Baskin Engineering at UC Santa Cruz

🏆 Congrats to #BaskinEngineering alumna Saumya Bhatnagar (M.S. Computer Science), named a Top 50 Woman Chief Product Officer of 2026! She’s also a Forbes 30 Under 30 alum and one of IBM’s Top 100 Women in Tech. bit.ly/4qpRKs9

Climate action moves forward despite Trump’s policy rollbacks. Will it be enough? It’s clear the global efforts to prevent the worst possible effects of climate change are finally making headway. Despite that progress, global temperatures continue to reach record highs.

“...better and safer bike lanes, pedestrian options, trains, metro systems and the like," said Anne Criss, director of climate & sustainability initiatives at #BaskinEngineering. "There’s a lot that governments can do, both at federal, state and local levels, to facilitate that.” bit.ly/4kmkQYh

Drone flies in the sky, shot from below. UCSC/BE logo and text reads "Misleading text in the real-world environment can hijack the decision-making of embodied AI systems—without hacking their software."

New research led by #BaskinEngineering faculty Alvaro Cardenas and Cihang Xie presents the first academic exploration of environmental indirect prompt injection attacks against embodied #AI systems. Read the full story: bit.ly/3YYAoaN #ArtificialIntelligence #Cybersecurity

How UC scientists are putting AI to the test Even as they’re pushing the boundaries of research and discovery with AI, UC scientists are asking the right questions about the transformation this technology brings.

🌪️⛈️ Weather #forecasting is computationally demanding—that's why #BaskinEngineering Assistant Professor @ashesh6810.bsky.social aims to use #AI to predict extreme weather using a fraction of the time, energy, and #computing power of today’s methods. Via @uofcalifornia.bsky.social: bit.ly/3ZrNDAU

Shaping the future of artificial intelligence UC Santa Cruz experts are working to guide AI in ethical, sustainable, and socially beneficial directions

Artificial intelligence is beginning to have serious real-world impact on a global scale. That’s why #BaskinEngineering experts are developing innovative solutions to steer #AI in the right direction. Learn about their work: bit.ly/4qQ6Vf1 #StandUpForUC @uofcalifornia.bsky.social

Text "Named Santa Cruz Works 'Titans'" with four images left to right: Schmidt, Deamer, Gomez, & Robbins. UC Santa Cruz Baskin Engineering logo at bottom on a blue background.

🎉 Congrats to #BaskinEngineering professors Holger Schmidt, David Deamer, Marcella Gomez, and alum & current Ph.D. student Ash Robbins, who were named "Titans" by SantaCruzWorks - recognizing their impact on our region’s technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship ecosystem. bit.ly/4jQ9DyP

KRAW Lecture Series: Science and Technology; Our Voices will define the century. UC Santa Cruz (text) on a background picturing a close up green leaf.

Javier González-Rocha holds a drone in a UC Santa Cruz field

📣 Mark your calendars! Join #BaskinEngineering Assistant Professor of Applied Mathematics @javigr.bsky.social for his @ucsantacruz.bsky.social KRAW Lecture ➡️ Sensing the Unseen: How Drones and Ground Sensors Reveal the Hidden Air Quality Impacts of Climate Change. 🗓️ Jan 21. Register: bit.ly/49FAlWj

How a new system of drones and low-cost sensors can protect communities from air pollution UC Santa Cruz research project is documenting how a shift in farm work patterns creates greater health risks.

“The folks contributing the least to climate change are the ones bearing the most of the brunt,” said #BaskinEngineering Professor @javigr.bsky.social, who is using drones to help empower farmworker communities impacted by air pollution. Via @mercurynews.com: bayareane.ws/49hZtSM

The Future of Health: Top Biomed Stories of 2025 AI-driven brain implants to detect depression and graphene tattoo biosensors lead IEEE Spectrum's top biomedical stories of 2025.

