Recent News
2021 News Releases
'Pop-up' electronic sensors could detect when individual heart cells misbehave
December 23, 2021
UC San Diego engineers developed a powerful new tool that directly measures the movement and speed of electrical signals inside heart cells, using tiny “pop-up” sensors that poke into cells without damaging them. It could be used to gain more detailed insights into heart disorders and diseases. Full Story
UC San Diego engineering professors inducted into National Academy of Inventors
December 7, 2021
Two professors at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering have been named 2021 fellows of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). Shaochen Chen, professor and chair of nanoengineering, and Tse Nga (Tina) Ng, professor of electrical and computer engineering, were among the 164 fellows announced by the NAI this year who have demonstrated a spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on the quality of life, economic development, and the welfare of society. Full Story
10 Jacobs School faculty among 2021 list of most highly cited researchers in the world
November 30, 2021
Ten professors at the University of California San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering are among the world’s most influential researchers in their fields. The professors, Ludmil Alexandrov, Trey Ideker, Rob Knight, Prashant Mali, Ying Shirley Meng, Shyue Ping Ong, Bernhard O. Palsson, Joseph Wang, Sheng Xu and Liangfang Zhang, are amone 51 professors and researchers at UC San Diego named in the prestigious list of Highly Cited Researchers in 2021. Full Story
UC San Diego leads a $12.25 million grant to improve epilepsy treatment
September 9, 2021
The National Institutes of Health has awarded a $12.25 million grant to the University of California San Diego to develop and enhance brain-sensing and brain-stimulating platform technologies to enable treatment of drug-resistant epilepsy. Full Story
Soft skin patch could provide early warning for strokes, heart attacks
July 22, 2021
UC San Diego engineers developed a soft, stretchy ultrasound patch that can be worn on the skin to monitor blood flow through vessels deep inside the body. Such a device can make it easier to detect cardiovascular problems, like blockages in the arteries that could lead to strokes or heart attacks. Full Story
Calling all couch potatoes: this finger wrap can let you power electronics while you sleep
July 13, 2021
A new wearable device turns the sweat and press of a fingertip into a source of power for small electronics and sensors. This sweat-fueled device is the first to generate power even while the wearer is asleep—no exercise or movement required. Full Story
Personalized sweat sensor reliably monitors blood glucose without finger pricks
May 10, 2021
UC San Diego engineers developed a device that could make it more convenient for people with diabetes to measure their blood glucose. The device can measure glucose in sweat with the touch of a fingertip, and then a personalized algorithm provides an accurate estimate of blood glucose levels. Full Story
'Wearable microgrid' uses the human body to sustainably power small gadgets
March 9, 2021
This shirt harvests and stores energy from the human body to power small electronics. UC San Diego nanoengineers call it a "wearable microgrid"—it combines energy from the wearer's sweat and movement to provide renewable power for wearable devices. Full Story
New skin patch brings us closer to wearable, all-in-one health monitor
February 15, 2021
UC San Diego engineers have developed a soft, stretchy skin patch that can be worn on the neck to continuously track blood pressure and heart rate while measuring the wearer’s levels of glucose as well as lactate, alcohol or caffeine. It performs as well as commercial monitoring devices such as a blood pressure cuff, blood lactate meter, glucometer and breathalyzer. Full Story
Making masks smarter and safer against COVID-19
January 21, 2021
A new tool for monitoring COVID-19 may one day be right under your nose. Researchers at the University of California San Diego are developing a color-changing test strip that can be stuck on a mask and used to detect SARS-CoV-2 in a person’s breath or saliva. The project is aimed at providing simple, affordable and reliable surveillance for COVID-19 infections that can be done daily and easily implemented in resource-poor settings. Full Story
Wearables: Where Are We?
January 21, 2021
We spoke with Patrick Mercier, professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and co-director of the Center for Wearable Sensors (CWS), and Joseph Wang, professor of Nanoengineering and director of CWS. Full Story