UC San Diego’s Formula SAE Team Places 24th Overall at Competition

2015 Triton Racing Team

UC San Diego’s Formula SAE team, Triton Racing, placed 24^th overall out of 80 teams at the annual Formula SAE competition, held this year at Lincoln Airpark in Lincoln, Nebraska June 17 to 20. This is better than a UC San Diego team has ever done in competition.

The competition included a number of events. On Friday, the team competed in the Skid Pad, Acceleration and Autocross events.

“We had a mechanical failure on Thursday that set us back,” said Natalie Fenaroli, one of the car’s two drivers. “The right front hub sheered – or rather, the wheel came off.”

The part that broke wasn’t one that the team had on hand in their stash of spare parts since they had machined it themselves. Luckily, the students were able to network with other teams and in doing so, got in contact with Speedway Motors, a local company with a machine shop.

“Speedway Motors helped us design and manufacture a replacement part,” said Fenaroli. “In addition, a student from the University of Nebraska stayed up all night to help us complete the welding. We included stickers from both Speedway Motors and the University of Nebraska on the car for the following day’s competition.”

After putting the wheel back on, the team was prepared to compete in the Endurance event on Saturday.

“I completed something like seven laps before we changed drivers,” said Fenaroli. “I could smell metal burning, but the driver change happened so fast that I didn’t have time to warn the second driver.”

The result? The same wheel came off, preventing the team from finishing the Endurance leg of the competition. The team learned a lot, says Fenaroli, about design processes.

“Sloppy bearings caused extra forces that we didn't take into account,” said Fenaroli. “Basically the wheel could wiggle around, so next year we will invest in higher precision bearings.”

Overall, the team worked really well together, said Fenaroli.

Triton Racing placed 9^th in the Business Presentation and 2^nd in Efficiency, earning them a trophy for the first time.

Watch the wrap up video here:

Triton Racing FSAE Lincoln Nebraska 2015
PLEASE WATCH IN HD!UC San Diego Triton Racing gives students hands-on experience in engineering, project management, and marketing by developing cutting-edge gasoline and electric race cars. Visit us at sae.ucsd.edu to learn more and to find out how you can participate.This summer, the team traveled to Lincoln, Nebraska to compete against 100 teams from around the world. The team took the international stage by storm leading to a 2nd place finish in fuel efficiency and a top 25 finish overall.Shot and edited by: Keita Funakawa (www.FKFilms.com)Special thanks to:Spark Aerial&Yaseen Kady
Posted by Triton Racing on Tuesday, July 14, 2015

For more on this year's car, click here.

Documentary

Since the 2015 race car is so unique, Triton Racing decided to film a documentary that follows the production of the car from start to finish. The documentary is being filmed by UC San Diego student Keita Funakawa. Stay tuned for news of it's release! In the meantime, check out this trailer:

Competition is less than a day away, here's a trailer for our upcoming documentary! Huge thanks to @keitawf
Posted by Triton Racing on Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Alumni from computer science research group wrote two For Dummies books

Bill Griswold during a talk.

The research group of William Griswold now boasts two alumni who have written For Dummies books. We're ready to bet that's a pretty unique occurrence.

The most recent tome, "Minecraft Modding for Kids" was co-authored by two Ph.D.s in Griswold's group, Sarah Guthals and Stephen Foster, as well as biochemistry Ph.D. Lindsey Handley. The book was released July 13, 2015.  In 2013, the trio co-founded ThoughtSTEM, a company dedicated to teaching students in elementary, middle and high schools how to program. Last year, they launched LearnToMod, a software package that teaches users how to program while playing Minecraft.

After an introductory chapter about creating modifications, or “mods,” within Minecraft, the majority of their book focuses on learning programming concepts by building games inside of Minecraft, including:

• Spleef: build an arena paved with blocks, which disappear every time every time players step on them. The goal is not to fall. Players can add other challenges to the game, such as creatures blocking their way.
• Monster Arena: build an arena full of monsters. Players need to avoid the monsters to get through to the other side of the arena, where they break a block. They are then sent back to the starting point of the game, which gets even harder.
• Capture the flag: create magic wands that can emit exploding projectiles. Players then need to use the wands to destroy their adversaries’ flags, while protecting their own.

While they create the mini-games, players learn computer science concepts such as functions, variables, lists, parameters and libraries. The book also includes information about game design and game mechanics.

More info here. 

