Audio Conversation and Video on Si/GE Nanowires with Prof Shadi Dayeh

Lithium-ion batteries are by no means perfect. One approach to improving their performance is to look at the lithiation process at the nanoscale, and to develop new battery architectures that make use of nanotechnologies such as nanowires.

Below is a recording of a conversation with Electrical engineering professor Shadi Dayeh from the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering in which we talk about some recent research in this area.

   

New Students to the Jacobs School: WELCOME!...Work Hard / Get Involved / Have Fun

NanoEngineering professor Darren Lipomi speaking at the Jacobs School community welcome.

Welcome incoming students to the Jacobs School of Engineering. Everyone here at the Jacobs School is thrilled that you are here. CONGRATULATIONS on making it this far! 

This "photo of the week" (which includes NanoEngineering professor Darren Lipomi) and the other photos in this post are from a casual community welcome at the Jacobs School hosted by the UC San Diego chapters of the National Society of Black Engineering (NSBE), the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) and the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) and the IDEA Student Center. 

Now…get ready to work hard! Earning an engineering degree is a lot of work. But it can also be a lot of fun. One of your challenges is to seek out the fun and joy in the work. Get to know other engineering students. Make friends with people in your classes. (Everything is a little bit easier when you’re part of a community of students who are facing similar challenges.)

Thanks to electrical engineering professor Tara Javidi for welcoming students and providing insights.

Take advantage of the many resources available to you. The IDEA Student Center is a great resource, and also a great clearinghouse for finding other resources. USE THE RESOURCES AVAILABLE, GET HELP WHEN YOU NEED IT. But also, don’t get discouraged. Engineering is supposed to be hard. The curriculum is supposed to challenge you. What’s important is that you are learning the material, mastering it so that you can apply it in future classes. 

Get involved in the Jacobs School community. Thereis a lot to do outside the classroom that will help you succeed in the classroom and later on, in your first job and subsequent jobs. Get yourself into a lab and do research with a professor. Get involved in engineering student organizations, engineering team projects, and engineering outreach programs. Do summer internships. Do the Team Internship Program and Global TIES. Get involved with the Triton EngineeringStudent Council (TESC). (Have other links we should add here? Let me know: dbkane AT ucsd DOT edu )

Bear on the first day of Class / Fall Quarter 2013

Bear on the first day of Class / Fall Quarter 2013. Bear seems a little bit extra happy today, now that classes have started up again.

Upcoming talk: Probing cell metabolism using isotope tracers and metabolic flux analysis

Bioengineering professor Christian Metallo will be speaking next month at the Scripps Research Institute. His talk: “Probing cell metabolism using isotope tracers and metabolic flux analysis”. 

More info below.

The CENTER FOR METABOLOMICS AND MASS SPECTROMETRY presents: SAN DIEGO MASS ANALYSIS NETWORK (SANDMAN)

Thursday, October 17th from 5-7PM

The Scripps Research Institute Auditorium

A reception will follow the presentations.  All are welcome.

Eric C. Peters, Ph.D.

Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation

“The Increasing Role of MS-based Analyses in Research-Stage Biotherapeutic Construct Optimization”

Christian Metallo, Ph.D.
Dept of Bioengineering, UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering

“Probing cell metabolism using isotope tracers and metabolic flux analysis”

Host: Gary Siuzdak

Contact: Adam Schuyler (schuyler@scripps.edu)

  

For more information: http://sandman.scripps.edu/

Welcome New Students! / Weclome Week 2013

If you are looking for information on Welcome Week 2013 for the Jacobs School of Engineering, be sure to check out the IDEA Student Center page here.  They have a good listing of the engineering orientation events.

Also, be sure to check out the UC San Diego campus-wide welcome week info here.

Environmental Engineering at the Jacobs School

Since I was pulling together some basic info on environmental engineering at UC San Diego Sustainability Resource Center, I figured we might as well post the info here as well. If you know if programs, groups, initiatives that should be added, please let me know via email or in the comments. DBKANE_at_UCSD_dot_EDU

Environmental Engineering (within UCSD) Facebook group.

The MAE section (MAE = mechanical and aerospace engineering) of the UC San Diego course catalog includes the following info on the environmental engineering major:

Environmental engineering is a four-year curriculum with fundamental engineering courses in mechanics, thermodynamics, physics, chemistry, and mathematics. In the third and fourth year, an environmental engineering sequence is offered, as well as further specialization in fluid mechanics, and a wide choice of technical electives, both from within MAE and other departments. The environmental engineering major focuses on conveying an understanding and awareness of the fundamental processes associated with human industrial activity that have environmental implications, and on equipping the next generation of engineers with the tools to develop technologies that enable sustainable economic growth.

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The MAE website has the following Environmental Engineering MISSION STATEMENT (Current as of Sept 2013. Be sure to check the MAE website and UC San Diego course catalog for updated information.)

The environmental engineering major focuses on conveying an understanding and awareness of the fundamental processes associated with human industrial activity that have environmental implications, and on equipping the next generation of engineers with the tools to develop technologies that enable sustainable economic growth. The following educational objectives have been established for the environmental engineering program:

1. to provide a sound introduction to the basic sciences that underlie the disciplines of environmental engineering

2. to provide a thorough training in methods of analysis, including problem formulation and the mathematical and computational skills required by environmental engineers

3. to teach students the experimental and data analysis techniques required for engineering applications

4. to teach the fundamentals of the design process, including project management, the synthesis of information from different disciplinary areas, and innovation and creative problem solving in an engineering setting

5. to prepare students in the skills required for successful participation on teams and in leadership positions, including effective written and oral communication

6. to instill in our students an understanding of their professional and ethical responsibilities

7. to provide students with the opportunity to gain a range of experiences through classroom and extramural activities on campus and through partnerships and internships with industry, with primary and secondary schools, and with other organizations

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Engineers for a Sustainable World, UC San Diego chapter

Global TIES has sustainability-related projects you can get involved in including: One Village Philippines Project, Coastkeeper, Fiji Kindergarten Project, K-12 Environmental Education, Kenya Solar Power, Solar Water Pump,

Engineers without Borders

UCSD Biodiesel

Derek Chung (’12, Environmental Engineering, UC San Diego) gives reflections on environmental engineering.

Adam Engler kicks off fruit fly experiment at High Tech High

High Tech High 11^th grader Lizzy Marples practices anesthetizing fruit flies with carbon dioxide in preparation for a six-week experiment led by Adam Engler, a professor of bioengineering at UC San Diego.  As part of his research into how genotype affects heart function and longevity, Engler and Ph.D. student Gaurav Kaushik, bred fruit flies with genetic mutations to turn off genes important to heart function. The students will spend the next six weeks tracking these mutants along with a control group in a blind study to see whether the mutation has an adverse impact on the lifespan of the fruit fly.  The natural lifespan of a fruit fly is typically six to seven weeks, making them model organisms for longevity experiments. Despite many obvious differences, the proteins in the fruit fly heart are 82 percent similar to that of humans. 

Kaushik shows High Tech High biology students how to "put fruit flies to sleep" for counting.