diego Faculty Members Honored with Hellman Fellowships

11 UC San Diego Faculty Members Honored with Hellman Fellowships

October 26, 2017

Husband and wife Warren and Chris Hellman established the Hellman Fellows Program at UC San Diego in 1995 to support and encourage junior faculty to pursue research projects and creative endeavors with the goal of enhancing their candidacy for tenure. This year, 11 faculty members representing a variety of academic disciplines have been awarded a total of approximately $500,000.The UC San Diego Hellman Fellowship Program was launched by the Hellman Family Foundation with an initial gift of $2.5 million. The program proved so successful that it has since been rolled out at all 10 University of California campuses. At UC San Diego, the foundation has committed a total of $7.5 million to date for the program. The Hellmans have stated that “creating the Hellman Fellows Program is one of the best things our family has ever done with our giving.” Full Story


Undergraduate Bioengineering Program at UC San Diego Ranks #6 in the Nation and #2 among Public Engineering Schools

Undergraduate Bioengineering Program at UC San Diego Ranks #6 in the Nation and #2 among Public Engineering Schools

September 12, 2017

The U.S. News and World Report Best Colleges guidebook rankings are out today and the bioengineering undergraduate program at the University of California San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering is ranked #6 in the nation and #2 among public schools. Full Story


Four Physician-Engineer Teams Funded by UC San Diego

Four Physician-Engineer Teams Funded by UC San Diego

August 25, 2017

Four physician-engineer teams from UC San Diego have been selected to receive the 2017 Galvanizing Engineering in Medicine (GEM) awards. This is an initiative of UC San Diego Altman Clinical and Translational Research Institute (ACTRI) and UC San Diego Institute of Engineering in Medicine (IEM). It brings engineers and clinicians together to develop innovative technologies that can be applied to solving challenging problems in medical care. This year’s projects address challenges in the areas of cardiology, ophthalmology, radiology, and reproductive medicine. Full Story


Students Developing Low-Cost Device for Monitoring HIV Levels in Blood Win National Competition

Students Developing Low-Cost Device for Monitoring HIV Levels in Blood Win National Competition

August 4, 2017

A team of UC San Diego students is working to help curb the HIV epidemic by developing a low-cost device for people in low-resource areas to monitor the amount of HIV virus in their bloodstream. They recently took first place in the National Academy of Engineering 2017 Global Grand Challenges Summit (GGCS) business plan competition. The team will use the $25,000 in prize money to help them translate their research to the clinic as part of a public benefit corporation they recently created called Worldcare Technologies. Full Story


High School Students Get a Taste of Studying Computer Science at UC San Diego

High School Students Get a Taste of Studying Computer Science at UC San Diego

July 14, 2017

Many of the students studying and living on campus this month look decidedly younger than usual for the University of California San Diego, primarily because they are younger. One group of 205 high school students moved into dorms this week to attend the 2017 California State Summer School for Mathematics and Science (COSMOS), a month-long residential program that also exists on three other University of California campuses (Davis, Irvine and Santa Cruz).  Full Story


Graduating seniors say hands-on experience defined their time at the Jacobs School

Graduating seniors say hands-on experience defined their time at the Jacobs School

June 29, 2017

At Ring Ceremony 2017 at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering, Ryan Hill, the outgoing president of the Triton Engineering Student Council challenged his peers to change the world. “In my time here, I’ve seen students be the first ones in the world to 3D-print rockets and send them to space. I’ve seen students build their own biofuel reactors, create virtual reality experiences to interact with nanoparticles…There is no magic formula...One day they said, ‘Hey, wouldn’t it be cool if I did X’…and didn’t look back.” Full Story


UC San Diego and Bermuda Officially Launch First Digital 3D Shipwreck Mapping Website

UC San Diego and Bermuda Officially Launch First Digital 3D Shipwreck Mapping Website