 Meanwhile, "Android App Development" is in its third edition. The book's author, Michael Burton, earned a bachelor's in electrical engineering and a master's in computer science at UC San Diego--also in Griswold's research group. He is now director of mobile engineering at Groupon. His book includes easy-to-follow access to the latest programming techniques that take advantage of the new features of the Android operating system. Plus, two programs are provided: a simple program to get you started and an intermediate program that uses more advanced aspects of the Android platform.

Learn more about Burton in this Q&A. 

Squishy robot that jumps is in the media spotlight

It's been compared to a frog, called "extremely cute" and "a bouncing bot." A robot designed by engineers at Harvard University and the University of California, San Diego, became a media darling this week. The robot is the first of its kind with a 3D-printed body that transitions from hard at the core to soft on the outside. It also is capable of more than 30 untethered jumps.
Below are some of the videos it starred in this week: And many more...

Jacobs School alum teaches how to program inside of Minecraft at Minecon 2015

About to teach in the #Glassroom #Minecon2015 #Minecraft in #Education #TNTCanon pic.twitter.com/ULHp6GpYT3

— Sarah Guthals (@sarahguthals) July 5, 2015

Sarah Guthals, a postdoctoral researchers in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, got to teach at Minecon 2015, the all-things-Minecraft convention that took place in London July 4 and 5.

She was at the event with fellow ThoughtSTEM co-founders Stephen Foster, a computer science Ph.D. student, and Lindsey Handley, a biology Ph.D. student.

ThoughtSTEM developed LearntoMod, a software package that teachers how to program inside of Minecraft. At Minecon, Guthals trained teachers to do the same. Event recap in Tweets below.

#Minecon2015 #Minecraft #Educators selfie!!!!! Competing with the one we did in #ISTE2015 pic.twitter.com/tEkbsv075q

— Sarah Guthals (@sarahguthals) July 5, 2015

Learning minecraft round 2 with the infectiously smiley @sarahguthals. #msminecon15

— Danny (@118perdoni) July 5, 2015

Just started 2nd talk STEM Focused with @sarahguthals #msminecon15 pic.twitter.com/wmQMyJQeK7

— Nic Hughes (@duck_star) July 5, 2015

@sarahguthals teaching fractions & logic gates with #Minecraft - totally engaging & inspiring #girlsinSTEM #STEAM pic.twitter.com/h3fBoeHuOU

— Louise Harris (@Louiseharris33) July 5, 2015

One of the #Educators made a half adder with logic gates in #Minecraft! #teachcs #teachstem #Minecon2015 pic.twitter.com/gyuCw79hFM

— Sarah Guthals (@sarahguthals) July 5, 2015

#Minecon2015 @LindseyDHandley pic.twitter.com/2GFpDFuFmo

— Sarah Guthals (@sarahguthals) July 5, 2015

After the last 2 weeks I can't wait to see what http://t.co/tTvt2svrlA turns into This is going to be a great time for #Minecraft #Education

— Sarah Guthals (@sarahguthals) July 6, 2015

Love the dedication to solving circuitry challenges with #redstone in #Minecraft! https://t.co/FgFStSMudR

— Sarah Guthals (@sarahguthals) July 6, 2015

IEEE Chapter Continues to Grow

IEEE is one of the largest student organizations at UC San Diego. The national organization is the largest professional organization for electrical engineers nationwide. Despite having endless electrical engineering students at its disposal, the university’s IEEE has done a notable job developing both professional and leadership opportunities for all members, and strong connections amongst members for a “family feel."

IEEE is divided into three different groups: organization members, staff members and officers. Any organization member can be staff, who shadow the officers. This creates a stepping-stone process to an officer position. Staff members receive priority at IEEE’s technical workshops in return for the extra work they put in. Gerardo Gonzalez, a staff member, notes that getting to attend as a staff member is “a great introduction into the organization as a whole,” and he believes his participation in the organization has been a true learning experience with an important introduction to the real world. Staff members have many directions in which they may go, such as outreach or even project teams.

Outreach

According to Will Chen, Outreach Chair this past school year and Electrical Engineering major about to enter his junior year, IEEE’s volunteer work is geared towards creating more STEM opportunities for both students on campus and within the greater San Diego community. The Outreach Team puts forth its best efforts to “expose others to all different resources and opportunities as possible.” Chen recalls that after their STEM Merit Badge Fair event in which boy scouts may earn their electronic and computer programming badges, he received an email from a grateful mother whose son was about to drop out of his school’s programming class before attending IEEE’s STEM program. He was eager to return to his school’s program, proving that t IEEE’s members are making a difference through hands-on learning activities.

