Jacobs School Mechanical Aerospace Engineering News: Top Stories

Nanotube Defects Equal Better Energy and Storage Systems

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PDT

Most people would like to be able to charge their cell phones and other personal electronics quickly and not too often. A recent discovery made by UC San Diego engineers could lead to carbon nanotube-based supercapacitors that could do just this.

Swarms of Ocean Robots will Monitor Oil Spills

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PDT

To develop control systems for “swarms” of miniature robotic ocean explorers that could one day help predict where ocean currents will carry oil spills, engineers at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering recently won a nearly $1.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation. The engineers are leading the development of the control systems for swarms of small, inexpensive, underwater robotic ocean drifters that researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at UC San Diego are designing, building and deploying.

Engineering Students Help Give San Diego a Solar Boost

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PDT

Engineering students at UC San Diego played a critical role in helping the university and the San Diego region secure a total of $154 million in federal bonds for solar installation projects.

Jacobs School Ranked 9th in the World

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PDT

The University of California, San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering is the 9th best in the world for engineering/technology and 15th in the world for computer sciences, according to an academic ranking of the top 100 world universities published by the Institute of Higher Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

Using Star Power to Better Understand Fusion

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 00:00:00 PDT

Under a new $5.8 million five-year grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), UCSD will host and lead a new Center for Momentum Transport and Flow Organization in Plasmas and Magnetofluids, which will bring together astrophysical and magnetic fusion theorists, experimentalists and computationalists from multiple institutions.

Plasma Power: Turning Fusion Into a Renewable Energy Source

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 00:00:00 PDT

A team of researchers from UC San Diego, MIT and UC Berkeley have received a $7 million research grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) that could lead us one step closer to transforming fusion into a future green energy source.

Materials Science Research Profiled in NSF Video

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 00:00:00 PDT

UC San Diego materials science researchers from the Jacobs School of Engineering are featured in a Web video and news story produced by the National Science Foundation’s “Science Nation”—an online science magazine that brings cutting-edge research directly to the public. The feature “Antlers, Shells and Beaks” profiles ground breaking materials science research being done at the Jacobs School of Engineering.

UCSD Robots Take Center Stage at National Robotics Conference

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 00:00:00 PDT

Robots created by UC San Diego engineers made their way to Austin, Texas recently to take center stage during NI Week, the annual robotics extravaganza hosted by National Instruments.

Robotics, Cybersecurity Shine at Natnl Security Conf

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 00:00:00 PDT

Future military missions will depend on large, networked groups of sensor-equipped vehicles, which can be deployed in extreme conditions with little to no human intervention. “Inspiration can be taken from biological groups like schools of fish, flocks of birds. These will be multi-robot networks, where each individual senses its environment, communicates with others, processes information gathered and takes local action in response, said Sonia Martinez, an assistant professor the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at UC San Diego’s Jacobs School of Engineering.

NanoTumor Center Video Wins Telly Award for Edu Video

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 00:00:00 PDT

The University of California, San Diego NanoTumor Center and NanoTecNexus (NTN) (formerly NanoBioNexus)—a leading nanotech education organization—won the 2009 Bronze Telly Award for the production of a video on approaches to fighting cancer using nanotechnology. The three minute video, entitled “Fighting Cancer with Nanotechnology,” is embedded below and can be viewed at NanoTecNexus, YouTube and around the Web.