We made the top 6 @spectrum.ieee.org stories of 2025! Featuring #BaskinEngineering Professor Katia Obraczka's Pulse-Fi technology - which uses low cost WiFi devices to detect heart rate.💡 bit.ly/4jxj8D6

nook with animal crossing background

dog character on animal crossing background

nighttime animal crossing scene with water and trees

nighttime animal crossing scene with water and trees

In his latest book, @baskinengineering.bsky.social Professor of Computational Media Noah Wardrip-Fruin explores why Animal Crossing: New Horizons became the comfort game of 2020, and what it revealed about comfort, community, care, and capitalism: https://bit.ly/4q4ck1J

David Deamer and David Haussler elected Fellows of the National Academy of Inventors The recognition is the highest professional distinction awarded to academic inventors.

Congratulations to #BaskinEngineering faculty David Deamer and David Haussler, who have been named Fellows of the National Academy of Inventors—the highest professional distinction awarded to academic inventors! Read more about their decades of impact: bit.ly/4aJCBxK @ucsantacruz.bsky.social

Genomics #postdocs: applications are open for our Next Wave of Faculty in Genomics Symposium (due Jan 15)!. Come share your science in Santa Cruz, home of redwoods, ocean views, and the world’s most unbothered mascot:🐌🌲🌊. Link: genomics.ucsc.edu/calendar_eve... @baskinengineering.bsky.social

AI Wildfire Modeling Expands Beyond The West As Climate Risks Shift National Grid collaborates with Rhizome to deploy AI technology that identifies and helps prevent wildfire risks through their climate resilience platform.

Mentioned by @forbes.com! 50 student innovators at @ucsantacruz.bsky.social spent two days developing #AI powered solutions for wildfire mitigation and climate resilience at the “Reboot the Earth” hackathon co-hosted by the United Nations and #BaskinEngineering. bit.ly/4rE8iyt

Our Brains May Have Pre-Configured Instructions to Understand the World When We're Born Discover how brain organoids are helping us uncover whether early thought patterns emerge from experience or are hardwired into our DNA.

New research led by #BaskinEngineering Prof @talsharf.bsky.social suggests the brain might be preloaded with a kind of internal template for reading the world, even before the world reaches us - via
@discovermag.bsky.social bit.ly/4rFJMx8

2025 iGEM team investigates solution to common food toxin The undergraduate research team won a silver medal at the 2025 international jamboree.

Congrats to the 2025 @ucsantacruz.bsky.social iGEM team for placing 2nd at this year's iGEM competition!🥈 The team of #BaskinEngineering undergraduates developed a novel, accessible method for removing aflatoxin B1—a common microtoxin—found in fruits, nuts, rice and grains. Read on: bit.ly/4pmdjdH

Evidence suggests early developing human brains are preconfigured with instructions for understanding the world Assistant Professor of Biomolecular Engineering Tal Sharf's lab used organoids to make fundamental discoveries about human brain development.

🧠 Are we born with built-in instructions for navigating the world? #BaskinEngineering Prof Tal Sharf found that early brain activity occurs in structured patterns before outside input—suggesting our brains are preconfigured with instructions for understanding the world! 🤯 Read on: bit.ly/3K8dr19

Inspiring Change: Help us invest in expanding life-changing educational opportunities and advance world-changing ideas and solutions that benefit all of us💫

David Deamer, professor emeritus at Baskin Engineering, applied for funding from the National Institutes of Health to develop nanopore sequencing technology—leading to the creation of the MinION sequencing device, seen here.

In a new opinion piece, #BaskinEngineering Dean Alexander Wolf highlights growing concerns about the U.S. government-university-industry ecosystem and calls on our community to come together and address the challenge. bit.ly/4i8gpyW

UC Santa Cruz is the top public research university in the world for highly cited researchers amid strong 2025 list 25 UC Santa Cruz researchers earned a spot on the prestigious annual list.

UC Santa Cruz was ranked the #1 public research university in the world for highly cited researchers over the past 10 years (2014-2024) by Clarivate.

