News Archive
October 8, 2007
Which came first, the chicken genome or the egg genome?
New research published in Nature Genetics provides the first evolutionary history of the duplications in the human genome that are partly responsible for both disease and recent genetic innovations. This work marks a significant step toward a better understanding of what genomic changes paved the way for modern humans, when these duplications occurred and what the associated costs are – in terms of susceptibility to disease-causing genetic mutations. Full Story
September 25, 2007
Primate Sperm Competition: Speed Matters
UC San Diego and UC Irvine researchers have reported that sperm cells from the more promiscuous chimpanzee and rhesus macaque species swim much faster and with much greater force than the sperm of humans and gorillas. Full Story
September 22, 2007
Donors Forge New Group to Support UC San Diego Center Championing Scientific Approach to Preserving Artistic Treasures
Private donors working closely with the JAcobs School have established "Friends of CISA3" -- a philanthropic initiative to support the activities of the Calit2-based research center devoted to innovating and using new technologies to better understand and preserve artistic treasures. Full Story
September 13, 2007
Learning How Embryonic Stem Cells Become Heart Cells
Three teams of San Diego scientists are using a comprehensive new systems-biology approach to learn how to prompt mouse embryonic stem cells to differentiate in the laboratory into cardiac muscle cells, results that could eventually be used to develop completely new treatments for human heart disease Full Story
August 9, 2007
Medical Devices Affinity Group Meets to Brainstorm New Technologies
Nearly 40 researchers, clinicians, basic scientists and engineers from the Jacobs School, Calit2 and UCSD School of Medicine's Department of Surgery met to brainstorm about potential collaborations to develop new medical and research devices. Full Story
August 3, 2007
How Cells Change the Pace of Their Steps
Scientists at UCSD have discovered how cells of higher organisms change the speed at which they move, a basic biological discovery that may help researchers devise ways to prevent cancer cells from spreading throughout the body. Full Story
August 3, 2007
SIGGRAPH in San Diego: Graphics, Video and Rock
American Idol and Comic-Con have come and gone, but fun in San Diego’s summer sun has just begun. From August 4 to 9, the top computer graphics and interactive media folks from around the world will flood San Diego for the SIGGRAPH 2007 conference – and UC San Diego is part of the action. Full Story
August 1, 2007
Ten New Faculty Members Join Jacobs School
The Jacobs School of Engineering is adding 10 faculty members who will enhance the school’s strengths in bioengineering, biomaterials, bio-fluid mechanics, security and networks, systems and controls, and nanoengineering. Full Story
July 3, 2007
UC San Diego Establishes Department of NanoEngineering
Seeking to capitalize on the potential of a new generation of multi-functional nanoscale devices and special materials built on the scale of individual molecules, UC San Diego has established a new Department of NanoEngineering within its Jacobs School of Engineering effective July 1, 2007. Full Story
June 22, 2007
One Student, One Professor - a Pivotal Moment
The recent announcement by the National Academy of Engineering that Yuan-Cheng "Bert" Fung would receive the $500,000 Russ Prize for 2007 was particularly poignant for Erin McGurk, who received a M.S. degree in bioengineering from UC San Diego in 1986. She recalled how Fung had helped her in her early days when she was struggling with a difficult class assignment. Full Story
June 15, 2007
The Jacobs School of Rock...Rocked!
The Jacobs School of Rock did, in fact, rock. More than 100 people gathered at Porter’s Pub on June 8 to hear five bands affiliated with the UCSD Jacobs School of Engineering. Full Story
June 5, 2007
Stem Cell Research Facilities Expanding at UCSD
A new stem cell grant will support the creation of a new 2,775 square-foot satellite core facility to be located at UCSD's Jacobs School of Engineering. Full Story
June 5, 2007
$75,000 Pay Out at Student-Run UCSD Business Plan Competition June 9
What started as a series of happy hours has morphed into a UC San Diego student-run event in which $75,000 in cash prizes is on the line. On Saturday June 9, five teams of student entrepreneurs affiliated with UC San Diego will compete head-to-head in a business plan competition run by the Triton Innovation Network (TIN), a new organization run entirely by UCSD graduate and undergraduate students. The winning team will walk away with as much as $45,000 in cash to support their new business, and the two runners up will receive up to $15,000 each. Full Story
June 1, 2007
Signaling Molecules Videotaped Delivering Messages in Cells
Scientists have captured on video the intracellular version of a postal delivery service. Reporting in the June 2007 issue of Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications (BBRC), bioengineering researchers at UCSD published time-lapse images of a message-carrying protein called paxillin moving abruptly from hubs of communication and transportation activity on the cell surface toward the nucleus. Full Story
June 1, 2007
Engineers Will Rock Porter's Pub at UCSD
At rock shows, the engineers are often backstage operating the sound equipment and running the computer systems; but at UCSD, the engineers are moving out front. Serge Belongie, a computer science and engineering (CSE) professor, has started a new concert series featuring bands affiliated with UCSD’s Jacobs School of Engineering. Full Story
March 28, 2007
Widely Used Iron Nanoparticles Exhibit Toxic Effects on Cells
Researchers at UC San Diego have discovered that iron-containing nanoparticles being tested in the treatment of several human diseases can be toxic to nerve cells and interfere with the formation of their signal-transmitting extensions. Full Story
March 20, 2007
Long-Distance Mentoring Over Email
Long-distance relationships are often tough. But when it comes to mentoring, the distance can turn out to be a good thing. Over email, a mentor who is hundreds or thousands of miles away can give advice and feedback based on a perspective that you might not get from an advisor down the hall. At no charge, UCSD engineering, mathematics or science undergrads, grad students, postdocs and new faculty can link up with a mentor over email thanks to a partnership between UCSD and MentorNet – an e-mentoring network promoting diversity in engineering and science. Full Story
March 2, 2007
Corporate Recruiters Vie for UCSD Engineering Graduates
An annual one-day, student-run recruiting fair at UC San Diego posted a 46 percent increase this year in the number of high technology companies and research institutes seeking engineering students and graduates for internships and full-time positions. Full Story
March 1, 2007
Engineering Week at UCSD
San Diego, February 20 - 23, 2007: From flying tomatoes, to undergraduate research, graduate poster competitions at Research Expo, a heavy-hitting job fair, and a semi-formal party just for students, the Jacobs School of Engineering celebrated National Engineering Week in a big way. Individual students and student organizations including the Triton Engineering Student Council were at the heart of it all -- from the games, to the research, to the work of recruiting companies to attend the job fair. Full Story
February 26, 2007
Single Photon Detector Wins UCSD Engineering Research Competition
With a flash of light, photons simultaneously fly toward the face of a person waiting to be identified for security purposes. The packets of light bounce off the face and land on a specially engineered photon sensor that clocks when each photon arrived and uses the information to reconstruct a three dimensional image of the face almost instantaneously. Full Story