News Releases from 2013
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December 13, 2013
2013: The Year in Review
From the largest alumni gift in the campus’ history, which went to the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, to the arrival of Dean Al Pisano, it’s been a busy year here at the Jacobs School of Engineering. The school produced many research milestones, from a Google map of the human metabolism to the world’s first zoomable contact lens. Students got into the action too and UC San Diego became the first university to design, build and test a 3D-printed rocket engine. Here are some of the most memorable stories of the year—but not all: the list would be too long.
December 3, 2013
Learning by Shaking
Over the past seven years, more than 7,000 sixth-graders from 26 schools in San Diego County built their own structures and got to test them on small shake tables at the Jacobs School of Engineering. It’s all part of the Earthquake Engineering with K’NEX Outreach Program run by the UC San Diego chapter of the Society of Civil and Structural Engineers.
November 13, 2013
UC San Diego Shake Table, Robot Win Best of What's New Awards from Popular Science
The biggest outdoor shake table in the world and a robot designed to move along utility lines have received Best of What’s New awards from Popular Science, the world’s largest science and technology magazine. The two projects are featured in the magazine’s December issue, now on newsstands.
September 16, 2013
iPad App Teaches Students Key Skill for Success in Math, Science, Engineering
Engineers at the University of California, San Diego, have developed an iPad app that helps students learn spatial visualization, an essential skill for doing well in science, math and engineering. They have been testing the app during a high school summer program at the Jacobs School of Engineering at UC San Diego, as well as on undergraduate students at the school.
August 13, 2013
Team Investigates Earthquake Retrofits for 'Soft' First-floor Buildings on Jacobs School Shake Table
A team of researchers, led by Colorado State University engineering professor John van de Lindt, has spent the last month shaking a four-story building on the world’s largest outdoor shake table at the University of California, San Diego, to learn how to make structures with first-floor garages better withstand seismic shocks.
June 21, 2013
Technology-Enhanced Learning: From Campus to the World
The academic landscape is changing rapidly, due in no small part to recent advances in technologies to enable, enhance and deliver teaching and learning to a worldwide audience. At the University of California, San Diego, administrators and faculty are particularly focused on using technology to transform the undergraduate learning experience (saving money in the process). They’re doing this in the context of the UC San Diego Education Initiative, as well as the Technology-Enhanced Learning (TEL) Initiative jump-started by Calit2’s Qualcomm Institute. Both programs are helping to formulate a way forward for the campus, with the Education Initiative focused on policy, and the TEL Initiative experimenting with various models of online learning.
June 13, 2013
Three Jacobs School Scholars Among 10 Distinguished Campus Teachers
Hyonny Kim from structural engineering and Richard Ord and Kevin Webb from computer science and engineering are among the 10 UC San Diego scholars recognized with teaching awards.
March 25, 2013
Engineers Develop Nanofoams for Better Body Armor, Layers of Protection for Buildings
Engineers at the University of California, San Diego are developing nanofoams that could be used to make better body armor; prevent traumatic brain injury and blast-related lung injuries in soldiers; and protect buildings from impacts and blasts. It’s the first time researchers are investigating the use of nanofoams for structural protection.
March 13, 2013
Research Shows How Earthquake Damage Can Impact Building Fire Safety Performance
Damage to building structural elements, elevators, stairs and fire protection systems caused by the shaking from a major earthquake can play a critical role in the spread of fire and hamper the ability of occupants to evacuate, and impede fire departments in their emergency response operations. These are among the conclusions of a groundbreaking study of post-earthquake building fire performance conducted in 2012 by researchers in the Department of Fire Protection Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
March 4, 2013
Peer Mentoring Program, Dean Emeritus Receive Diversity Awards
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.