From Reseach Expo Best Poster Winner to CEO

Raj Krishnan won best poster at Research Expo in 2009. Check out the posters for Research Expo 2012.
Raj Krishnan earned his PhD in Bioengineering at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering in 2010. He recently came back to campus, and the Jacobs School of Engineering, to give a talk at a von Liebig Entrepreneurism Center 10th Anniversary event. Krishnan provided an overview of how we went from graduate student to entrepreneur, and how the von Liebig Center helped in this process. http://www.vonliebig.ucsd.edu/

Research Expo Poster Titles are Online

230 cutting-edge Research Expo poster titles are online. Check them out and see the future of engineering. Find out where many different engineering fields are moving. Get the inside scoop.

Research Expo / Learn about Research Advances First

The UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering invites you to campus for Research Expo 2012. See engineering advances before they are widely disseminated. Meet 230+ talented graduate students at the poster session.  Learn at the faculty talks and network at the reception.

Research Expo is Thursday, April 12 from 1:30-6:00 p.m. http://www.jacobsschool.ucsd.edu/re/

Research Expo at a Glance
* 230+ graduate student posters highlight engineering research
* Ten-minute faculty talks from all six engineering departments
* Meet faculty, students and technologists at the networking reception

Stay all afternoon or just a few hours in your area of interest. Recruit students, learn about the latest research breakthroughs, spark a collaboration.

Research Expo is a unique opportunity for industry engineers, scientists, investors and recruiters to access talent and advanced research across all six departments of the Jacobs School of Engineering.

Attend Research Expo. Your brain will thank you! http://www.jacobsschool.ucsd.edu/re/

Deadlin Extended: Fall Elevator Pitch Competition Entry Deadline

Deadline has been EXTENDED!!

If you've ever had an idea for a business here is your chance to showcase it--and maybe win some money!

1 Page (550 words), $1,000 awarded to the top idea.

The top 8 ideas as evaluated by our judging consortium will pitch their idea live to the audience at our 2011 Winter KickOff in January.

An audience vote will determine who walks away with $1,000.

Link for Submitting Entry: 
http://challenge.ucsd.edu/?page_id=778

Judging Criteria : http://challenge.ucsd.edu/?page_id=26
 

We all have ideas, submit yours!

Deadline: Tomorrow Friday, December 2, 2011 by 11:59pm
http://challenge.ucsd.edu

UC San Diego Bioengineers Named 2012 Siebel Scholars

Five bioengineering Ph.D. students from the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering are among the recipients of the annual Siebel Scholars awards. 


The Siebel Scholars program recognizes the most talented students at the world’s leading graduate schools of business, bioengineering, and computer science.


With the 2012 class of Siebel Scholars, 85 new scholars join an ever-growing, lifelong community of leaders. Today, 700 Siebel Scholars are active in a program that fosters leadership, academic achievement, and the collaborative search for solutions to the world’s 
most pressing problems.


“We are proud to support the Siebel Scholars Class of 2012 as they collaborate and forge lifelong ties with this engaged community of leaders,” said Karen Roter Davis, Executive Director of the Siebel Scholars Foundation. “They are joining an exceptional group of talented individuals working together with the Siebel Foundation to address critical societal issues in health, food, and energy.”


Siebel Scholars are selected from among students who rank at the top of their class, and are chosen by the dean of their respective schools on the basis of outstanding academic achievement and demonstrated leadership. This year’s honorees from the Jacobs School of Engineering are below. (Read the press release from the Siebel Foundation.)

Jessica DeQuach
Che-Ming Jack Hu
Dan Kagan 
Lauren Hruby Jepson

Nathan Lewis

UC San Diego Bioengineering Startup Genomatica Tops New Biofuels Ranking

Renewable chemicals developer Genomatica recently took the #1 spot in the 2011-12 “30 Hottest Companies in Renewable Chemicals and Materials” rankings by BiofuelsDigest. The rankings recognize innovation and achievement in renewable chemicals and materials development. (Read the Genomatica press release on this ranking.)

