UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering

Congratulations to @ucsandiego.bsky.social #bioengineering professor Ludmil Alexandrov!

A New Method to Steer AI Output Uncovers Vulnerabilities and Potential Improvements A team of researchers has found a way to steer the output of large language models by manipulating specific concepts inside these models. The new method could lead to more reliable, more efficient, an...

A new method to steer #AI output uncovers vulnerabilities and potential improvements, out today in @science.org: today.ucsd.edu/story/a-new-...
Work from @ucsandiego.bsky.social researchers in #datascience and #computerscience, with MIT, Harvard and UPenn.

Enjoy these #AI generated carols created by our alumna @janelleshane.com!
#tistheseason
@ucsandiego.bsky.social

Student Club Takes the Leap into Quantum Computing “I’m drawn to that sense of exploration where I’m standing at the frontier of a technology that’s still being defined,

UC San Diego students are tackling #QuantumComputing before it goes mainstream in a #UCSD undergraduate club. Enthusiasm abounds. Club president Rebecca Breihan describes the field as "thrilling."
🔗 go.ucsd.edu/44mFpgh
#QualcommInstitute @jacobsschool.bsky.social @ucsandiego.bsky.social

Making Yeast More Efficient ‘Cell Factories’ for Producing Valuable Plant Compounds Researchers have discovered a way to make yeast cells more efficient “factories” for sustainably producing valuable plant compounds, which could be used to help plants defend against disease, repel pe...

Engineers discovered a new way to make yeast cells more efficient “factories” for sustainably producing valuable plant compounds that could be used to help plants defend against disease & pests, attract pollinators, and withstand stresses such as drought & heat. today.ucsd.edu/story/making...

AI Models Can Now Be Customized with Far Less Data and Computing Power Engineers have created a new method to make large language models (LLMs) — such as the ones that power chatbots and protein sequencing tools — learn new tasks using significantly less data and computi...

Fine-tuning an #AI model to specific needs can now be done with far less data and computing power, thanks to a new method developed by engineers in the lab of @ucsandiego.bsky.social electrical engineer Pengtao Xie. #ArtificialIntelligence #LLM today.ucsd.edu/story/ai-mod...

UC San Diego Engineer Awarded Hypothesis Fund Grant to Explore Aging in Brain and Heart Cells Why do some of the body’s most important cells — like those in the brain and heart — age, even though they never divide? Chemical and nano engineering professor Zeinab Jahed has received a seed grant ...

Congrats to @zjahed.bsky.social on receiving a seed grant from the @hypothesisfund.bsky.social to explore mechanisms of aging in cells that don't divide, like those in the brain and heart. Her work could shed new light on the progression of many age-related diseases. today.ucsd.edu/story/uc-san...

This robotic skin allows tiny #robots to navigate complex fragile environments. Work by @ucsandiego.bsky.social roboticists in Science Advances.
#robotics #vinerobots
today.ucsd.edu/story/this-r...

Satellites Are Leaking the World’s Secrets: Calls, Texts, Military and Corporate Data With just $800 in basic equipment, researchers found a stunning variety of data—including thousands of T-Mobile users’ calls and texts and even US military communications—sent by satellites unencrypte...

Satellites Are Leaking the World’s Secrets: Calls, Texts, Military and Corporate Data: work by @ucsandiego.bsky.social computer scientists profiled in this @wired.com story by @agreenberg.bsky.social & @mattburgess1.bsky.social: stag2.wired.com/story/satell...
#cybersecurity

Shadi Dayeh is working at the frontiers of #medicine and #engineering, including on potentially vision-restoring whole-eye transplants. But his earliest explorations took place in a sun-baked car repair shop and the sprawling vineyards of his hometown in Lebanon.
today.ucsd.edu/story/from-l...

UC San Diego Researchers Shortlisted for International Cancer Competition Twelve teams have reached the Cancer Grand Challenges finals, including two with UC San Diego scientists. Winners will receive up to £20 million to solve cancer's toughest problems.

Rooting for bioengineering professors Ludmil B. Alexandrov and Trey Ideker, who are finalists in the Cancer Grand Challenges initiative! Winners will be awarded up to £20M to complete their projects, and will be announced in 2026 at the Cancer Grand Challenges Summit. today.ucsd.edu/story/uc-san...

Mapping RNA-Protein ‘Chats’ Could Uncover New Treatments for Cancer and Brain Disease A technology that maps entire networks of RNA-protein interactions inside human cells could offer new strategies for treating diseases ranging from cancer to Alzheimer's.

Bioengineers built a technology that maps every RNA-protein interaction inside human cells. By identifying the interactions that go awry in diseases like cancer and Alzheimer's, researchers could design drugs to block the harmful ones or boost the protective ones. today.ucsd.edu/story/mappin...

Group picture of students holding up a banner that says "artificial intelligence"

Our new #AI major is here! About 200 students enrolled in the inaugural class. The major resides in our Department of Computer Science and Engineering, with partnerships from across campus.
today.ucsd.edu/story/uc-san...
@ucsandiego.bsky.social
#artificialintelligence #computerscienceeducation

From Lebanon’s Vineyards to Vision Restoration - Qualcomm Institute At UC San Diego’s Qualcomm Institute and Jacobs School of Engineering, Shadi Dayeh leads bold research from brain-computer interfaces to pioneering optic nerve transplants.

Shadi Dayeh at @jacobsschool.bsky.social and #UCSD #QualcommInstitute is fusing engineering and medicine to map the brain and restore vision. His lab develops flexible neural interfaces and leads whole-eye transplantation research: tinyurl.com/5xvm6rmh #UCSD #neurotechnology #visionrestoration

Step inside the brand-new @ucsandiego.bsky.social Bioengineering Instructional Lab spaces, which are ready for students this fall! Bioengineering lab courses will benefit from a larger, sleeker space, while bioengineering design projects will come to life in a cutting-edge makerspace.

