Three UCLA Engineers Named Fellows of American Association for the Advancement of Science Jane Chang of chemical and biomolecular engineering, and Mona Jarrahi and Chee Wei Wong of electrical and computer engineering have been elected fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the world’s largest multidisciplinary scientific society.
From Brain to Gut, Wentai Liu Engineers Hope through Bioelectronic Medicine UCLA bioengineering distinguished professor Wentai Liu pioneered technologies that combine electronic and biological properties to help the blind see and the paralyzed walk. Now he is focusing on using electrical signals to alleviate the serious side effects of chemotherapy, detect and delay onset of Alzheimer’s disease, and improve treatment for gastrointestinal ailments.
Flapping Oscillatory Soft Robot Mimics Flying Insect UCLA materials scientists led by Ximin He, an associate professor of materials science and engineering, have unveiled a new light-responsive, flapping actuator that functions like the natural contracting and relaxing muscle movements of insect wings.
Does Cell Nucleus Size Matter in Gene Activity? Researchers Say Yes
A group of UCLA researchers led by Neil Lin, a UCLA assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and bioengineering, has discovered that the size of a cell’s nucleus, which holds DNA, can determine which genes are turned on or off.
Sensor Technology Uses Nature’s Blueprint and Machinery to Monitor Metabolism in Body An interdisciplinary research team led by Sam Emaminejad, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering and a member of the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA, has demonstrated a sensor technology based on natural biochemical processes that was able to continuously and reliably measure multiple metabolites at once from a wide range of options.
Optimizing the LA Wildfire Debris Removal Mission: USACE Leverages Expertise Across Academia, Industry, Military Logistics
Associate professor of civil and environmental engineering Jiaqi Ma is working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on designing and evaluating innovative strategies to remove debris from areas affected by the wildfires. Leveraging a Los Angeles digital twin developed by his team, the researchers are optimizing key factors, such as truck routing and scheduling of large movements, to ensure that debris removal is efficient and safe.
UCLA Computer Scientist and Microchip Innovator Jason Cong Receives ACM Computing Breakthrough Award Jason Cong, a distinguished professor of computer science and holder of the Volgenau Chair for Engineering Excellence at UCLA Samueli, has received the 2024 Charles P. “Chuck” Thacker Breakthrough in Computing Award from the Association for Computing Machinery, the world’s largest educational and scientific computing society.
UCLA Computer Scientist Raghu Meka Receives IEEE Computational Breakthrough
Award Raghu Meka, an associate professor of computer science at UCLA, has received the 2025 W. Wallace McDowell Award from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Computer Society. The award, named after World War II IBM electronics pioneer William Wallace McDowell, honors outstanding innovations in the field of computer science.
Women Engineering Deans in 2024 Ah-Hyung “Alissa” Park, a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering and the Ronald and Valerie Sugar Dean of UCLA Samueli, discusses her journey into academic leadership and her goal for the engineering school to embrace cross-disciplinary collaboration and make societal impact. Park has a joint faculty appointment in civil and environmental engineering.
UCLA Hosts Hybrid Cybersecurity Competition, LA CTF ACM Cyber, a student-organized community within the UCLA chapter of the Association for Computing Machinery, recently held its third annual “Capture the Flag” cybersecurity competition at Covel Commons and online for more than 1,000 teams from around the world.
Drinkable Seawater? One Company in Drought-Plagued SoCal is Trying a New Approach David Jassby, a professor of civil and environmental engineering, explains how, despite today’s sophisticated technology, producing potable water from seawater desalination remains cost-prohibitive when compared to processing groundwater and river water.
* The radio interview was carried on other stations, including NPR affiliates.
The Dangers of Rebuilding the Malibu Coastline. Should We Do It Anyway? Timu Gallien, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, describes some of the site-specific physical and environmental challenges along the coastline for Malibu residents who lost their homes in the Palisades fire and are looking to rebuild.
Cuddly but Costly: The Unseen Dangers of Fleece in Kids Clothes and Toys Associate professor of civil and environmental engineering Sanjay Mohanty discusses the potential dangers of microplastics, sharing that while he lets his kids wear fleece, he wouldn’t want them inhaling particles from the dryer’s lint trap.
Developing Faster, Simpler Tools to Treat Tuberculosis In a WNYC Studios interview aired on more than 500 public radio stations, assistant professor of bioengineering Mireille Kamariza explores the scientific community’s ongoing efforts to understand, detect and treat the infectious disease that kills the most people worldwide.
US Earthquake Safety Relies on Federal Employees’ Expertise Civil and environmental engineering professor Jonathan Stewart co-authored this recent opinion piece outlining the ongoing threats from earthquakes and the need for federal scientific experts to guide policies.
Nurturing Deeper Ways of Knowing in Science Sergio Carbajo, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, pens this piece on the importance of initiatives that increase diversity of thought in science and engineering, drawing from his experience in creating the humanities-informed STEM curricula at UCLA.
Extracting Hydrogen and Critical Metals from Nuisance Seaweed Associate professor-in-residence of materials science and engineering Aaron Moment discusses how he and his colleagues have discovered a new thermal treatment that breaks down carbohydrates in seaweeds to produce hydrogen fuel and extract rare earth elements from the algae.
Clever Cooling Device Shows Imagination, Perhaps Even Utility Qibing Pei, a professor of materials science and engineering and mechanical and aerospace engineering, discusses his research team’s work developing cooling technology that can pump away heat continuously by using layers of flexing thin films.
STUDENTS
UCLA Chemical Engineering Doctoral Student Named Schmidt Science Fellow for First Time For the first time since the establishment of the global Schmidt Science Fellowship in 2017, a UCLA student has been selected to join the program. Xintong Yuan, a chemical engineering doctoral student at UCLA Samueli, will join the 2025 class of next-generation multidisciplinary researchers in pursuit of postdoctoral studies.
