To increase undergraduates’ engagement with research opportunities within the Baskin School of Engineering at UC Santa Cruz, Assistant Professor of Computational Media David Lee has been appointed as the school’s inaugural Director of Research Pathways.
Undergraduate research experiences enable students to gain key skills in critical and analytical thinking and problem solving, helping them shape their potential career interests and increasing their competitiveness for graduate school or job opportunities. Baskin Engineering faculty and researchers focus on a wide range of societal issues, and becoming involved in this research allows undergrads to be part of impactful solutions for climate change, human health, modern computing, and more.
“Typically, opportunities for undergraduate research experiences are very limited in number and only available to upper division students,” Lee said. “I’m very excited to create structures that make it possible for faculty to involve larger numbers of students in group research projects and to integrate research across the undergraduate experience as early as a student’s first year at UCSC. We’ve found that this not only helps to build skills, but also enhances purpose for learning and creates community and a sense of belonging.”
Lee has been a leader in involving undergraduate students in research as the Principal Investigator of the Tech4Good lab at UC Santa Cruz, which explores the intersection of computational systems and social interaction. The lab includes more than 100 undergraduate students who learn about user research, design, web development, and artificial intelligence.
“As an engineering school embedded within a world-class research university, we offer our undergraduate students a unique opportunity to participate in the wide range of innovative research actively being conducted by our faculty. This enables students to dive deep into a subject, answer real-world questions, and walk away with tangible experience to guide their career and open up future pathways to success,” said Alexander Wolf, Dean of the Baskin School of Engineering.
“This appointment is a reflection of David’s leadership-by-example of how to foster engaged participation in research from a diverse group of students, and I look forward to watching him work across our faculty to help create even greater research opportunities for our talented students.”
Lee’s appointment was effective July 1, 2024 and will continue for the next three years.
Lee discusses his approach to developing his research lab Tech4Good, which engages undergraduate students each year in learning user research, UI/UX design, web development, and machine learning in the context of projects supporting education, work, and community engagement.