June 28, 2017

Bermuda’s Ministry of the Environment and the University of California San Diego have officially launched a first-of-its-kind effort to scan underwater shipwrecks and reef in three dimensions and at an unprecedented level of detail – while making the 3D environments accessible online to viewers worldwide. The project, known as the Bermuda 100 Challenge, pushes the frontier of engineering technology and showcases the fascinating marine history and beauty of Bermuda’s underwater landscape. The Bermuda 100 website (http://bermuda100.ucsd.edu) presents an exciting addition to the Ministry’s conservation, research and educational outreach program.Now anyone can “dive” Bermuda’s culturally and historically significant wrecks from anywhere in the world. The goal is to map 100 wrecks and significant sites of natural beauty and ecological importance. The data will be used by marine scientists, historians, students, archaeologists and conservationists to monitor the wrecks and reef over time.  Full Story


Alert system for seniors who want to stay active takes first place at 2nd annual Design Competition

Alert system for seniors who want to stay active takes first place at 2nd annual Design Competition

June 26, 2017

On Saturday, June 10, 2017, ten interdisciplinary teams from the University of California San Diego Electrical & Computer Engineering (ECE) and Cognitive Science Departments presented prototypes of innovative products designed to improve the lives of senior citizens. The UC San Diego undergraduates presented to an audience of  Electrical & Computer Engineering alumni, members of the La Costa Glen senior retirement community and the UC San Diego Retirees Association. Full Story


UC San Diego Computer Scientist Welcomes New Jobs Partnership with Tech San Diego

UC San Diego Computer Scientist Welcomes New Jobs Partnership with Tech San Diego

June 26, 2017

A new initiative in San Diego will help find more interns and full-time employees for technology companies from among students in college or getting ready to graduate. The non-profit organization Tech San Diego announced that it is boosting regional talent efforts by hiring a director for its recently-launched University Talent Initiative. The effort starts out as a partnership with the University of California San Diego to improve the local talent pipeline, from talent access to internships, research and collaborations, while building tools to help local companies find qualified workers.  Full Story


Six Things That Are Contributing to Student Success at the Jacobs School

Six Things That Are Contributing to Student Success at the Jacobs School

June 26, 2017

At the University of California San Diego, Jacobs School of Engineering, IDEA stands for Inclusion, Diversity, Excellence and Achievement. The IDEA Engineering Student Center fosters an inclusive and welcoming community, works to increase retention and graduation rates, and promotes a culture of academic excellence among all engineering students at UC San Diego. Full Story


Robots do some heaving lifting at annual robotics competition

Robots do some heaving lifting at annual robotics competition

June 19, 2017

She was about to drop out of an engineering design class that culminates in a robotics competition. But Shushoma Sravostee’s classmates stepped in to help, offering support and reassurance. On June 13, she and her three teammates won the overall competition, taking home intricate 3D-printed trophies—and bragging rights.  Full Story


Structural Engineering Students Design, Build and Test Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Wings

Structural Engineering Students Design, Build and Test Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Wings

June 15, 2017

Structural engineering students got an opportunity to test their skills at creating unmanned aerial vehicle wings out of composite materials as part of a new structural engineering senior design class at UC San Diego. The class, called SE143, includes all three stages of the industrial aircraft wing production cycle—designing, building and testing.As part of a complete revamping of the Jacobs School of Engineering Structural Engineering Department curriculum, undergraduates in the department now have the option to specialize in one of four areas: civil structures, aerospace structures, structural health monitoring, or geotechnical engineering. Previously, all structural engineering seniors took the same senior design class. Now, Hyonny Kim and John Kosmatka, both professors of structural engineering, have come up with the new SE143 senior design class focused on aerospace structures. Full Story


Computer Science Students Demo Real-Time Multiplayer Games of Their Own

Computer Science Students Demo Real-Time Multiplayer Games of Their Own

June 14, 2017

Computer science professor Geoffrey M. Voelker teaches CSE 125 each spring. The course on "Software System Design and Implementation" gave 32 seniors this spring an opportunity to showcase everything they learned in the past four years. The course is a 10-week project to build a large, complex, distributed software system with real-time constraints. But to make it more exciting, the teams of six or seven students spend the quarter building a networked, real-time, 3D multiplayer game (hence the popular reference to CSE 125 as being "the videogame course"). Each final team demonstration doubles as the team members' final exams.  Full Story


Six Times Around the World: UC San Diego Researchers Send a Balloon Around the Globe

Six Times Around the World: UC San Diego Researchers Send a Balloon Around the Globe