Building a collaborative network of researchers in mechano-computation Building a collaborative network of researchers in mechano-computation - Mechanical Engineering

@ucsandiego.bsky.social professor Nick Gravish is part of an NSF-funded network of researchers in mechano-computation: www.meche.engineering.cmu.edu/news/2025/09...
#robotics #biomimicry

Imagine of vaginal menopausal rat tissue treated with a non-hormonal hydrogel

A nonhormonal material could alleviate the negative impacts of menopause. The newly created hydrogel could combat genitourinary syndrome of menopause (GSM), which negatively impacts quality of life for millions of women.
today.ucsd.edu/story/non-ho...
#bioengineering #menopause #womenshealth

Henrik Christensen, director of the @ucsandiego.bsky.social Contextual Robotics Institute, talks about his research projects and the future of AI in this interview with the @Association for the Advancement of Automation: www.automate.org/videos/how-r...

13 Bizarre Deep Sea Animals That Are Stranger (and Cooler) Than Science Fiction Deep sea creatures are remarkably well adapted to their hellish environment. So why do we parade them as bizarre and weird?

The deep-sea #dragonfish is considered one of the scary, monstrous creatures of the ocean. It was also the subject of a #bioinspired research project by @ucsandiego.bsky.social #materials scientists that studied the properties of its transparent teeth! www.zmescience.com/feature-post...

👏👏👏

Congratulations to @ucsandiego.bsky.social #computerscience faculty Hao Su, who received a #frontiersofscience award!
jacobsschool.ucsd.edu/news/release...

Extreme Experiments on Perovskite May Offer Insight Into Earth’s Interior and Deep Earthquakes Materials scientists have performed powerful laser shock experiments on a perovskite mineral to better understand the geophysical processes in Earth's deep interior and the mechanisms behind earthquak...

Materials scientists used high power laser shock compression on a #perovskite mineral to recreate the extreme pressures and temperatures deep inside the Earth. The findings provide new insights into the processes that drive earthquakes deep beneath Earth’s surface. today.ucsd.edu/story/extrem...

The Jacobs School Represents at San Diego Comic-Con

From #robotics to #AI, the Jacobs School represented at this year's San Diego Comic-Con! Check out the videos of the panels our researchers were on this year!
jacobsschool.ucsd.edu/news/release...
@ucsandiego.bsky.social ‪@sandiegocomic-con.bsky.social‬

#sdcc

Researchers Identify Weak Points in Diamond Fusion Fuel Capsules Materials scientists at UC San Diego have uncovered how diamond — the material used to encase fuel for fusion experiments at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) in Lawrence Livermore National Laborat...

Scientists show how #diamond — a material used to encase fuel for #fusion experiments — can develop tiny structural flaws that may limit fusion performance. The findings can help guide improved capsule designs & models to maximize #energy output of fusion experiments. today.ucsd.edu/story/resear...

Nucleation processes at interfaces with both substrate and electrolyte control lithium growth - Nature Chemistry Lithium-metal batteries require the controlled growth of lithium for reliable operation, but it has been challenging to understand which factors impact and determine lithium nucleation and growth. Now...

Making lithium-metal #batteries last longer depends largely on controlling how #lithium nucleates & grows on the anode during charging & discharging. In a study published in Nature Chemistry, engineers show that both the electrolyte & substrate matter. #energy www.nature.com/articles/s41...

How Can Visual Artists Protect Their Work from AI Crawlers? It’s Complicated One of the best ways to protect artists’ creative work is to prevent it from ever being seen by “AI crawlers” – the programs that harvest data on the Internet for training generative models. But most...

How can visual artists protect their work from non-consensual reuse by #genAI tools? It's complicated: today.ucsd.edu/story/how-ca...
#generativeAI #AIcrawlers #AI #visualarts #visualartists
@ucsandiego.bsky.social @uofchicago.bsky.social

New AI Tool Learns to Read Medical Images With Far Less Data A new AI tool could make it much easier — and cheaper — for doctors and researchers to train medical imaging software, even when only a small number of patient scans are available. It could lead to fa...

A team led by electrical and computer engineer Pengtao Xie created an AI tool that can learn to read medical scans with far less data than existing deep learning-based methods. It could aid diagnoses even when only a small number of patient scans are available. today.ucsd.edu/story/new-ai...

Engineers Take a Closer Look at How a Plant Virus Primes the Immune System to Fight Cancer A virus that typically infects black-eyed peas is showing great promise as a low-cost, potent cancer immunotherapy—and researchers are uncovering why.

New research led by UC San Diego chemical and nano engineer Nicole Steinmetz sheds light on why a certain plant virus that infects black-eyed peas shows remarkable promise as a low-cost, potent cancer immunotherapy—while other plant viruses do not. today.ucsd.edu/story/engine...

Wearable ultrasound technology - Nature Reviews Bioengineering This Review discusses wearable ultrasound technology, covering device design, integration, clinical applications and translational potential. It highlights key barriers to wide deployment and explores...

Ultrasound once meant brief snapshots inside the body. Now, wearable ultrasound tech is moving us toward continuous, hands-free monitoring to capture health changes in real time. Engineers led by Sheng Xu map out the advances in wearable ultrasound in this article: www.nature.com/articles/s44...

Researchers led by @ucsandiego.bsky.social electrical engineer Noah Rubin have developed a compact, flat camera that can capture the polarization of light across a wide field of view—thus addressing a long-standing challenge in optical design. opg.optica.org/optica/fullt...