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Engineering News

December 16, 2020
$3.7M NIH grant funds development of novel biosensor technology for diagnosing viral infections
Electrical engineer Ali Yanik is leading a team of infectious disease experts developing a low-cost, easy-to-use platform for diagnosing viral infections in point-of-care settings.
December 15, 2020
‘How Pac-Man Eats’ explores how games work and how they can create meaning
In a new book, Computational Media Professor Noah Wardrip-Fruin shows how the fundamental mechanics of games shape their capacity to address important topics.
December 15, 2020
UCSC expands COVID-19 testing during surge to support community needs
A gift from Bud and Rebecca Colligan will expand testing capacity and help fund a new, dedicated laboratory space to house the diagnostic lab in the Genomics Institute’s facilities at the Westside Research Park.
December 14, 2020
New cryo-electron microscopy facility a boon for UCSC structural biologists
With major funding from NIH, researchers at UC Santa Cruz have acquired powerful imaging tools for studying the structures of biomolecules and their roles in disease.
December 14, 2020
CruzHacks 2021 to be held virtually January 15 to 17
Applications now open for hackers, mentors, and judges
December 10, 2020
New serological assay provides rapid, accurate testing for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies
Using optical biosensor technology, the test provides quantitative measurements of antibodies in blood plasma in less than 20 minutes.
December 10, 2020
Narinder Kapany, known as the ‘father of fiber optics,’ dies at 94
Narinder Singh Kapany, a pioneering scientist, entrepreneur, and philanthropist who served as a Regents Professor at UC Santa Cruz and a trustee of the UC Santa Cruz Foundation, died December 3.
December 08, 2020
Two UCSC engineers elected IEEE Fellows
Leila Parsa, professor of electrical and computer engineering, and Lise Getoor, professor of computer science and engineering, have been elected Fellows of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).
December 08, 2020
Campus publishes sixth edition of “inquiry@UC Santa Cruz” research magazine
The stories, crafted by alumni of the world-renowned UC Santa Cruz Science Communication Master’s Program, cover projects across the five academic devisions.
November 30, 2020
UCSC iGEM team wins gold, nominated for best environmental project
Thirteen undergraduates were recognized for their research accomplishments at the world’s largest competition in synthetic biology.
November 18, 2020
List of most highly cited researchers features 19 UCSC scientists and engineers
A new list of the world's most highly cited researchers includes 19 scientists and engineers at UC Santa Cruz.
November 17, 2020
Approval of Proposition 14 boosts funding for stem cell agency
The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) has provided major funding for research and training at UC Santa Cruz since its creation in 2004.
November 12, 2020
Computer scientist Lise Getoor receives research funding from Google
A new project on recommender dialogue systems led by Getoor and her collaborators at UC Santa Barbara and USC will receive $1 million in funding over three years.
November 11, 2020
New genome alignment tool empowers large-scale studies of vertebrate evolution
Important new studies of the evolution of birds and mammals relied on Progressive Cactus, a genome alignment tool developed at the UC Santa Cruz Genomics Institute.
November 09, 2020
The 2020 new Slug reality: Handling adversity and transitioning to a virtual learning experience
Remote learning has its challenges, but the newest class of Banana Slugs is making the most out of this uncharted experience.
November 05, 2020
Computer science grad student wins LaunchPad Fellowship for startup
Fatemeh Mirzaei, a graduate student in computer science and engineering in the Baskin School of Engineering, is one of 40 student entrepreneurs selected for the Fall 2020 LaunchPad Fellowship program.
November 05, 2020
Expanding the lines of communication
Muratcan Cicek, a Ph.D. candidate in computer engineering who won a prestigious 2020 Google Ph.D. fellowship, is working to improve head-based pointing methods for those who cannot use a mouse or trackpad.
October 26, 2020
Big Ideas contest offers up to $20,000 for big ideas in social innovation
Big Ideas contest, open to all UC students, seeks student-led, early-stage projects or ideas with a social impact focus.
October 23, 2020
UC Santa Cruz iGEM team seeks a solution to plastic waste
Through campus shutdowns, wildfires, and a two-week quarantine, 13 UCSC students have been finding ways to research a solution to agricultural plastic pollution.