Workshops and Project Teams

Electrical engineers are no exception to the many engineers who seek hands-on experience, and IEEE has been successfully facilitating the development of engineering skills using technical workshops and project teams. In fact, the technical resources IEEE offers are what first attracted past Outreach Chair Will Chen to the organization. Chen was involved in the Grand PrIEEE (pronounced “pr-ee”) project, gaining experience programming and working with circuit boards.

Jamie Chao, this past school year’s Project Team Chair, was in charge of the Grand PrIEEE, which is only one of many projects IEEE develops, like the Micromouse competition. Chao, an Electrical Engineering senior, says the Grand PrIEEE project consists of constructing an autonomous line-following robot. During the Fall quarter, the team brainstorms the schematics. In the winter, they configure the basic components, build sensors (usually ROC or optimal cam sensors) and use high pass filters. To follow the line, the robot either needs to see a white taped line or a copper wire emitting electromagnetic fields. Finally, in the Spring quarter, the team combines all the processes and refines the robot.

IEEE project projects are coordinated in relation to the classes electrical engineers must take. For example, ECE 125A and ECE 125B are both power classes and are referenced when dealing with the power components of the robots.

“You get what you put in,” said Chao. And because IEEE members put heavy effort into their projects, most students are inspired to return the year after.

IEEE member and officer Tony Wong describes his experience with the organization as “helpful, especially as a first year student and when you don’t know what resources to utilize.” The interdisciplinary aspect of the club, given its technical workshops, professional development, engaging students, and extensive bonding and ties made amongst members, prepared Wong before making any mistakes.

As for Ryan Collins, current 2016 President, he says members are “not just people who want to get their resumes boosted.” In addition, he notes that the skills-building opportunities allow members to become more confident in what they are learning – confidence that they can then lend to others when given the role of, say, staff member or officer.

As for the future of UC San Diego’s IEEE chapter, Collins hopes to hear from recruiters and leverage their expertise as he plans for more professional events and Tech Talks in order for members to gain exposure to more companies. Collins is also working towards obtaining a new project space – a designated area for multiple student organizations to work on side projects.

Keep up with IEEE at http://ieee.ucsd.edu/ 

Cocoon Cam, the first Wellness Video Baby Monitor

Congratulations to the von Liebig Entrepreneurism Center Cocoon Cam team for graduating the NSF I-Corps Program in Washington DC!

(From left to right) Dr. Nadir Weibel (Mentor from UCSD CSE Department), Rubi Sanchez,
Pavan Kumar and Dennis Abremski (Mentor from von Liebig Entrepreneurism Center)

Recognizing that there was a need for smarter baby monitoring, team founders Pavan Kumar, Siva Nattamai and Rubi Sanchez developed Cocoon Cam to make baby parenting less worrisome through continuous tracking of heart rate, respiratory rate and temperature.

"Siva had a baby about 2 years ago," explained Pavan Kumar, one of the founders of Cocoon Cam. "He started looking for a baby monitor that could tell that his baby is okay when he is away, but was not able to find any product in the market that met his needs."

Using machine vision to measure heart and respiratory rate and infrared sensors to detect skin temperature, Cocoon Cam allows parents to view videos and receive alerts on their smartphone when their baby needs attention.

During the von Liebig I-Corps program, the team identified the market size for the baby monitor industry as well as stakeholders and channels for bringing Cocoon Cam to market. Throughout the program, the team was mentored by entrepreneur Dennis Abremski and Computer Science and Engineering research scientist and lecturer Dr. Nadir Weibel. With their help, the team was able to start building relationships with potential partners and customers. After over 100 customer interviews, the team realized that Cocoon Cam would be viable as both a consumer product and tool in the medical field. To those who want to start their own companies, the team urges startup founders to get out of the building.

"It is important for startup founders to talk to as many potential customers as possible to understand the real customer need for your product or service," Pavan explained.

Not long after completing the von Liebig I-Corps program, the team was accepted into the NSF I-Corps Program in Washington DC in April and graduated from the program in June. Since then, the Cocoon Cam team has continued working at full speed. Within the last few months, the team took home a prize at the Moxie Center's Zahn Prize Competition, launched their website, completed prototype development and began testing Cocoon Cam with customers in San Diego.

Congratulations again to this team for all their success! We know it won't be long until Cocoon Cam hits the market!

Want to know more?