June 8, 2017

Somewhere over the Pacific Ocean, just above commercial air traffic, a small, hydrogen-filled balloon is reporting on its whereabouts to researchers in a UC San Diego lab who are listening intently. The balloon—called a super pressure balloon—was launched by a group of UC San Diego students and researchers about 100 days ago from campus and is on its sixth lap around the globe. This is the first time a balloon from UC San Diego has made it across the country—let alone the world. The Feb. 12 launch is part of a unique program headed by structural engineering professor John Kosmatka and supported by NASA’s California Space Grant Consortium. Full Story


Seniors Make Final Tweaks to CSE 125 Multiplayer Videogames

Seniors Make Final Tweaks to CSE 125 Multiplayer Videogames

June 7, 2017

It's not often that the final project presentations of an undergraduate computer-science course attracts a standing-room-only audience of students and visitors from across campus. But that's par for the course when professor Geoffrey M. Voelker's CSE 125 course draws to a close each spring quarter.  Full Story


Computer Science Professor Recognized Not Once, Not Twice, but Three Times in Year-End Honors

Computer Science Professor Recognized Not Once, Not Twice, but Three Times in Year-End Honors

June 1, 2017

Computer scientist Christine Alvarado is no stranger to winning awards, particularly for her teaching. But what's unusual is that starting June 3, she will be accepting not just one or two such awards, but three. The honors will come from the Tau Beta Pi honors engineering society, the Jacobs School of Engineering, and the Academic Senate. Full Story


A Race to Build the Smartest Rover

A Race to Build the Smartest Rover

May 25, 2017

The exploration of Martian soils began nearly two decades ago with the successful landing of an automobile-sized, one-ton robot on Mars. Now, students at UC San Diego are working to develop the next generation of Mars rovers.  Full Story


Eight Students Receive Engineering Leadership Award

Eight Students Receive Engineering Leadership Award

May 17, 2017

Five engineering undergraduate and three engineering graduate students were recognized for their outstanding leadership skills at the 8th Annual Engineering Leadership Awards Celebration, which took place May 12, 2017 at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering.  Full Story


Giving Students a Place to Prep for Tomorrow's Virtual (Reality) Economy

Giving Students a Place to Prep for Tomorrow's Virtual (Reality) Economy

May 11, 2017

The laboratory looks like a cross between a classroom and a tech pavilion at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. There are virtual-reality headsets everywhere, and large flat screen 3D displays. College students work at computers, while teammates wearing goggles look from side to side, occasionally ducking or recoiling, as they react and engage with the virtual environments visible in their head-mounted displays. Welcome to the Virtual Reality Lab—the first of its kind at an American university.  Full Story


Triton Entrepreneur Night: Pitch Perfect

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


Students Seek to Ban Plastic Water Bottles from Campus

Students Seek to Ban Plastic Water Bottles from Campus

April 28, 2017

Zero waste by 2020—that’s one of the goals of the UC Office of the President’s Sustainability Practices Policy for all UC campuses. Several students at UC San Diego’s Student Sustainability Collective (SSC) are working to make that a reality. Full Story


Hacking into a Lost World

Hacking into a Lost World

April 20, 2017

Somewhere in the at-risk ruins of Khirbat en-Nahas in the Faynan region of southern Jordan lie untold stories of copper mining and smelting industries from the time of David and Solomon and the Edomite kings. Stories that, until now, could only be told in words, maps and photographs. Thanks to UC San Diego engineering and archaeology students that teamed up for the world’s first cyber-archaeology hackathon, the story of King Solomon’s copper mines now exists in virtual reality. Full Story


UCSD Celebrates ECE Day 2017

UCSD Celebrates ECE Day 2017

April 19, 2017

April 12th marked the third annual ECE Day at the University of California San Diego. The event was organized by UC San Diego’s Eta Kappa Nu (HKN) and IEEE chapters, and the Electrical and Computer Engineering Undergraduate Student Council. They provided entertainment, local cuisine, a bevy of panelists from industry, and keynote speaker, Dr. Gilbert Strang. The day was chock full of opportunity to network, to create, to focus on depth sequences and to ponder career choices.  Full Story