October 09, 2020
Tech for Social Good student project funding now open for applications
Students can get up to $5,000 in funding for projects looking to solve societal challenges.
October 01, 2020
New faculty build on campus strengths
UC Santa Cruz is welcoming 43 new faculty members to campus this academic year. Areas of expertise include psychology, mathematics, astronomy and astrophysics, computer science and engineering, and much more.
September 28, 2020
Seed funding grants support plans for innovative research centers
The UCSC Office of Research has awarded seed funding to six campus research groups to support their efforts to develop innovative new research centers.
September 24, 2020
Bioelectronic device achieves unprecedented control of cell membrane voltage
A closed-loop biohybrid device driven by a machine learning algorithm maintained a set membrane voltage in human stem cells for 10 hours.
September 15, 2020
UCSC engineers developing all-electric power train for future aircraft
Funding from the Department of Energy for the UCSC team is part of a major effort to develop carbon-neutral hybrid electric aviation.
September 14, 2020
ARCS Foundation scholarships support UCSC graduate students
Sixteen UC Santa Cruz graduate students have received scholarships worth a total of $160,000 from the Achievement Rewards for College Scientists (ARCS) Foundation.
September 09, 2020
Summer Session helps students earn degrees
UC Santa Cruz staff and faculty have been steadily working to increase summer session enrollment, leading UCs in online offerings and working with departments to offer the classes students need to graduate.
September 01, 2020
New data science institute includes a focus on ethics and algorithms
The Institute for Foundations of Data Science is a collaboration between UC Santa Cruz, University of Washington, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and University of Chicago.
August 31, 2020
John R. Lewis College: Providing the tools to stand up against injustice and create change
John R. Lewis College students take on social justice issues while pushing for positive growth and progress in society.
August 31, 2020
Rising to the Eco-Challenge
Two Slug alumni were part of a grueling, 11-day, 416-mile adventure race called Eco-Challenge Fiji, caught in a 10-episode series streaming on Amazon Prime.
August 27, 2020
UCSC partners in institute to explore the role of AI in education
The NSF AI Institute for Student-AI Teaming envisions intelligent computers in classrooms working side-by-side with groups of students.
August 12, 2020
UCSC partners with CSUMB for postdoctoral training and mentorship program
A $4.2 million NIH grant to UCSC’s Institute for the Biology of Stem Cells is funding an innovative program to address underrepresentation of minorities in biomedical faculty.
July 29, 2020
Toy or therapy device? Researchers study effectiveness of fidget tools
The study will assess whether a high-tech fidget device increases focus and relieves anxiety in adults with ADHD, which is particularly relevant during the COVID-19 pandemic.
July 29, 2020
Sparking girls’ interest in computing through ‘social wearables’
NSF grant funds development of a summer camp for middle school girls focused on designing wearable technologies to support social interactions in role-playing games.
July 28, 2020
UC Santa Cruz, Community Foundation Santa Cruz County partner to expand access to COVID-19 testing
The campus is testing 200-400 samples every week collected by Salud Para la Gente and Santa Cruz Community Health. UCSC is providing the tests on a cost recovery basis and Community Foundation Santa Cruz County will be paying for the cost of the tests.
July 21, 2020
Computer scientist Luca de Alfaro wins ‘test of time’ awards for influential papers
Luca de Alfaro, professor of computer science and engineering, received 2020 Test-of-Time Awards from the IEEE Symposium on Logic in Computer Science (LICS) and the International Conference on Embedded Software (EMSOFT).
July 16, 2020
Adwait Ratnaparkhi appointed executive director of Natural Language Processing program
The Baskin School of Engineering at UC Santa Cruz has appointed Adwait Ratnaparkhi, former director of voice and natural language understanding R&D at Roku, as executive director of the new master’s degree program in Natural Language Processing.
July 14, 2020
Scientists achieve first complete assembly of human X chromosome
The first end-to-end (‘telomere-to-telomere’) completely gapless DNA sequence of a human chromosome is a major milestone for genomics research.
July 14, 2020
CITRIS UCSC funds new pandemic-related research projects
The campus seed funding program is providing $40K grants for three new projects to address the challenges of COVID-19.