See more on their website, "like" Cocoon Cam on Facebook and keep up with the Cocoon Cam team's updates on Twitter.

The Moxie Center Closes On a High Note

The Moxie Center for Student Entrepreneurship capped its 2 ½-year life by winning the “Excellence in Entrepreneur Mentorship” Award from San Diego Startup Week 2015. Created with a gift from the Moxie Foundation, the Moxie Center opened its doors in January 2013 as an entrepreneurial space, education program and resource for all UC San Diego students. The Center developed and delivered programs to teach students how to turn their ideas into businesses in the Entrepreneur’s Academy, to advise and mentor student startup teams in the Incubator program, and to provide opportunities to practice pitching their business ideas through quarterly Pitchfest prize competitions.

Without further philanthropic support to fund its operations, the Moxie Center officially closed on June 30, 2015, and its student teams have now transitioned into The Basement, a new student incubator space managed by Alumni and Community Engagement. Moxie Center Executive Director Jay Kunin, PhD, will continue to teach entrepreneurship and commercialization classes as a Lecturer in the Jacobs School of Engineering and in the von Liebig Entrepreneurism Center.

Dr. Jay Kunin, Executive Director of the Moxie Center, receives
the Award for Excellence in Entrepreneur Mentorship from
Austin Neudecker, Co-Founder of San Diego Startup Week, June 19, 2015

During his time at the Moxie Center, Kunin introduced entrepreneurship and commercialization to over 500 students in multiple classes in several Engineering departments, as well as the Social Innovation classes offered by the Center for Student Involvement, and numerous student professional groups. He also developed and taught the Center’s Entrepreneur’s Academy, and managed a corps of over 20 volunteer advisors and mentors from the San Diego business, investment and entrepreneur community.

“Dr. Jay Kunin and advisor Dr. Jay Gilberg are rare gems who helped foster and empower the students in the Moxie Center and Moxie Incubator,” said Joyce Sunday (Chemistry ‘15). “They taught us to not only be dreamers, but doers and innovators.” Joyce’s startup, Wastelights, began as a Moxie Center Incubator Team and is now providing power to underserved communities by converting sewage into electricity and turning kitchen waste into biofuel and biochar.

Moxie Center students pose for a celebratory photo after
the 2014 Zahn Prize Competition.

Since opening in 2013, the Moxie Teaching Incubator Program admitted 46 teams, including over 150 students from across the campus.  Students came to the Moxie Center with majors from all six departments in the Jacobs School of Engineering (Bioengineering, Computer Science & Engineering, Electrical & Computer Engineering, Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, NanoEngineering, and Structural Engineering), as well as from Biology, Chemistry, Economics, Psychology, Cognitive Science, Music, Urban Studies & Planning, Communication, the Rady School of Management and the School of Medicine.

Moxie Center startup Autoponics at work in one
of the Center labs.

“The Moxie Center welcomed students from all departments and provided anyone interested in innovation with tremendous, genuinely motivated resources,” said Jane Henderson. “I am a Physical Chemistry PhD student and admit I was lured to my first Moxie Center Pitchfest competition on account of the free pizza. Jay Kunin welcomed me to the event and was a great host, encouraging all of the students in attendance to stand in front of the audience and share their ideas.”

Entrepreneur’s Academy is the open, non-credit experiential class that was offered by the Moxie Center to teach entrepreneurial thinking.

In Spring Quarter 2015, Jane also took part in the Moxie Center’s Entrepreneur’s Academy, an open, non-credit experiential class to teach students how to turn an idea into a business. The Moxie Center offered the course every quarter since Spring 2014, introducing entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial thinking to over 160 students.  “As a scientist, I greatly appreciated the instruction of the scientific method of innovation taught by Jay Kunin and Jay Gilberg,” said Jane. “It was an exceptional opportunity to listen to and learn from their experience as both entrepreneurs and investors. The Academy's inherent value to the students of UCSD is exceptional and I am very grateful for the experience.”

The Moxie Center hosted Bill Aulet - managing director of the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship and senior lecturer at MIT - for a Distinguished Lecture in November 2014.

The Moxie Center also sponsored Distinguished Lectures by leading entrepreneur educators including Bill Aulet (MIT) and Steve Blank (Stanford). Though each lecture was presented to standing-room audiences of over 200 students, staff and faculty, many students were able to personally meet and connect with the lecturers after each session.

The Moxie Center helped inspire many student entrepreneurs, but was also able to help jumpstart some of their careers. Many of these successful students are already well on their way to commercializing the very products they incubated at the Moxie Center. 

