Undergraduate News
2018 News Releases
Undergraduate team wins 2nd place at global synthetic biology competition
December 10, 2018
A team of 11 undergraduate students from UC San Diego earned second place out of 250 teams from around the world at the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGem) competition for their approach to creating an accurate liquid biopsy test for cancer. Full Story
Five Questions with Student Entrepreneur, Andy Bangash
November 29, 2018
Sikandar (Andy) Bangash is Co-Founder of SAPE, a mobile application which connects drivers with homeowners who want to rent their space out. It also helps reduce the chances of a parking violation as it warns drivers when they are parking illegally. Full Story
Easy to use 3D bioprinting technique creates lifelike tissues from natural materials
November 28, 2018
Bioengineers have developed a 3D bioprinting technique that works with natural materials and is easy to use, allowing researchers of varying levels of technical expertise to create lifelike tissues, such as blood vessels and a vascularized gut. The goal is to make human organ models that can be studied outside the body or used to test new drugs ex vivo. Full Story
UC San Diego Undergrads Design New New Birch Aquarium Exhibit
November 15, 2018
Ten undergraduate students built a sound-matching exhibit that translates complicated scientific research into an exhibit that will soon be on display at Birch Aquarium at Scripps. It’s part of the Summer EnVision Experience (SEE), which brings together UC San Diego undergraduate students from multidisciplinary backgrounds to collaborate on a hands-on, real-world project from start to finish. Full Story
Undergraduate students win Galactic Unite prize
November 6, 2018
Seven UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering students were selected to receive the inaugural Galactic Unite Gavin Jones Prize, which recognizes undergraduate students at UC San Diego studying science, technology, engineering or math with a desire to make an impact on the space industry. The winners each receive a $1,500 cash prize, plus a mentor from either Virgin Galactic, Virgin Orbit or The Spaceship Company. Full Story
Jacobs School alum charges startup to $1 million prize
October 15, 2018
A startup with a Jacobs School alumnus as its CTO won the $1 million grand prize at 43North, the startup pitch competition with the largest prize pool in the U.S. Christopher Ellis, a 2017 electrical and computer engineering graduate, is the CTO of SparkCharge, which is developing a portable electric vehicle charging system that can fit in the trunk of a car, to make distance limitations on electric cars a thing of the past. Full Story
Undergraduate Engineers Get Hands-on Experience with Autonomous Vehicles
October 11, 2018
The Introduction to Autonomous Vehicles course is all about hands-on learning by doing. Over the course of the quarter, students enrolled in the class build a small robotic car, train it to run autonomously, and trick it out with a bonus feature of their choosing. Full Story
An Upward Social Mobility Machine: UC San Diego 2nd Best U.S. University, Says Money Magazine
August 13, 2018
The University of California San Diego is a national leader in transforming lives of low-income students. One of the best schools for students to get a quality education at an affordable price, Money Magazine has listed the campus in the No. 2 spot in its new 2018 Best Colleges for Your Money ranking. Full Story
Hadi Esmaeilzadeh Named Young Computer Architect for 2018
July 16, 2018
Associate Professor of Computer Science and Engineering Hadi Esmaeilzadeh has been named the IEEE Technical Committee on Computer Architecture’s “Young Computer Architect” for 2018, for his contributions to new computer architectures that underlie the growing success of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning applications.“Two things have propelled AI and machine learning to the next level. One has been the advances in the algorithms, but the second one has been the advances in the microarchitecture of processors,” Esmaeilzadeh explained. “The amount of computation that is required to actually get something decent done with AI algorithms is so massive that without proper support from the architecture of the processors, that level of performance would not be possible.” Full Story
Rocket development gets a 'colossal' boost
June 22, 2018
The University of California San Diego’s chapter of Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS) conducted a successful live fire test of its static rocket engine test stand, Colossus, in the Mojave Desert on June 16. Full Story
New Product Launch from Bose tied to UC San Diego startup Hush
June 22, 2018
Bose launched noise-masking sleepbuds this week. In 2016, Bose acquired Hush, a noise-cancelling smart earplug startup launched by undergraduates at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering. Full Story
UC San Diego's EV Charging Program Awarded for Modeling
June 21, 2018
The University of California San Diego has been honored with the 2018 Grid Edge Innovation Award for serving as an epicenter for research, development and commercialization on smart electric vehicle (EV) charging. UC San Diego has collaborations with over 18 companies and organizations in providing 135 EV charging stations on campus. In May alone, more than 700 different EVs were charged by UC San Diego’s world-renowned microgrid.UC San Diego is the first university to receive a Grid Edge Innovation Award from Greentech Media, a leading information services company for technologies, markets and businesses shaping the future of the electricity sector. Representatives from the campus will officially accept the honor on June 21 at a ceremony in San Francisco, Calif. Full Story
Computer Science Student Leader Wins UC San Diego Sustainability Award for His Work to Combat Ocean Pollution
June 19, 2018