July 10, 2020
STEM Diversity Programs honored by ‘Insight into Diversity’ magazine
'Insight into Diversity' magazine has recognized the STEM Diversity Programs at UC Santa Cruz with its 2020 Inspiring Programs in STEM Award.
June 22, 2020
A new challenge for engineering students’ capstone projects—COVID-19
Engineering students always face obstacles in completing their senior capstone projects, but the pandemic created unique challenges for this year’s teams.
June 18, 2020
Raising a glass (and funds) for research
The father and uncle of the virologist Rebecca DuBois, UC Santa Cruz Cruz associate professor of biomolecular engineering, are honoring and helping to fund her research through sales of their "Going Viral" wine.
June 18, 2020
Raising a glass (and funds) for research
The father and uncle of the virologist Rebecca DuBois, UC Santa Cruz Cruz associate professor of biomolecular engineering, are honoring and helping to fund her research through sales of their "Going Viral" wine.
June 15, 2020
Committee on Teaching recognizes innovative, dedicated instructors
The UC Santa Cruz Committee on Teaching has announced the eight recipients of the 2020 Excellence in Teaching Award.
June 05, 2020
UC COVID-19 seed funding supports UCSC coronavirus genome browser
The UC Santa Cruz Genomics Institute’s Genome Browser Team has received UC seed funding for its work on the UCSC Genome Browser for SARS-CoV-2.
June 04, 2020
Campus, Santa Cruz Community Health unite to test underserved community members
As news outlets published stories about celebrities and athletes unnecessarily getting tested for COVID-19, UC Santa Cruz scientists and staff saw an opportunity to provide fast testing for the community's most vulnerable residents who too often do not have access to the same medical services.
June 01, 2020
New optical technique provides more efficient probe of nanomagnet dynamics
Data storage devices and other emerging technologies use magnetic elements smaller than 100 nanometers, but studying their magnetization dynamics can be a challenge.
May 18, 2020
Campus team a finalist in Amazon's Alexa challenge
UC Santa Cruz’s Team Athena is one of five teams remaining in the Alexa Prize Socialbot Grand Challenge from a field of 375 applicants from around the world.
May 14, 2020
COVID Catalyst Fund supports work on rapid serology test at UC Santa Cruz
Biomolecular engineer Nader Pourmand is evaluating the use of a novel nanosensor to provide rapid, low-cost, and accurate serology tests for coronavirus antibodies.
May 14, 2020
Cowell College: Blazing the trail to lifelong learning
UC Santa Cruz’s first college prides itself on academic rigor and the spirit of community, living up to its motto: “The pursuit of truth in the company of friends.”
May 13, 2020
Innovative technologies to address COVID-19 funded by UC’s CITRIS
Three projects led by UC Santa Cruz researchers are among the 25 awards in the initial round of funding from CITRIS and the Banatao Institute.
May 12, 2020
Powerful new AI technique detects and classifies galaxies in astronomy image data
UCSC researchers developed a deep-learning framework called Morpheus to perform pixel-level morphological classifications of objects in astronomical images.
May 08, 2020
CITRIS Seed Funding program invites proposals for pandemic and disaster preparedness projects
CITRIS and the Banatao Institute at UC Santa Cruz is inviting UCSC researchers to apply for research support for projects focused on providing solutions to issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic and disaster preparedness.
May 04, 2020
Eleven human genomes sequenced and assembled in nine days
The dawn of good, fast, and cheap human genome assembly has arrived, thanks in part to collaboration and innovation by an international team led by UC Santa Cruz researchers.
May 01, 2020
Engineer Ricardo Sanfelice receives ‘test of time’ award for influential paper
Ricardo Sanfelice, professor of electrical and computer engineering, has received the 2020 Test-of-Time Award from the Hybrid Systems: Computation and Control (HSCC) conference.
April 23, 2020
Watch UCSC participants talk about hope during TEDx Santa Cruz
Last December, TEDx Santa Cruz hosted a day-long extravaganza of talks curated around the theme of "The Art of Hope." Those talks, including ones by several UCSC affiliates, are now available for online viewing.
