Jacobs School Women in Engineering News: Top Stories

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.

Life and Career Advice from an Alum for Aspiring Computer Scientists and Engineers

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 00:00:00 PDT

Always ask a lot of questions. Look for mentors and sponsors. When you teach others, you will learn more. Luck is really opportunity plus preparation. Stereotypes and preconceptions really are dares.
Those were the five pieces of advice that computer science alumna Jennifer Arguello gave a group of prospective Jacobs School of Engineering undergrads April 5 . The studentswere taking part in an overnight program run by the IDEA Student Center at the Jacobs School. The event was part of Triton Day at the University of California, San Diego.

Nanosponges that Remove Toxins from Blood Take Top Prize at Research Expo 2013

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 00:00:00 PDT

More than 100 judges representing industry and engineering faculty circled around 200 engineering research posters at the University of California, San Diego April 18, asking the graduate students about their research. The students, representing the six academic departments of the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering, explained the content of their research to the judges as well as Research Expo attendees from industry, academia, the government and nonprofits. Judges ranked the students on their research and on how well they articulated their work to judges who may or may not work in their particular engineering sub-field. Students were called to explain the essential findings and why they matter to other researchers, to industry and to society.

Kids Can Code Too

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 00:00:00 PDT

Step into a classroom inside UC San Diego’s Computer Science and Engineering building during the weekend, and this is what you will find: two dozen elementary, middle and high school students, about half of them girls, huddled around laptops and computer circuit boards. They’re hard at work on computer programming tasks with fun names, including “Do the wave” and “Horton finds food.” One group of students is developing a gun-less laser tag game, for which they’re trying to get funding. It’s all part of a program started by three UC San Diego graduate students. Called ThoughtSTEM, it’s designed to teach children ages 8 to 18 how to program through hands-on activities.

UC San Diego Computer Scientists Develop First-person Player Video Game that Teaches How to Program in Java

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 00:00:00 PDT

Computer scientists at the University of California, San Diego, have developed an immersive, first-person player video game designed to teach students in elementary to high school how to program in Java, one of the most common programming languages in use today. The researchers tested the game on a group of 40 girls, ages 10 to 12, who had never been exposed to programming before. They detailed their findings in a paper they presented at the SIGCSE conference in March in Denver. Computer scientists found that within just one hour of play, the girls had mastered some of Java’s basic components and were able to use the language to create new ways of playing with the game.

Engineers Develop Techniques to Improve Efficiency of Cloud Computing Infrastructure by as Much as 20 Percent

Wed, 06 Mar 2013 00:00:00 PDT

Computer scientists at the University of California, San Diego, and Google have developed a novel approach that allows the massive infrastructure powering cloud computing to run more efficiently. The new approach can make these warehouse-scale computers run as much as 15 to 20 percent more efficiently. This novel model has already been applied at Google. Researchers presented their findings at the IEEE International Symposium on High Performance Computer Architecture conference Feb. 23 to 27 in China.

International Consortium Builds 'Google Map' of Human Metabolism

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 00:00:00 PDT

Building on earlier pioneering work by researchers at the University of California, San Diego, an international consortium of university researchers has produced the most comprehensive virtual reconstruction of human metabolism to date. Scientists could use the model, known as Recon 2, to identify causes of and new treatments for diseases like cancer, diabetes and even psychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders.

Peer Mentoring Program, Dean Emeritus Receive Diversity Awards

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 00:00:00 PDT

The Jacobs School of Engineering was in the spotlight at this year’s Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action awards ceremony Feb. 13 here on campus. A pair of graduate students from the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering , Laura Connelly and Margie Mathewson, who created a peer-mentoring program, as well as Frieder Seible, now Dean Emeritus of the Jacobs School of Engineering, received three of eight campus-wide awards.

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.

Injectable hydrogel encourages regeneration and improves functionality after a heart attack

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 00:00:00 PDT

University of California, San Diego bioengineers have demonstrated in a study in pigs that a new injectable hydrogel can repair damage from heart attacks, help the heart grow new tissue and blood vessels, and get the heart moving closer to how a healthy heart should. The results of the study were published Feb. 20 in Science Translational Medicine and clear the way for clinical trials to begin this year in Europe. The gel is injected through a catheter without requiring surgery or general anesthesia -- a less invasive procedure for patients.