While on a trip with UC San Diego oceanographers to collect aerial imagery of local ecosystems in Baja, California, QI Engineers for Exploration student leader Nikko Dutra Bouck discovered massive amounts of trash covering mangrove ecosystems and contributing to ocean pollution. Dismayed at what he saw, Dutra developed a solution to the problem that could keep 50-80% of the trash out of the ocean. For all his hard work in improving sustainability, he has received the 2018 UC San Diego Sustainability Outstanding Student Award. Full Story
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Graduating students honored with Awards for Excellence
June 15, 2018
Here are some highlights from the impressive resumes of the 2018 Jacobs School of Engineering student award winners, recognized by the IDEA Engineering Student Center and Dean Albert P. Pisano at the Ring Ceremony. Full Story
Undergrads to Take Human Powered Submarine to International Competition
June 14, 2018
Undergraduate engineers designed and built a human powered submarine, and qualified to compete in the European International Submarine Races in July. Full Story
Celebrating the successes of UC San Diego's most dynamic grads
June 14, 2018
Thousands of UC San Diego’s best and brightest will take the stage this weekend as the Class of 2018 participates in the campus’ various commencement ceremonies June 16-17. Students such as engineering physics major Matt Morris overcame obstacles and gave back while making their mark at UC San Diego. Full Story
Engineering students and alumni sweep Triton Entrepreneur Night
June 7, 2018
Two teams led by students and alumni of the Jacobs School of Engineering won big at Triton Entrepreneur Night, the signature event of The Basement—an undergraduate business incubator founded in 2015 with support from alumni. The teams competitively pitched their ideas, Shark Tank style, to a panel of esteemed investors and entrepreneurs. Full Story
Out to Change the World
May 25, 2018
UC San Diego leaders recently embarked on a “changemaking” mission to Boston, accepting the campus’ official designation as a Changemaker Campus by Ashoka, the world’s largest network of social entrepreneurs. The designation ceremony was hosted by Babson College as part of the annual Ashoka U Exchange. Ashoka announced that UC San Diego will host next year’s Ashoka U Exchange, one of the largest international gatherings on social innovation in higher education, from Feb. 21 to 23, 2019. Full Story
Engineering student leaders honored
May 24, 2018
Top performing engineering student leaders were honored at the 9th annual Engineering Leadership Awards celebration on May 17. The event, presented by the Gordon Engineering Leadership Center at UC San Diego, recognizes undergraduate and graduate engineering students who demonstrate extraordinary leadership through their communication skills, teamwork abilities and implementation of technical solutions in competitions or real-world challenges. Full Story
Above all, build trust
May 24, 2018
For Greg Papadopoulos, a UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering alumnus and partner at NEA, one of the largest venture capital firms in the world, engineering leadership is all about trust. Papadopoulos was awarded the Professional Gordon Fellow honor at the 9th annual Engineering Leadership Awards event run by the Gordon Engineering Leadership Center Full Story
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Growing Computer Science Tutor Community Reunites at UC San Diego
May 16, 2018
More than 170 current and alumni computer science tutors reunited at UC San Diego in April 2018 to celebrate a program that has become a hallmark of the department and a model for the rest of campus. Full Story
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Global TIES team earns honors for solar lantern project
May 15, 2018
Undergraduate students from UC San Diego designed and built an extremely affordable solar-powered lantern to provide not only light, but a source of income to a partner village in the Philippines. Their engineering and business savvy earned them the top spot in the Energy and Resources category at the Big Ideas social innovation competition at UC Berkeley, a third place finish at Booz Allen Hamilton’s Ideas Festival, and a spot at the Clinton Global Initiative University. Full Story
Eight Jacobs School alumni recognized at UC San Diego's first 40 Under 40 awards
April 12, 2018
From startup founders to VPs at major technology companies, eight alumni of the Jacobs School of Engineering were recognized in the first 40 Under 40 awards bestowed by the University of California San Diego. Full Story
Graduate Research Advocacy Day Takes Over Sacramento
April 5, 2018
UC San Diego students met with legislators March 21 to share how their research impacts California and advocate for investment to support graduate enrollment. The graduate students took to the state capitol in Sacramento, participating in the ninth annual University of California Graduate Research Advocacy Day. Full Story
UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering Rises to #12 in U.S. News Best Graduate School Rankings
March 20, 2018
The Jacobs School of Engineering at UC San Diego once again ranks highly among the premier engineering schools in the nation. The Jacobs School of Engineering ranks #7 among public engineering schools and #12 overall, according to the 2019 U.S. News Best Graduate School Rankings. The Jacobs School’s #12 national ranking is up from #13 last year, and #17 two years ago. Full Story
UC San Diego Innovators: You can now apply to three commercialization programs through one new application
March 20, 2018