April 03, 2020
Genomics Institute launches landing page for COVID-19 data resources
The browser team at the UC Santa Cruz Genomics Institute has launched a new landing page for resources related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
April 01, 2020
UCSC researchers are taking on the coronavirus challenge on multiple fronts
From developing diagnostic tests to conducting surveys of infection prevalence, campus researchers are doing what they can in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
March 17, 2020
How to #keepteaching and #keeplearning during a pandemic
Jody Greene is eager—almost desperate—to help her colleagues who are facing the unprecedented challenge of shifting to remote instruction for the entire spring quarter.
March 16, 2020
Study shows widely used machine learning methods don’t work as claimed
Researchers demonstrated the mathematical impossibility of representing social networks and other complex networks using popular methods of ‘low-dimensional embeddings’.
March 11, 2020
UCSC thin-film expertise to help develop NASA’s next generation of space telescopes
Engineer Nobuhiko Kobayashi's expertise in thin-film technology could improve the performance of NASA’s next generation of space telescopes.
March 10, 2020
Astronomers use slime mold model to reveal dark threads of the cosmic web
The problem-solving prowess of a simple slime mold has been harnessed to trace the large-scale structure of the universe.
March 02, 2020
Engineer Heiner Litz wins NSF CAREER Award for data storage research
Heiner Litz, assistant professor of computer science and engineering, has received a Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award from the National Science Foundation (NSF).
February 27, 2020
UC Santa Cruz leads collaboration to speed wound healing with a novel smart bandage
With up to $16 million in funding from DARPA, UC Santa Cruz engineers will work with doctors and scientists at UC Davis and Tufts University to develop bioelectronic intelligent control of wound regeneration.
February 21, 2020
UC Santa Cruz joins national "tech for social good" network
UC Santa Cruz has been accepted into a new national network of colleges and universities that have made an explicit commitment to developing technology that will advance the public interest.
February 07, 2020
Coronavirus genome posted on the UCSC Genome Browser
The UC Santa Cruz Genomics Institute is facilitating research into the novel coronavirus that has infected thousands of people since an outbreak began in Wuhan, China, last year.
February 06, 2020
Stevenson College: An inclusive, collaborative social atmosphere
Stevenson College was built on a legacy of responsibility, engagement, and mutual understanding, preparing students to become leaders and to make positive social change in their communities.
February 05, 2020
Unprecedented study yields most comprehensive map of cancer genomes to date
Pan-Cancer Project discovers causes of previously unexplained cancers, pin-points cancer-causing events, and zeros in on mechanisms of development.
February 03, 2020
Engineering speaker series highlights diverse voices in tech
The Baskin School of Engineering is presenting Diverse Voices 2020, a professional speaker series running through May 14 and featuring a diverse group of industry leaders, including alum Tara Hernandez.
January 29, 2020
UCSC taking art/science LASER talk series downtown for special evening at Rio Theater
On Wednesday, Feb. 19, the Institute of the Arts and Sciences will bring its local LASER—now in its seventh year of quarterly talks on campus—downtown for a special evening at the Rio Theater in Santa Cruz, beginning at 7 p.m.
January 28, 2020
UC Santa Cruz hosts Bang Bang Con West conference February 29 and March 1
The two-day conference of ten-minute talks about the joy, excitement, and surprise of computing returns to UCSC after a sold-out inaugural event last year.
January 27, 2020
Study connects marine heat wave with spike in whale entanglements
Entanglements of humpback whales in fishing gear along the U.S. West Coast increased dramatically during the 2014 to 2016 marine heat wave known as the ‘warm blob’.
January 15, 2020
CITRIS Core Seed Funding program invites proposals for 2020
The 2020 CITRIS Core Seed Funding program is now open for submissions.
January 14, 2020
Engineer, philanthropist Jack Baskin dies at age 100
Jack Baskin, an entrepreneur and major philanthropic supporter of UC Santa Cruz and the Santa Cruz community, died at his home in Carmel on January 12.
January 09, 2020
Better protection from the flu could be on the horizon
Biomolecular engineer Rebecca DuBois is collaborating on a large multi-institutional NIH project to create a universal vaccine for influenza.