Genomatica CEO Christophe Schilling earned his Ph.D. in Bioengineering in 2000 at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering, under the guidance of professor Bernhard Palsson, the Galetti Professor of Bioengineering in the Department of Bioengineering.

Schilling launched ­Genomatica along with Palsson in 2000. Their aim was to enable the chemical industry, through Genomatica’s novel bio-manufacturing processes, to transform its feedstock base and take the “petro” out of the “petro-chemicals” business. Currently, professor Palsson serves at the chairman of the Genomatica scientific advisory board.

* Genomatica is a 2011 winner of the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award (read Genomatica press release), was recently named one of ‘10 Big Green Ideas’ by Newsweek and has been featured on Forbes.com.

* Find links to Genomatica-related stories on this April 5 post on the Jacobs School of Engineering blog.

* The UC San Diego alumni magazine ran an item on Genomatica in September 2009.

* The full ranking list is below:

The 30 Hottest Companies in Renewable Chemicals and Biomaterials for 2011-12 are:

1.     Genomatica
2.     Solazyme
3.     Amyris
4.     Gevo
5.     LS9
6.     Dupont
7.     Codexis
8.     Genencor
9.     Novozymes
10.   ZeaChem

11.     Cargill
12.    Cobalt Technologies
13.     Waste Management
14.     Ceres
15.     Elevance Renewable Sciences
16.     Dow Chemical
17.     Enerkem
18.     Coskata
19.     OPX Biotechnologies

20.     DSM
21.     Myriant
22.     Cosan
23.     Mascoma
24.     KiOR
25.     DuPont Danisco
26.     Virent
27.     LanzaTech
28.     POET
29.     Metabolix
30.     Honeywell’s UOP

Medical Device Engineering / Master's Program Starts Fall 2011

A new Medical Device Engineering graduate program for working professionals begins this fall at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering.

“The new master degree program will address an unmet need in San Diego – interdisciplinary graduate-level training for engineers and scientists who are already working in the medical device and diagnostic industries. The curriculum is focused on the interface between traditional disciplines, which is where the most exciting advances in medical device and diagnostic systems engineering are occurring,” said Juan C. Lasheras, a UC San Diego professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE), and in the Department of Bioengineering – which the National Research Council (NRC) ranked as first in the country in 2010. Lasheras is also Director of the Center for Medical Devices and Instrumentation – part of the UC San Diego Institute of Engineering in Medicine. "

Keep reading. Check out a new article on the San Diego Medical Device Engineering program on the Jacobs School of Engineering website. "New UC San Diego Master Degree Program Aims to Keep the Medical Device and Medical Diagnosis Workforce Competitive" 

Jacobs School of Rock is June 3 / Porters Pub UCSD

Jacobs School of Rock is Friday June 3, here on the UCSD campus, at Porters Pub.

Jacobs School of Rock is FREE.

The bands (keep up with the latest Jacobs School of Rock details on Facebook.
Marlena Fecho
Five + 2
Telefunk
CODE
SO3
Foxxy Chancellor


Check out a video from Jacobs School of Rock 2009:

Startup Job Fair / UCSD Entrepreneur Challenge

The first annual Startup Job Fair is this Monday May 9th, 2011 from 5PM to 8PM.
Where? UCSD Student Services Center, Multipurpose Room

The student-organizers of the event expect 30 startup companies to attend, including:

BrightScope, Client Radius, SOOVO, Open Candy, Edge Tech Wireless, Zenobia Therapeutics, Precision Point, Cloud Canvas and Congionics.

The organizers give special thanks to:
CONNECT, CommNexus San Diego, Tech Coast Angels,  von Liebig Center and BIOCOM.

The Startup Job Fair is hosted by the UC San Diego Entrepreneur Challenge and Ansir Innovation Center

Genomatica: Taking the Petrol out of Petrochemicals

NBC San Diego recently ran a TV story on Genomatica, a company that emerged from the Bioengineering Department here at UC San Diego. Check out the long list of press reports about Genomatica, including Xconomy, the Los Angeles Times, Forbes and the San Diego Union Tribune.