UC San Diego's Institute for the Global Entrepreneur (IGE) and Office of Innovation and Commercialization (OIC) have teamed up to make it easier for students, alumni, faculty and researchers to apply for support to help them commercialize their innovations. UC San Diego innovators – including alumni – can now submit just one application for consideration across three entrepreneurship programs that complement one another. Each program supports teams at different points along the pathway from breakthrough to commercialization with funding, mentorship, practical courses and access to investors. Full Story
Engineers Sweep Entrepreneur Challenge Startup Stage at Ignite
March 15, 2018
Engineers showed up in force at the second annual Ignite Conference pitch competition at UC San Diego. Almost a third of the 29 startups pitching their innovative business ideas during the Entrepreneur Challenge-led elevator pitch competition were founded by engineers—including the first, second and third place winners. That’s right, it was an engineering clean sweep. Full Story
Campus Dedicates Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute
March 9, 2018
UC San Diego dedicates Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute. The cross-disciplinary Institute will become the campus hub for data science. It will help train students in the latest data-science techniques and transform the research of scholars who are now increasingly limited in making progress in their disciplines because of the need to make sense of the massive amounts of data generated from their research. Full Story
UC San Diego Hosts Its First Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality Hackathon
March 1, 2018
UC San Diego hosted 100 students for a weekend-long hackathon full of tutorials, workshops, and time for teams to develop their own virtual, augmented or mixed reality project. Full Story
UC San Diego Bioengineering Student Wins Winston Churchill Scholarship
February 16, 2018
Aswini Krishnan, a fourth-year bioengineering major at the University of California San Diego, has been awarded a Winston Churchill Scholarship, one of the most prestigious and competitive awards available to American students pursuing science, mathematics and engineering fields. The award provides one year of funding to pursue a master’s degree at Winston Churchill College at the University of Cambridge. Krishnan is the fourth UC San Diego student to receive the award since the program’s inception in 1963. Full Story
EnVision Arts and Engineering Maker Studio doubles in size
February 12, 2018
The EnVision Arts and Engineering Maker Studio, which provides undergraduate engineering and visual art students with a space where theoretical coursework and hands-on experience intersect, quickly filled to capacity after it opened in 2015. The studio recently doubled in size, and students are taking full advantage of the space. Full Story
Ignite @ UC San Diego Extends Innovation Conference to Two Days in Year Two
February 9, 2018
On March 6-7, hundreds of investors, innovators, entrepreneurs, and activators will converge at UC San Diego for the second annual Ignite conference. Launched in 2017, the signature innovation event brings universities across Cali-Baja together with leading community partners to support life-changing entrepreneurship. Now the initiative is expanding to feature programming and competitions spanning across two days. With more than 400 startups launching annually in San Diego, the conference connects young innovators with seasoned entrepreneurs. Last year’s inaugural event drew more than 1,500 registrants from across the region. Full Story
'Defenders of Geisel' Esports Team Gets a Shot at National Title
February 8, 2018
Six UC San Diego undergraduate students have battled their way through a pool of 318 teams to make it to the final four and the Fiesta Bowl Overwatch Collegiate National Championships at Arizona State University on Feb. 17. Overwatch is a video game released by Blizzard Entertainment in May 2016, and already has its own professional league and a highly developed collegiate league with big time student interest. Full Story
Chancellor's Research Excellence Scholars Program Launches 175 Student-Research Projects
February 1, 2018
Three years ago, the campus launched a pilot program to promote interdisciplinary research among undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. The idea was to partner them with faculty mentors from at least two disciplines and provide them with funds so they could conduct research with the potential to make a real impact on society.Now that the program has proved its worth, UC San Diego is making the program permanent. Last September, applications were submitted and this month the Chancellor’s Research Excellence Scholars program, formerly Frontiers of Innovation Scholars Program (FISP), has awarded 175 students with this unique multidisciplinary opportunity. Full Story
UC San Diego Launches edX Online MicroMasters' in Algorithms and Data Structures
January 30, 2018
The University of California San Diego is launching an online series of courses designed to help students master the algorithmic programming techniques they may need to land a top software engineering job.The 8-part Algorithms and Data Structures series is part of a MicroMasters® program on edX, the leading nonprofit online learning platform for massive open online courses (MOOCs). The MicroMasters program offers learners a credential for career advancement after successful completion of the seven MOOCs and one Capstone Project course. Full Story
UC San Diego Drone Research Takes Flight
January 25, 2018
UC San Diego inaugurated the first open-air aerodrome for unmanned aerial vehicles here on campus last week. The opening is the first step in what engineers hope will be a new era for drone research on campus. One of the goals is to create a living laboratory for unmanned aerial vehicles by bringing together researchers from across campus, including computer scientists, structural, mechanical, aerospace, electrical and computer engineers and scientists at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography Full Story