Shaking and surfing at Triton Day

UC San Diego is home to the world's largest outdoor shake table (or earthquake simulator) and to some serious surfing--including one of the nation's top college surfing teams and to a team that makes surfboards out of algae.

So this year, students admitted to UC San Diego got a chance to surf during a simulated earthquake, all while wearing an Occulus Rift virtual reality headset. Students heard a warning that a 9.9 earthquake has taken place and a giant tsunami is nearing the shore.

The experience was very popular. According to the San Diego Union-Tribune:

“I thought I was going to fly off of it,” 17-year-old Jasmine Hassan said afterward. “I’ve never experienced virtual reality in that kind of immersive environment. I just think it shows how cutting-edge UCSD is, and you can see the way they apply the research that they do, it’s applicable to everything people are doing in modern-day life.”

Near the shakeboarding experience, students from the UCSD Seismic Outreach Program allowed campus visitors to "make their own earthquakes" by jumping on a mat equipped with an accelerometer, connected to a computer that made a building made of K'Nex shake on a small shake table.

“It’s definitely not your traditional info booth,” said Armen Azizian, a structural engineering graduate student told This Week @ UC San Diego. Azizian said he enjoyed sharing the technology with admitted students one-on-one, including those who aren’t necessarily going to be engineering majors.

UC San Diego Seismic Outreach teaches about seismic safety at Triton Day.

On Library Walk, many of the school's student organizations had come out to get prospective students excited about everything the campus has to offer.

SWE at Triton Day

The Triton Rocket Club showcased their robot.

AIChE, the chemical engineering student organization had a bean bag toss game.

SEDS at UC San Diego talked about 3D printing a rocket engine, a unique feat.

The Tau Beta Pi engineering honors society was out in force.

Engineers Withouth Borders at UC San Diego talked about their projects.

#ILookLikeAnEngineer: Selina Valladolid

We are continuing with our #ILookLikeAnEngineer campaign with a student who continually fights stereotypes in engineering and is extremely passionate about progressing towards an equal field.

Meet Selina Valladolid, the president of the Society of Women Engineers.

Name: Selina Valladolid

Major: Physics (recently switched out of NanoEngineering)

Estimated graduation date: June 2017

Why did you choose engineering at UC San Diego?

My family is from the area. My mom went here, my dad went here. I wanted to go to Boston, but after attending Triton Day, I was like, “I could see myself here.” It hit home with me. It fit, unlike any other campus I had visited.

As for engineering and sciences, I actually took some engineering classes in high school. The engineering teacher taught my biology class, and he was always going on about the engineering projects they were doing. And I thought, “That’s rad.” I took part in the engineering club that year and then took the class. I just kind of stuck with it for all four years after that.

Why did you decide to switch from nanoengineering to physics?
So I realized over the summer that my passion truly lies in space and in the cosmos. I have always loved physics and I came to the conclusion that pursuing my undergraduate degree in physics, and perhaps focusing on engineering in graduate school, would simply be the best option for me.

What are your career goals?

I’m definitely leaning towards research right now. I’m set on going to graduate school, and my ultimate dream is to work for NASA or SpaceX. If there was ever a time I had the opportunity to go to Mars or the moon, I’d probably be down, but that isn’t my ultimate goal. What interests me is the stuff that we’re not going to reach in our lifetime, like the black holes, the supernovas, the star clusters. The really hard, deep outer space.

Do you have a favorite quote or mantra?

I actually have a wall that I put sticky notes on. The first one is probably the most common: “Well-behaved women are never remembered in history.” I always really liked this. We have to step out of the boxes in which we’re often placed.  

What are three things about you that make you an individual?

1. I tend to be very opinionated, especially when it comes to women and any minority underrepresented minority. I am a woman, and I am Hispanic. I have a seven year old sister, and I never want her to think that she can’t do something because she isn’t a male.

2. I see myself as very independent.

3. I love to travel, read, and play sports. My very first trip was in sixth grade to northern Ireland. When I turned fifteen, instead of having a quincenera, I asked my dad to take me on a trip, so I got to go to Paris.

What does this campaign mean to you?

I love it, primarily because I remember how it started. I remember seeing all this backlash against the ad - “Get somebody that looks like an engineer,” comments read. I think the campaign is a great thing, and I hope it will teach people that being an engineer has nothing to do with gender, sexuality, race or anything.

Specifically, the campaign at UC San Diego?

As much as I want as many men to come into my own organization, Society of Women Engineers, and be a part of it, as we are about supporting and encouraging women. I don’t like that men don’t want to join, but I can understand why. I feel like it could be a lot worse here. I’m glad that it could be a lot worse.

Event helps girls envision a career in science and engineering

More than 150 girls from San Diego middle and high schools came together Saturday, Feb. 21, 2015, at the Jacobs School of Engineering for Envision, an outreach event organized by the Society of Women Engineers and the school's IDEA Student Center. 

“It’s common for girls to lose interest in math and science by the time they reach high school, and the idea of entering the engineering field can be daunting due to the historical under representation of women,” said Christina Aguila, who holds the outreach chair for SWE.

“It’s because of these setbacks that we set aside a day for high school girls to explore their interests in a safe, comfortable learning environment.”

The young women toured the UC San Diego engineering laboratories, heard from faculty and industry speakers, and participated in engineering exploration and robot building activities.

Using a 6-in-1 educational solar kit, the girls had the option to build a mini-rover, dog, boat, windmill, or two different types of planes, all powered by a small solar panel.

Then, based on the interests listed on their registration forms, the participants were divided into three groups for the engineering exploration activities. One group worked on html coding, one learned about CAD and the last group helped to assemble prosthetic hands.
 

 The assembled hands were returned to Helping Hands, a company that creates the kits and then distributes the completed products to amputees.

Outstanding graduates: Celine Liong

In the past four years at the Jacobs School, Celine Liong has done research in three different labs, including work on drug delivery to solar cells. She also was the president of the UC San Diego chapter of the Society of Women Engineers. She plays badminton and likes to cook. Liong, who is the first in her family to go to college, said she was drawn to nanoengineering because of the field’s potential. “You can do so much,” she said. This fall, Liong will explore more of this potential at Stanford, where she will work toward a Ph.D. in translational medicine. 

Updated May 5: Fun pictures from the 2014 Breakfast with the Dean on Triton Day

Update: It has been brought to our attention that this item actually includes pictures from three different events:  the overnight stay program dinner, sponsored by the IDEA Student Center; a Jacobs Scholars reception, also hosted by the IDEA Center; and the Breakfast with the Deans (though apparently one of the pictures is from 2013). We regret the error.

Admitted students got a chance to mingle with current students, faculty and staff members during the Jacobs School's annual Breakfast with the Dean on Triton Day. The event is hosted by the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, the National Society of Black Engineers and the Society of Women Engineers. Below are some pictures of the fun. We spotted professors Tara Javidi, Andrew Kang, Darren Lipomi and Rick Ord, among others.

SWE hosts fun Girls' Night In at Jacobs Hall

Members of the Society of Women Engineers here at UC San Diego got to kick back and relax during a Girls' Night In February 21. Dancing, games, desserts and mocktails were all part of the program. The latter included a ginger ale Classy Lassy and a Lime Mimosa. Desserts included chocolate-chip muffins, pies and Oreos. Who says engineers don't know how to have fun?