UC San Diego Computer Science Degree #3 for 20-Year Return on Investment

UC San Diego Computer Science Degree #3 for 20-Year Return on Investment

April 18, 2017

What's a computer science undergraduate education worth to computer science graduates of UC San Diego?  In the 20 years after graduation, UC San Diego alumni are averaging a return on their investment of more than a million dollars. 2017 PayScale report ranks computer science at UC San Diego #3 for return on investment  Full Story


Undergrads Create New Rocket Fuel as Part of Engineering Design Class

Undergrads Create New Rocket Fuel as Part of Engineering Design Class

April 13, 2017

How many undergraduates can say they published a paper on a new rocket fuel? Students in a mechanical and aerospace engineering senior design class at UC San Diego can.The Jacobs School of Engineering students and their instructor designed, tested and published a paper on rocket fuel composed of nearly 10 percent water. They found that their water-infused fuel performed as well, if not better, than pure rocket fuel. The study was presented at the Joint Army Navy Air Force (JANNAF) Liquid Propulsion meeting in December. Full Story


UC San Diego Designated as a Changemaker Campus

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


UC San Diego Computer Science Professor Christine Alvarado Honored for Diversity Work in Computer Science Education

UC San Diego Computer Science Professor Christine Alvarado Honored for Diversity Work in Computer Science Education

March 30, 2017

UC San Diego computer science teaching professor Christine Alvarado has been honored by campus with a 2016 Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Diversity Award.Alvarado works tirelessly to broaden the participation of underrepresented groups in computer science... through her teaching, research and mentoring, according to colleagues who wrote nominating letters.For example, Alvarado helped develop the AP Computer Science Principles curriculum and test, a new AP Computer Science course aimed at bringing more students into computing by showcasing its broad range of ideas, applications and impacts.   Full Story


UC San Diego Computer Science Professor Honored with Appointment to French National Institute

UC San Diego Computer Science Professor Honored with Appointment to French National Institute

March 28, 2017

INRIA, the French national institute for computer science and applied mathematics, has created a new International Chair and appointed American computer engineer Rajesh Gupta to the part-time position. Gupta is a professor and former chair of the Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) department in the Jacobs School of Engineering at the University of California San Diego.Gupta will hold the International Chair for a period of five years. Starting this summer, he will engage with researchers in INRIA’s research center in the cathedral town of Rennes in eastern Brittany. The position enables him to spend as much as a year spread out over the five years of his appointment. Full Story


Bermuda 100 Challenge: Preserving Shipwrecks, Pixel by Pixel

Bermuda 100 Challenge: Preserving Shipwrecks, Pixel by Pixel

March 28, 2017

Researchers from the University of California San Diego, collaborating with the Bermuda government, nonprofit agencies and other partners in the region, aim to create a comprehensive digital atlas of shipwrecks and natural habitats in Bermuda’s waters – an historical crossroads of shipping between the United States, Europe and the Caribbean Full Story



Nine Jacobs School Project Teams that Highlight Opportunities for Engineering Undergraduates

Nine Jacobs School Project Teams that Highlight Opportunities for Engineering Undergraduates

March 24, 2017

From brewing beer on the moon to competing in Disney Imagineering competitions, our students are breaking boundaries in education. Check out our Top 5 engineering student stories to learn about some of the things they've been working on. Full Story


Bioengineering Student Awarded Winston Churchill Scholarship

Bioengineering Student Awarded Winston Churchill Scholarship

March 23, 2017

Fourth-year bioengineering-bioinformatics major and UC San Diego Medical Scholars Program student Angela Zou has been awarded the Winston Churchill Scholarship, one of the most prestigious awards in the world for students of science, mathematics, and engineering. Zou will receive a one-year scholarship to pursue a Master’s degree in biological sciences at Winston Churchill College at the University of Cambridge. She will also have the opportunity to work in a lab that applies computational biology approaches to studying immune responses. Zou is the third UC San Diego student to be awarded the scholarship since 1963. Full Story


Students Propose Solutions to Critical Health Issues at Annual Hackathon

Students Propose Solutions to Critical Health Issues at Annual Hackathon

March 23, 2017

From virtual reality to crowdsourcing ideas, participants at UC Health Hack 2017 combined creativity and problem-solving to create projects addressing critical issues in health systems and global health. The 181 participants focused on one of two tracks: health care delivery or refugee health. UC Health Hack 2017, the third annual interdisciplinary health-focused two-day hackathon at UC San Diego, was a collaboration between UC San Diego Engineering World Health, UC San Diego Health, UC Irvine Health, and Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego. The competition featured more than 35 proposals, with support from 57 mentors and judges from interdisciplinary fields, and awarded $12,000 in prize money. Full Story


