News Archive

July 2, 2018 — MIT Technology Review has named Sheng Xu, a professor of nanoengineering at the University of California San Diego, as one of this year’s top innovators under 35. Xu is being recognized for inventing a clever way to make off-the-shelf electronics stretchable.

June 14, 2018 — Graphene electrodes could enable higher quality imaging of brain cell activity thanks to new research by a team of engineers and neuroscientists at the University of California San Diego. The researchers developed a technique, using platinum nanoparticles, to lower the impedance of graphene electrodes by 100 times while keeping them transparent. In tests on transgenic mice, the electrodes were able to record and image neuronal activity (calcium ion spikes) at both the macroscale and single cell levels.

June 12, 2018 — Renkun Chen, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at the University of California San Diego, has received a $1.18 million dollar award from the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office to develop technology that can advance next-generation concentrating solar power (CSP) systems. The project is aimed at developing an ultra-sensitive infrared camera that can rapidly measure and monitor heat transfer in CSP plant materials and assess their performance over decades of use.

May 30, 2018 — Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed tiny ultrasound-powered robots that can swim through blood, removing harmful bacteria along with the toxins they produce. These proof-of-concept nanorobots could one day offer a safe and efficient way to detoxify and decontaminate biological fluids.

May 16, 2018 — Undergraduate students from UC San Diego designed and built an extremely affordable solar-powered lantern to provide not only light, but a source of income to a partner village in the Philippines. Their engineering and business savvy earned them the top spot in the Energy and Resources category at the Big Ideas social innovation competition at UC Berkeley, a third place finish at Booz Allen Hamilton’s Ideas Festival, and a spot at the Clinton Global Initiative University.

April 26, 2018 — Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine are preparing a first-of-its-kind, multidisciplinary investigation to determine if and how cannabidiol, a non-psychoactive compound found in the cannabis plant, provides therapeutic benefit to children with severe symptoms of autism spectrum disorder.

April 17, 2018 — The University of California San Diego has emerged as a leader in how engineering and management schools within one university can collaborate in order to strengthen entrepreneurship education, startup creation, and the commercialization of innovation. The latest move: a pair of unique endowed chair professorships. The Jacobs Family Chairs in Engineering Management Leadership have been awarded to the two professors leading the UC San Diego Institute for the Global Entrepreneur, which is the centerpiece of the collaboration between the Jacobs School of Engineering and the Rady School of Management.

April 10, 2018 — Engineers have developed a tiny, ultra-low power chip that could be injected just under the surface of the skin for continuous, long-term alcohol monitoring. The chip is powered wirelessly by a wearable device such as a smartwatch or patch. The goal of this work is to develop a convenient, routine monitoring device for patients in substance abuse treatment programs.

April 2, 2018 — The vast majority of genetic mutations associated with cancer occur in non-coding regions of the genome, yet it’s unclear how they may influence tumor development or growth. Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine and Moores Cancer Center identified nearly 200 mutations in non-coding DNA that play a role in cancer. Each mutation could represent a new cancer drug target. The study is published April 2 in Nature Genetics.

March 23, 2018 — Researchers have developed a stretchable, flexible patch that could make it easier to perform ultrasound imaging on odd-shaped structures, such as engine parts, turbines, reactor pipe elbows and railroad tracks—objects that are difficult to examine using conventional ultrasound equipment. The ultrasound patch is a versatile and more convenient tool to inspect machine and building parts for defects and damage deep below the surface.