Uzair Mohammad (Bioengineering ‘16) saw the Moxie Center as “the perfect first step” and the key to accessing UC San Diego’s numerous resources as a freshman. “In my experience at UCSD, the Moxie Center was exactly what I needed to move forward and turn my idea into an ongoing serious venture. UCSD has a lot of resources available to its engineers and entrepreneurial students, but understanding where to start proved to be one of the most difficult portions of the process,” Uzair said. “In addition to the many services it provided (advice, work space, fabrication workshops, computers, etc), it made it easy to find and approach other resources, both on and off campus.”  Uzair’s startup, Saaf Engineering, is creating innovative bacterial water filters, using fibers created through bacterial metabolism.

Uzair Mohammad (BE ‘16) receives a Zahn Prize award at the Moxie Center’s grand opening in 2013.

“The Moxie Center's overall purpose was to act as an incubator for undergraduate entrepreneurial ventures, and it accomplished this and much more by presenting us with extremely useful tools and spaces, and by acting as a hub for all other resources we could reach out to,” said Uzair.

Daniel Lee, co-founder of Hush Technology, pitches Hush smart earplugs at the EvoNexus incubator Demo Day, which he won.

Hush Technology, founded by a group of UC San Diego students known for creating the world’s first smart earplugs, also began as a Moxie Center team and utilized its resources to create their company. “The Moxie Center was one of the fantastic UCSD entrepreneurship programs that were critical for Hush to get started in the first place,” said Hush Technology Co-founder Daniel Lee. “The infrastructure and programming that they set in place was very important for learning how to create a startup, and I'm truly grateful for the groundwork that they helped lay for me to become an entrepreneur.”  Hush graduated from the Moxie Center to the EvoNexus incubator in San Diego.

In only a few short years, the Moxie Center became an invaluable student resource and innovation space for interdisciplinary collaboration, and at its close, Kunin is glad to see the Center’s students and teams continue their work and transition into The Basement.

Winning Moxie Center teams with the judges at the 2015 Zahn Prize Competition

“The Moxie Center provided a wonderful opportunity to introduce entrepreneurial thinking to UC San Diego students and to mentor students in starting up their businesses,” said Kunin.  “It’s been a great joy for me to work with the next generation of entrepreneurs – I learn so much from each of them, and believe we’ve been a useful resource for them. I think the Moxie Center has greatly enhanced entrepreneurial education and opportunities for UC San Diego students, and I’m hopeful that The Basement will be able to expand on the Moxie Center’s success.”

###

The gift from the Moxie Foundation that created and sustained the Center for three years has run its course. Entrepreneurship, however, is alive and well at the Jacobs School of Engineering. It is a key part of the Jacobs School’s mission to transfer discoveries for the benefit of society. 

The Moxie Center has been a tremendous resource for students at the Jacobs School of Engineering and for the campus as a whole. The Moxie Foundation made a significant investment in entrepreneurship at the Jacobs School of Engineering, for which the Jacobs School is sincerely grateful.

The UC San Diego entrepreneurship ecosystem includes the following:

Von Liebig Center for Entrepreneurism Center

*entrepreneurship classes 

*entrepreneurship mentoring

* Innovation Corps (I-Corps) at UC San Diego (funded by the NSF and administered by the von Liebig Entrepreneurism Center). Read a story about the NSF I-Corps program at the on Liebig Entrepreneurism Center.

Gordon Engineering Leadership Center at the Jacobs School of Engineering

The Gordon Center offers a novel, end-to-end set of leadership and training curricula for students at the high school, undergraduate and graduate levels, as well as for professionals working in technology fields.

The Basement at UC San Diego In February 2015, UC San Diego opened The Basement, a co-working space for all UC San Diego students. The Basement serves as a resource and meeting place for entrepreneurial students from across all of UC San Diego. 

UC San Diego Entrepreneurship and Innovation Minor

*administered by the UC San Diego Rady School of Management

*open to engineering undergraduates (and all other UC San Diego undergraduates)

The Triton Fund

*venture capital focused on innovations coming out of UC San Diego

UC San Diego Entrepreneur Challenge

*student-run organization that organizes entrepreneurship events and competitions throughout each academic year. Each year’s events culminate in high-profile business plan competitions.

*learn more about the mission of the Entrepreneur Challenge here

Film Project Highlights Entrepreneurship at UC San Diego and on Torrey Pines Mesa