New Technology Accelerator Launching at UC San Diego

New Technology Accelerator Launching at UC San Diego

March 21, 2017

The Institute for the Global Entrepreneur at the University of California San Diego is launching a unique Technology Accelerator to fast-track early stage, high impact technologies and effectively shorten the timelines for UC San Diego innovations to enter the market. The Institute for the Global Entrepreneur (IGE) is a collaboration between the Jacobs School of Engineering and the Rady School of Management. Full Story


UC San Diego Students, Alumni Launch Kickstarter Campaign for Smart Mirror

UC San Diego Students, Alumni Launch Kickstarter Campaign for Smart Mirror

March 21, 2017

Computer engineering alumnus Noah Martin has launched a campaign to fund his latest brainchild – the Firefly Smart MirrorFull Story


Engineering Students Hope Design Based on Tuna Tail Fin Will Power Them to Win Submarine Race

Engineering Students Hope Design Based on Tuna Tail Fin Will Power Them to Win Submarine Race

March 16, 2017

With a propulsion system inspired by the tail fins of tuna, UC San Diego engineering students aim to win an annual human-powered submarine race this summer. The race pits student teams from around the world against each other—with each team aiming to be the first to get their submarine cross an underwater finish line.The International Submarine Races provide an opportunity for teams of students around the nation to develop and race one- or two-person submarines that rely on a wide variety of techniques for propulsion, steering and guidance. The submarine cabins fill with water when submerged, and crew members are outfitted with scuba masks and tanks in order to breathe. They use a combination of pedaling something akin to a bike pedal and propulsion to move the submarine from one end of the basin to the other. Full Story


Visualizing the Future of Surgery

Visualizing the Future of Surgery

March 9, 2017

Before Dr. Sonia Ramamoorthy, chief of colon and rectal surgery at UC San Diego Health, took a scalpel to Larry Smarr, director of Calit2, she first took a virtual tour of his large intestine. It encompassed an entire room.Then Smarr, Harry E. Gruber Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at UC San Diego, shared a more modest, life-sized 3D-printed model of his suspect organ. With sometimes chagrined colleagues watching, surgeon and patient scrutinized its colonic curves and convolutions, revealing previously undetected complexities and, perhaps, the future of surgery. Full Story


Engineering Undergraduates Use DNA Origami to Target Cancer

Engineering Undergraduates Use DNA Origami to Target Cancer

February 16, 2017

A team of engineering students has a cancer-fighting idea up its sleeve—and the sleeve is nanoscale. The idea is based on a new cutting-edge research tool called DNA origami in which scientists literally fold the molecules of life into two- and three-dimensional shapes. The UC San Diego team plans to compete in Harvard's BIOMOD 2017 competition—a molecular design competition for undergraduates. Full Story


Middle, Senior High Students Visit Ancient Sites in 3D Without Leaving La Jolla

Middle, Senior High Students Visit Ancient Sites in 3D Without Leaving La Jolla

February 13, 2017

The Center for Cyber-Archaeology and Sustainability and the Qualcomm Institute played host to nearly 200 students on the UC San Diego campus from the neighboring La Jolla Country Day School. On January 31, the entire freshman class and older students in Computer Science, Robotics and AP World History made the trek to Atkinson Hall, the headquarters of QI. Full Story


Engineers in Innovation at IGNITE @ UC San Diego

Engineers in Innovation at IGNITE @ UC San Diego

February 9, 2017

On February 22, the University of California San Diego will host IGNITE @ UC San Diego, an event that brings together key members of the San Diego entrepreneurial ecosystem for a day focused on hands-on learning, competitions and mentoring for innovators, founders, and startup teams. Full Story


Engineers developing advanced robotic systems that will become surgeon's right hand

Engineers developing advanced robotic systems that will become surgeon's right hand

