Jacobs School Mechanical Aerospace Engineering News: Top Stories

Zahn Prize Competition gives undergraduates the opportunity, mentoring to launch startups

Thu, 23 May 2013 00:00:00 PDT

It was standing room only at the grand opening of the Moxie Center for Undergraduate Entrepreneurship as 10 undergraduate student teams waited to see who among them would win one of three Zahn prizes, for a total of $10,000 in cash to help them bring their products to market. The room was filled with students, faculty, industry partners and investors as well as San Diego Mayor Bob Filner, University of California, San Diego Chancellor Pradeep Khosla, and Juan C. Lasheras, interim dean of the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering.

Seahorse's Armor Gives Engineers Insight Into Robotics Designs

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 00:00:00 PDT

The tail of a seahorse can be compressed to about half its size before permanent damage occurs, engineers at the University of California, San Diego, have found. The tail’s exceptional flexibility is due to its structure, made up of bony, armored plates, which slide past each other. Researchers are hoping to use a similar structure to create a flexible robotic arm equipped with muscles made out of polymer, which could be used in medical devices, underwater exploration and unmanned bomb detection and detonation. UC San Diego engineers, led by materials science professors Joanna McKittrick and Marc Meyers, detailed their findings in the March 2013 issue of the journal Acta Biomaterialia.

Symposium at UC San Diego Marks 70th Birthday of Former Engineering Dean

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 00:00:00 PDT

Within days of each other, Robert W. Conn recently made two trips to Washington, D.C. to meet President Barack Obama at the White House. The Dean Emeritus of the University of California, San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering, Dr. Conn is President of The Kavli Foundation. As the Foundation’s President, on March 28, Conn visited the Oval Office with the 2012 U.S. winners of the Kavli Prizes. The visit was an opportunity for the President to acknowledge the newest laureates and to express how greatly the country depends on basic science. The meeting was also attended by the President’s Science Advisor, Dr. John Holdren, Norwegian Ambassador to the U.S. Wegger Chr. Strommen, and Mr. Rock Hankin, Vice Chairman of the Foundation’s board of directors.

SkySweeper Robot Makes Inspecting Power Lines Simple and Inexpensive

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 00:00:00 PDT

Mechanical engineers at the University of California, San Diego invented a robot designed to scoot along utility lines, searching for damage and other problems that require repairs.

Engineer, Alumna and Olympic Runner

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 00:00:00 PDT

Meet Sonali Merrill, a Jacobs School alumna, who also is a member of Sri Lanka’s Olympic track and field team. The San Diego Union-Tribune has called her “the accidental Olympian.” Here she talks to us about her passion for engineering and her experiences as a student athlete and engineering student at the University of California, San Diego.

Tough, Light and Strong: Lessons From Nature Could Lead to the Creation of New Materials, Science Study Says

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 00:00:00 PDT

In a sweeping review of the field of bio-inspired engineering and biomimicry in the Feb. 15 issue of the journal Science, two engineers at the University of California, San Diego, identify three characteristics of biological materials that they believe engineers would do well to emulate in man-made materials: light weight, toughness and strength. Joanna McKittrick and Marc Meyers, from the materials science program at the Jacobs School of Engineering at UC San Diego, examine the three characteristics in a wide range of materials, from spider silk, to lobster and abalone shells, to toucan beaks and porcupine quills. Lessons learned from these materials could lead to better body armor, lighter aircraft and stronger, more flexible materials, researchers said.

Two Jacobs School Engineers Named AAAS Fellows

Thu, 29 Nov 2012 00:00:00 PDT

Two faculty members at the Jacobs School of Engineering at UC San Diego have been named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, better known as AAAS. Ratnesh Lal, in the Departments of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and Bioengineering, and Victor Vianu, in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, join 700 other AAAS members who have been elected fellows—including 10 at UC San Diego—for their efforts to advance science and its applications.

Jacobs School Shines at Fluid Dynamics Conference

Thu, 15 Nov 2012 00:00:00 PDT

Simulations that help doctors perform life-saving surgeries; a better way to model climate in urban areas; and optimized blood flow patterns for heart patients with pacemakers. Fluid dynamics researchers from the University of California, San Diego, will discuss their research on these topics—and many others—at the 65^th Annual Meeting of the American Physical Society’s Division of Fluid Dynamics here in San Diego Nov. 18 to 20. With about 2,300 contributed presentations, the APS/DFD annual conference is the largest scientific meeting of researchers in fluid dynamics.

Cool Pavements, Warm Buildings, Rising Electricity Bills

Wed, 07 Nov 2012 00:00:00 PDT

A push to replace old, heat-trapping paving materials with new, cooler materials could actually lead to higher electricity bills for surrounding buildings, engineers at the University of California, San Diego, have found. Researchers published their findings Oct. 29 in the new Journal of Urban Climate.

Jay Kunin to Lead Moxie Center for Undergraduate Entrepreneurship

Thu, 11 Oct 2012 00:00:00 PDT

The Jacobs School of Engineering at the University of California, San Diego announced that Jay Kunin has joined the Jacobs School as the inaugural director of the new Moxie Center for undergraduate entrepreneurship. Kunin has had a long career as an entrepreneur, executive, investor and director of technology startups.