The NBC San Diego TV piece is neat because there is video footage from the labs, including bubbling brews derived from waste methane. In the piece, Christophe Schilling, Genomatica CEO and UCSD Bioengineering alumnus says that Genomatica is taking the petrol out of petrochemicals.

PNAS Paper / Gene Correcting does not Substantially Increase Stem Cell Mutations

The new paper published in PNAS includes four authors from the UC San Diego Department of Bioengineering: Athurva Gore, Zhe Li, Ho-Lim Fung and bioengineering professor Kun Zhang, who leads the Laboratory of Integrative Genomics at the Jacobs School of Engineering.

The press release from the University of Wisconsin-Madison: Study shows patient's own cells may hold therapeutic promise after reprogramming, gene correction

In the study, the researchers used a technique called episomal reprogramming to generate the induced pluripotent stem cells. In contrast to techniques that use retroviruses, episomal reprogramming doesn't involve inserting DNA into the genome. This technique allowed them to produce cells that were free of potentially harmful transgene sequences.

The scientists then corrected the actual retinal disease-causing gene defect using a technique called homologous recombination. The stem cells were extensively "characterized" or studied before and after the process to assess whether they developed significant additional mutations or variations. The results showed that the culture conditions required to correct a genetic defect did not substantially increase the number of mutations.

Brad Fikes from the North County Times covered the story:  Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Pass Gene Therapy Test

Mutations found in ordinary human cells reprogrammed as induced pluripotent stem cells

Human induced pluripotent stem cells. Image credit: Courtesy of James Thomson.

(L-R) Bioengineering professor Kun Zhang, bioengineering Ph.D. student Athurva Gore, and bioengineering alumna and staff researcher Alice Li are authors on the Nature paper. Photo taken in the Kun lab in the Department of Bioengineering at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering.

A new study, published in the March 3 issue of journal Nature and led by scientists at the University of California, San Diego in collaboration with other leading stem cell research groups, finds that the genetic material of reprogrammed cells may in fact be compromised, and suggests that extensive genetic screening of hiPSCs become standard practice before these stem cells are used clinically.

Read more on the Jacobs School news site.

Entrepreneur Challenge / Elevator Pitch Finals Jan 19

Elevator pitch finals are Jan 19, 6-8 PM in the Student Services Center (multipurpose room) here at UC San Diego. RSVP for the event.

Keynote: Dr. Philip Low (CEO/Founder/Chairman) of NeuroVigil.

$1,000 is up for grabs in the 5th Annual UC San Diego Entrepreneur Challenge Winter Kickoff and Elevator Pitch Competition.  The event features the top 8 submissions to the E. Challenge Elevator Pitch Competition who will have the opportunity to pitch their ventures live to an audience of several hundred.  The best pitch will be determined by audience vote and the winner will be awarded $1,000.

The event is moderated by past E. Challenge winner and successful startup founder and CEO, Dr. Philip Low.  Dr. Low is a graduate of the Salk Institute and the winner of the 2007-2008 Entrepreneur Challenge.  Dr. Low has also won several other national business plan competitions including the prestigious Draper Fisher Jurvetson Venture Challenge, been named as one of the Top 35 Under 35 Innovators by the MIT Technology Review, won the 2010 CONNECT Most Innovative Product award in Life Sciences and operated successfully out of Neurovigil's La Jolla offices.

Nanoengineers from UC San Diego Win the IDTechEx Printed Electronics Academic R&D award

Left: NanoEngienering PhD student Joshua Windmiller

From the NanoEngineering website:

Congratulations to Joshua Windmiller and NanoEngineering Professor Joseph Wang's Nanobioelectronic Sensor team on winning the IDTechEx Printed Electronics Academic R&D award at the 2010 Printed Electronics USA conference and tradeshow for their work on textile-based printed bioelectronic sensors.