February 9, 2017

In the operating room of the future, robots will be an integral part of the surgical team, working alongside human surgeons to make surgeries safer, faster, more precise and more automated. In the lab of electrical engineering professor Michael Yip at the University of California San Diego, engineers are developing advanced robotic systems that could make this vision a reality. Full Story


Innovators Wanted: UC Health Hack Seeks New Ideas to Solve Critical Health Problems

Innovators Wanted: UC Health Hack Seeks New Ideas to Solve Critical Health Problems

February 9, 2017

Think you have an idea that will change health care but need the means to bring your innovation to fruition? Register for UC Health Hack, a two-day interdisciplinary hackathon that will bring students, physicians, researchers, industry professionals and community members together to grapple with integrative medicine and global health issues in a fast-paced competition.UC San Diego Health, Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego, UC Irvine Health and the UC San Diego student-led chapter of Engineering World Health are partnering for the first time to host the hackathon March 4-5. Full Story


IGNITE @ UC San Diego Aims to Accelerate Innovation

IGNITE @ UC San Diego Aims to Accelerate Innovation

February 8, 2017

A campuswide initiative is seeking to expand the innovation pipeline across the border. The inaugural IGNITE @ UC San Diego conference will connect young innovators with seasoned entrepreneurs. Co-hosted by UC San Diego’s Office of Innovation and Commercialization and the student-led Entrepreneur Challenge, the daylong event is set for Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2017 at the Price Center on campus. Students and community members across the Baja California region are invited to attend the conference free of charge. Full Story


The Missing Link: UC San Diego's First Biomedical Incubator

The Missing Link: UC San Diego's First Biomedical Incubator

February 2, 2017

An engineer watching a cardiac surgeon open up a patient’s chest to treat the heart may plan to build a better way to help the surgeon open the chest. However, if the engineer instead explores alternate means to access the key structures, the surgeon may not need to open up the chest at all. This anecdote illustrates the importance of determining the right need to solve.This kind of problem solving is one of the goals of a new biomedical incubator at UC San Diego, called Blue LINC. The new program is entirely student-run. Full Story


Engineering Students Named Finalists in Walt Disney Design Competition

Engineering Students Named Finalists in Walt Disney Design Competition

January 26, 2017

Imagine a place at UC San Diego where slides twist and turn around Torrey Pine trees, and suspension bridges tower over waterfalls. That is the design created by a team of UC San Diego engineering students competing in the 2017 Walt Disney Imagineering Imaginations Design Competition. Full Story


Engineering Students Design Experiment to Test Whether Beer Can Be Brewed on the Moon

Engineering Students Design Experiment to Test Whether Beer Can Be Brewed on the Moon

January 19, 2017

Can beer be brewed on the moon? A team of UC San Diego engineering students is hoping to find out. They are finalists in the Lab2Moon competition being held by TeamIndus, one of the four teams with a signed launch contract to send a spacecraft to the moon as part of the Google Lunar XPRIZE challenge. The experiment will test the viability of yeast on the moon—and result in a freshly brewed batch of beer. Full Story


Award to Graduate Women in Computing at UC San Diego to Help Expand Mentoring

Award to Graduate Women in Computing at UC San Diego to Help Expand Mentoring

January 13, 2017

Mentoring for women who are graduate students in computer science on campus got a boost this week, when the University of California San Diego chapter of Graduate Women in Computing received an award from the National Center for Women and Information Technology to support their programs. The $5,000 Amplification Award from the National Center is co-sponsored by Google.org and the Association for Computing Machinery’s Council on Women in Computing.  Full Story


Students Crack the Code on How to Graduate in Three Years

Students Crack the Code on How to Graduate in Three Years

January 12, 2017

Earning a bachelor’s degree from UC San Diego in just three years may seem like a daunting feat, but recent alumni such as Siyi Ye, Brianna Lonquich and Albert Chang did so despite having either double or capped majors and studying abroad.Why do some alumni attempt to graduate early? UC San Diego is a top 10 public university and recognized as one of the world’s most prestigious research campuses—so it’s already a rigorous academic experience for students who graduate in four years. Full Story


Electrical Engineering Summer Research Internship Program at UC San Diego

Electrical Engineering Summer Research Internship Program at UC San Diego

January 11, 2017

The department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering is launching a new, ten-week electrical engineering research internship program this summer.  Full Story