Implantable “Charging Station” Boosts Fight Against Cancer Activity Co-led by Song Li, chancellor’s professor of bioengineering, UCLA researchers have developed a device that acts as a support hub for immune cells, helping them remain active and continue attacking both solid tumors and blood cancers.
AI-Designed Diffractive Optical Processors Pave the Way for Low-Power Structural Health Monitoring UCLA researchers, led by Aydogan Ozcan, a professor of electrical and computer engineering and bioengineering, have developed a device that uses artificial intelligence to remotely extract 3D structural vibration spectra, opening new possibilities for monitoring infrastructure, improving disaster resilience and enhancing aerospace diagnostics.
UCLA Researchers Engineer CAR-T Cells to Target Hard-to-Treat Solid Tumors Led by Yvonne Chen, researchers have engineered T cells to suppress tumor defenses without impacting the broader immune system, showing promising early results in mice with ovarian cancer. Chen is co-director of the Tumor Immunology and Immunotherapy Program at the UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center and has a joint appointment in chemical and biomolecular engineering.
UCLA Engineering Professor M.C. Frank Chang Receives John Fritz Medal for Chip Innovations A distinguished professor of electrical and computer engineering and holder of the Wintek Chair in Electrical Engineering, Chang is honored for “pioneering contributions and innovations in the development of heterojunction technology and system-on-chip technologies with unprecedented functionality, bandwidth and re-configurability.”
3 UCLA Professors Receive Distinguished Engineering Educator Award Veronica Santos, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and bioengineering; Richard Wesel, a professor of electrical and computer engineering; and Benjamin Williams, a professor and chair of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, have been named the 2026 Distinguished Engineering Educator Award recipients by the Engineers’ Council.
Sergio Carbajo Awarded 2026 Optica Adolph Lomb Medal The associate professor of electrical and computer engineering has been recognized by the leading international optics and photonics professional society for his “development of first-principles methodologies and seminal contributions to controlling ultrafast wavepackets in quantum matter with unprecedented space-time precision at elementary scales.”
Ah-Hyung “Alissa” Park and Aydin Babakhani Elected Senior Members of the National Academy of Inventors Park, the Ronald and Valerie Sugar Dean and a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering and of civil and environmental engineering, and Babakhani, a professor of electrical and computer engineering, are recognized for their success in translating academic research into technologies that improve society and drive economic progress.
Professor Miryung Kim Receives IEEE TCSE New Directions Award Presented annually by the IEEE Community Society Technical Community on Software Engineering, the award recognizes Kim’s leadership in data-driven software analytics and her work in establishing the significance of code clones in industrial software evolution.
Interdisciplinary Collaboration Supports Armenian Culture at PAI Ann Karagozian, a distinguished professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and director of The Promise Armenian Institute at UCLA, discusses how her teaching and leadership are shaped by both engineering and social science.
UCLA SAMUELI IN THE NEWS
Should I Worry About the Plastic in My Floss and Toothbrush? Associate professor Sanjay Mohanty of civil and environmental engineering says the concern actually revolves around packaging. Plastic tubes and bottles are often made by heating and forming plastic, which can cause microplastics to leach into floss and toothbrushes.
From Rockets to Cancer Research, Here’s How the Number Pi is Embedded in Our Lives Mechanical and aerospace engineering associate professor Artur Davoyan and Dino Di Carlo, a professor and chair of the Bioengineering Department, discuss the mathematical constant’s impact on real-world innovations, from propulsion systems to fluid dynamics.
Metallic Material Breaks 100-year Thermal Conductivity Record Yongjie Hu, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, shares his research on a newly identified metallic material that conducts heat nearly three times better than copper, paving the way to redefine thermal management in electronics.
The Case for Marine Carbon Removal to Save the Climate Gaurav Sant, director of UCLA’s Institute for Carbon Management and co-founder of the startup Equatic, discusses the viability and scalability of ocean-based carbon removal technology. He is also a professor of civil and environmental engineering and materials science and engineering at UCLA.
UCLA Researchers Test Soil for Contaminants Across LA County, from Fire Zones to Watts The article highlights a UCLA research team, including civil and environmental engineering professor Jennifer Jay, that has screened nearly 700 soil samples for hundreds of Los Angeles County residents concerned about contamination in their yards and gardens.
STUDENTS
Code with a Purpose: UCLA Computer Science Student Applies Tech to Societal Impact Fourth-year computer science student and soon-to-be Google software engineer Ashita Singh has held several leadership roles in student organizations. As president of Bruin AI, she hosted the Southern California AI Ethics Conference, bringing together more than 400 attendees from more than 20 universities to discuss the societal implications of artificial intelligence.
ALUMNI
From UCLA to Aerospace to Service: Engineering Alumna Redefines Retirement Coretta Harris ’83 helped establish the National Society of Black Engineers at UCLA, served as a mechanical engineer for the U.S. Navy, became the first female president of the UCLA Engineering Alumni Association and created a scholarship fund to support undergraduate engineering students at UCLA.