From Printed Electronics World:

The University of California, San Diego won this award for its work on textile based printed bioelectric sensors. The University fabricated thick-film (screen-printed) amperometric sensors that were printed directly onto the elastic waist of undergarments for physiological monitoring. Additionally, they demonstrated the highly sensitive detection of trace concentrations of explosive agents using screen-printed sensors on GORE-TEX®fabrics. The University reports, "Our research has demonstrated the feasibility of employing screen-printed biosensors for a number of utilitarian applications leading to the realization of a new class of wearable biosensors that enables a "wear and forget" paradigm."

This is tied into the "smart underwear" project that made headlines around the world earlier this year:





This prestigious, world-renowned award is given to an academic research organization that has made a significant contribution over the past 24 months to the understanding of the principles and accrued knowledge behind printed electronics or photovoltaics.

Another photo of Josh below:

Tonight: Science to Idea to Company

Learn how laboratory projects are turned into commercial ventures. The event is Dec 1, 2010: "Understanding Tech Transfer"

Where: Rady School of Management, UC San Diego
When: Dec 1, 6 to 7:30 pm

RSVP

Dispersive Grating

Given that cooking is on so many minds this afternoon (including mine), I have to agree to "dispersive grating" does sound like a messy and/or distributed method for grating carrots, cheese or turnips. But that's not the "dispersive grating" that UC San Diego electrical engineering PhD student Dawn Tan developed.

Scanning electron micrograph of dispersive grating before deposition of SiO2 overcladding. (Decorative blue filter added to image.)  Image credit: UC San Diego / Dawn Tan

Her dispersive grating is for manipulating light on the nanoscale in order to compress pulses of light on computer chips. This kind of on-chip pulse compression is crucial for making the optical interconnects that will replace the copper wires that connect chips in computers of the future.

Read more about this silicon photonics advance published in the journal Nature Communications.

On-Chip Light Pulses / Nature Communications

The idea of using light to carry information around within computers has been around for a long time, but making it happen has been difficult. Electrical engineers from UC San Diego took an important step forward when they created a light pulse compressor that works on silicon chips. Compressing light pulses on chips will be necessary to realize optical time division multiplexing or OTDM.

“In communications, there is this technique called optical time division multiplexing or OTDM, where different signals are interleaved in time to produce a single data stream with higher data rates, on the order of terabytes per second. We’ve created a compression component that is essential for OTDM,” said electrical engineering PhD student Dawn Tan, the first author on a new Nature Communications paper that describes the work.

The UC San Diego electrical engineers say they are the first to report a pulse compressor on a CMOS-compatible integrated platform that is strong enough for OTDM.

“In the future, this work will enable integrating multiple ‘slow’ bandwidth channels with pulse compression into a single ultra-high-bandwidth OTDM channel on a chip. Such aggregation devices will be critical for future inter- and intra-high speed digital electronic processors interconnections for numerous applications such as data centers, field-programmable gate arrays, high performance computing and more,” said Yeshaiahu Fainman, a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering and the last author on the new paper.

Scanning electron micrograph of dispersive grating before deposition of SiO2 overcladding. It is this dispersive grating that is responsible for the record breaking pulse compression. (Decorative blue filter added to image.)  Image credit: UC San Diego / Dawn Tan

Scanning electron micrograph of dispersive grating before deposition of SiO2 overcladding. It is this dispersive grating that is responsible for the record breaking pulse compression. (Decorative blue filter added to image.)  Image credit: UC San Diego / Dawn Tan

For Students Only: Free Thanksgiving Weekend Shuttle from UC San Diego to San Airport

UC San Diego FREE holiday shuttle for students
http://yamhill.ucsd.edu/tps/shuttles/

More holiday shuttle info:
http://yamhill.ucsd.edu/tps/shuttles/Information.aspx

More photos from Bioengineers Teaching About Heart Valves and How Blood Defies Gravity

More photos from Bioengineers Teaching About Heart Valves and How Blood Defies Gravity

Paper Heart Valves and Kids Finally Meet

Adam Young says it's going great at the UC San Diego bioengineering booth at the USA Science & Engineering Festival. Here are two snapshot views of the booth in action.