Looking Forward to 2011

Jan. 10, 2011

A Green Open House and an Innovation Day Expo and Symposium, as well as a visit by former President Bill Clinton whose Global Initiative University will head a conference for university students are among the highlights of the upcoming year at UC San Diego. As the universitywraps up its 50th anniversary celebration and continues to grow, campus researchers will have access to a a new stem cell research facility, open a new cardiovascular center and more student housing. Read on to find out what is in store in the next 12 months at UCSD.

50th Anniversary Celebrations Continue
With Expo, Symposium, Green Open House

UC San Diego's 50th Anniversary celebration continues, with the Innovation Day Expo and Symposium (IDEaS) in February and the Green Open House in April planned to generate visibility for the university's innovation and sustainability efforts. The fundraising beneficiary of 50th Anniversary events is "Invent the Future", a $50 million student support campaign that will help fund scholarships and fellowships. Visionary Sponsors helping to support our milestone anniversary celebration include Cubic Corporation, Qualcomm and Sempra Energy. Chancellor Fox's Volunteer50 challenge to all UC San Diego community members to perform 50 hours of volunteer service during the academic year will continue through June with the themes of social justice, health and safety, women's issues, environment, world affairs and civic engagement, and animal welfare.

Clinton Global Initiative Comes to Campus

President Bill Clinton will host the Clinton Global Initiative University on our campus April 1 to 3, 2011. The event brings together more than 1,000 students from around the world who are dedicated to making concrete change on social and environmental issues. UC San Diego will move forward with programs and policies that enhance the campus climate and broaden the diversity of our community, including implementing strategies for the solicitation and stewardship of major gifts for diversity initiatives, and the recruitment of faculty positions specifically identified to contribute to diversity, equity and climate of inclusion.

New Stem Cell Research Facility to Open

The Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine research facility will open in November 2011, building on a long and productive collaboration involving UC San Diego, the Sanford-Burnham Institute for Medical Research, the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and The Scripps Research Institute. The four partners have planned and designed the new 135,000-gross-square-foot, $126 million research facility that is being built on land owned by the university. The facility is called a "collaboratory" in which scientists will work in focused teams to address critical health issues using cutting-edge stem cell science and technology.

New Cardiovacular Center to Open Doors

In April 2011, UC San Diego Sulpizio Cardiovascular Center will open its doors, becoming the region's first academic-based facility to combine all heart-related services, programs and technology under one roof. Our specialists include some of the top cardiologists and cardiothoracic surgeons in the world. In addition, UC San Diego Health System experts in transplantation, pulmonary vascular medicine, vascular surgery, stroke and cardiovascular imaging will work alongside equally talented cardiovascular researchers in the 128,000-square-foot facility. The patient-centered environment has been designed to provide the most comprehensive heart care available anywhere, while enabling rapid delivery of discoveries from the research lab to the patient's bedside.

Two Nobel Prize Winners to Speak as Part of Global Justice Conference

Nobel Prize winner Amartya Sen will give a free public talk as part of the Helen Edison Lecture Series at 7 p.m., March 31, kicking off the first conference at UC San Diego on global justice. Organized around Sen's book "The Idea of Justice," the conference – New Frontiers in Global Justice – will also feature Nobelist Elinor Ostrom and a host of innovative scholars from UCSD and beyond. Put on by the Division of Social Sciences, with the help of numerous campus partners, the conference will celebrate the university's 50th anniversary and the launch of a new center dedicated to studying the most vexing global issues of our times.

Celebrating Campus Art and Architecture

The 50th Anniversary "UCSD by Design" project celebrates the university's art and architecture, which uniquely reflect the modern and contemporary eras in which they evolved. The centerpiece of "UCSD by Design," presented by the Division of Arts and Humanities and the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, is a five-part public lecture and discussion series. If you missed the first two events, you can catch them online in UCSD-TV videos. The third event will feature curator, critic and artist Robert Storr on Feb. 3 and 4. A new campus guidebook written by Dirk Sutro also celebrates the built environment at UCSD. And in 2011, the university will see the newest sculpture in the Stuart Collection, Do Ho Suh's dramatic "Fallen Star."

Innovative Housing, Dining and Entertainment Experiences in Store for Students

Students will experience innovative new housing, dining, entertainment and ways to de-stress in 2011. New campus housing includes phase two of the Village transfer housing complex, apartments at Revelle and Muir College and The Strand—a new bistro and market located across from the Village with table service, dining by reservation, a sushi bar, outdoor seating, convenient online to-go orders and specialty Asian-themed products. Students can look forward to exciting concerts and events, including a performance from "Interpol" and the Winter Triton Festival, the university's first-ever comedy festival. In May the fourth annual student film festival will take place with partner Triton TV, a new jury panel and as well as a filmmaking workshop.