Jenya Meydbray: Forging a path through a maturing solar industry By joining Nextpower, formerly Nextracker, Meydbray intends to help the solar industry mature by integrating components that make up today’s PV power plants.

Jenya Meydbray, a #BaskinEngineering alum, has spent two decades focused on how quality and reliability shape #solar commercialization. After founding Kiwa PVEL and holding roles at Cypress Creek Renewables and Nevados Engineering, he now serves as a vice president at Nextpower.⚡️ bit.ly/4p9Q6Ld

Researchers pinpoint target for treating virus that causes the stomach bug New study reveals how human astroviruses bind to humans cells and paves the way for new therapies and vaccines

😷 Ever had a stomach bug? New #BaskinEngineering research brings us one step closer to stopping one of its viral causes! Prof Rebecca DuBois's lab revealed how human astroviruses—a cause of the stomach bug—bind to human cells, paving the way for future therapies and vaccines. bit.ly/3JfDrqY

Effort aims to uncover the learning and reasoning potential of brain organoids The Braingeneers team will to test the ability of brain organoids to solve tasks in real time

Can lab-grown brain tissue learn like #AI? 🧠🤖 @ucscgenomics.bsky.social researchers led by #BaskinEngineering prof Tal Sharf will explore whether brain organoids can learn from experience, respond to feedback, and solve tasks in real time. bit.ly/4howct5

Arsema Moges

Ricardo Esquivel

From @baskinengineering.bsky.social, ​​Arsema Moges (College Nine, technology and information management) is a product manager at Apple, and Ricardo Esquivel (John R. Lewis, computer science) is a software engineer at Microsoft.

United Nations and Baskin Engineering to host West Coast’s first ‘Reboot the Earth’ hackathon The event will bring together developers to create technological solutions to address the climate crisis.

👋 BIG news! We're collaborating with the United Nations to bring the “Reboot the Earth” hackathon to the West Coast for the first time! The event will gather aspiring developers to create open source technological solutions to address the climate crisis. 🌎 Learn more and get involved: bit.ly/3J8VrD3

AI leaders gather in Silicon Valley for UC Santa Cruz, SF Tech Week event More than 200 people gathered for an event called “AI Frontier: Data, Agents & Robots.”

Thank you to all who joined us for the #SFTechWeek event " #AI Frontier: Data, Agents & Robots” co-hosted by #BaskinEngineering GenAI Center! Major themes emerged during discussions including #cybersecurity, #verifiability, and #scalability. Learn more: bit.ly/4nLwNaB

Regional ocean dynamics can be better emulated with AI models Researchers show the success of their technical in a critical region: the Gulf of Mexico.

🌊 Research led by #BaskinEngineering Assistant Professor of Applied Mathematics @ashesh6810.bsky.social shows that regional ocean dynamics in the Gulf of Mexico can be better emulated with #AI models—offering new possibilities for navigation and extreme weather monitoring. Read on: bit.ly/4n0AHvj

CAE in cybersecurity community

Exciting news! UC Santa Cruz has been named a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Research by the U.S. National Security Agency. This recognition highlights #BaskinEngineering's research and educational contributions to advancing #cybersecurity. Read more: bit.ly/3VO9xN7

🏆 Our students made waves at the @acm.org SIGBED International Student Research Competition! Ph.D. student Morgan Masters won 1st in the grad category and Caden Jacobs [pictured] was runner-up in the undergraduate category. Both are co-advised by Profs Colleen Josephson and Steve McGuire.

‘Future-guided’ AI improves seizure prediction Engineers developed a deep learning method that manipulates time to make better predictions.

🧠 Researchers at #BaskinEngineering have a developed an #AI - powered #seizure prediction method that improves performance by up to 44.8%—led by one of our computer science undergrads! #deeplearning Read more: bit.ly/4nPqO4Z

Learn more: bit.ly/48PbVuq