New Degrees for Engineering Professionals

The Jacobs School of Engineering is developing a suite of multidisciplinary Master of Advanced Studies (MAS) degrees for engineering professionals. The Architecture-based Enterprise Systems Engineering program accepted its first students in Fall 2010. The other four programs — Medical Devices, Simulation-Based Engineering, Structural Health Monitoring, and Wireless Embedded Systems — have been approved at UC San Diego and are under review by the University of California. All five of the master's programs are at the interface between traditional engineering departments and are focused on areas important for future innovation in industry. Each program will be led by Jacobs School faculty and will be part of the school's pipeline for developing engineering leaders and serving California's workforce needs.

SDSC to Launch Two New Supercomputer Systems

Two noteworthy data-intensive supercomputer systems are scheduled to enter operation in 2011 at UCSD's San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC). First up is Trestles, designed to increase productivity for a broad spectrum of researchers both within and beyond the UC campuses. Late in the year, SDSC plans to deploy a significantly larger supercomputer called Gordon. Both systems are being built with National Science Foundation funding, and are unique to the high-performance computing community because they rely on innovative flash memory technology instead of conventional spinning disks to help speed scientific research in areas such as drug discovery, climate change, and earthquake modeling.

Extension Moves to Improved Location

UC San Diego Extension, the continuing education arm of the University, has signed a lease on a new three-story high-tech facility called University City Center that will dramatically increase its ability to serve adult learners. The grand opening is slated for fall of 2011. Conveniently located adjacent to Interstate 805 near Governor Drive, the 49,819-square-foot University City Center is designed to meet the needs of today's working student and offers 23 high-tech classrooms, expansive executive-style learning space, 13 hands-on labs, a dedicated online learning studio suite, expanded student counseling spaces and abundant meeting room and video-conferencing space for conferences and workshops. The center will also house the UC San Diego Extension's new career transition program for displaced college-prepared professionals.

Scripps Targets Green Energy

Developing sustainable fuel and energy solutions will require unprecedented innovation based on scientific advancements. Scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography and UC San Diego are leading efforts to realize the biofuel potential of tiny marine algae, the most potent bioenergy source in the world, to power the vehicles of the future. Looking ahead to the summer of 2011, Birch Aquarium at Scripps will unveil "Boundless Energy," a new interactive exhibit that will showcase how natural forces can be used as power sources. Visitors will discover how society can harness the green energy of the wind, sun, and waves to assure a future of clear skies, clean water, and healthy oceans.

Undergraduate Publication Reaches Out to San Diego High Schools

Celebrating its eighh anniversary, The Saltman Quarterly, an undergraduate biology research journal published by biology majors, will be broadening its reach to local high schools. This year, the journal's staff plans to distribute 250 to 400 copies of the journal to all 28 high schools in the San Diego Unified School District, according to SQ editor Leila Haghighat. A senior biology major, Haghighat is hoping to raise funds this year to eventually expand the journal's reach to all 141 high schools in San Diego County. The Saltman Quarterly, named after the late UCSD biology professor and former Vice Chancellor Paul Saltman, an advocate of promoting science education in local high schools, is only one of two undergraduate biology research journals in the nation. The other is at MIT.

Chemists to Pursue Artificial Photosynhtesis

Chemists in the Division of Physical Sciences will pursue an innovative project to wring liquid fuel directly from sunlight, carbon dioxide and water. They're calling their approach "artificial photosynthesis." It's a non-biological system that uses energy from light to photochemically to split water and carbon dioxide molecules and rearrange them into hydrocarbon fuels and oxygen. Clifford Kubiak's group focuses on finding the optimal chemical that will catalyze the reaction quickly – a critical step in making the approach cost-effective. Their effort is part of the Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis, a large-scale effort funded by the Department of Energy.

More Ways to Connect with the UCSD Alumni Community

The UCSD Alumni Association, which has been nationally recognized for innovation, offers free membership to all graduates. In 2011, the Association ventures into book publishing to commemorate UC San Diego's 50th Anniversary with" A Marvel Inside a Miracle", a full-color visual history of the university. Throughout the university's 50th celebrations, the UCSD Alumni site will continue to highlight professional achievements and encourage alumni to join the new, enhanced Triton Alumni Online community where they can connect with friends, create and customize a personal profile page, share class photos, upload a resume, search for a job and much more. The closing event of UC San Diego's milestone celebration will be Alumni Weekend in June, 2011.