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messages to congressional staff was that the global race to achieve fusion energy on the grid is an engineering race — not a science race. Scientific net energy gain from fusion has already been demonstrated. Yes, there is scientific research yet to be done; but the vast majority of remaining challenges will be solved through sustained engineering effort. 

This is why both new and sustained federal funding for fusion engineering projects remain essential for winning the global fusion race.

Click here to read my entire column: "The Global Fusion Race."

If you are interested in helping build new university-industry-government collaborations to advance our global competitiveness in fusion and other key areas, please reach out. As always, I can be reached at DeanPisano@ucsd.edu.

Sincerely,

Al
Albert ("Al") P. Pisano
Dean, UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering
Special Adviser to the Chancellor for Campus Strategic Initiatives

At least 2.2 million cars on the road today are vulnerable to an attack that allows thieves to lock and unlock doors and immobilize vehicle engines remotely via a Bluetooth connection, computer scientists at UC San Diego have found. The vulnerability is due to a device controlled via a smartphone app that is typically installed by dealerships to manage vehicle inventory and prevent theft. Most of the vulnerable vehicles were bought at Honda, Toyota, Mazda, Ford and Jeep dealerships in Southern California from 2017 to today. Many vulnerable cars display a sticker with the word “KARR” or “SWDS” on the driver’s side window. The company manufacturing these devices released a patch to fix the vulnerability on July 20, which requires downloading an app. Read coverage in WIRED and watch the Wired video. Read more

Engineers and physicians at UC San Diego came together to achieve a world first by using teleoperated humanoid robots to perform two surgical procedures, detailed in a recent Nature paper. The physicians essentially remote-controlled the robots through two complete laparoscopic gallbladder removals during a preclinical trial. In one procedure, one surgeon teamed up with a remotely operated humanoid robot; a second successful surgery was performed by two remotely operated humanoid robots working side by side in a robot-robot team. Engineers, led by electrical engineering Professor Michael Yip, developed the full-body control software for the robots, hand adapters for traditional surgical instruments, and the VR streaming and controllers for the system. Read and watch news coverage at ABC News, BBC News, NBC San Diego and Good Morning America. Read more

A team led by researchers in obstetrics and engineering at UC San Diego was awarded up to $10.4 million from ARPA-H to more accurately identify fetuses who are at risk of low oxygen during labor. To do this, the research team will identify biomarkers in the mother’s blood that reflect placental dysfunction, placental or fetal hypoxia, or fetal stress related to low oxygen levels, and develop a point-of-care test to detect these biomarkers from a small maternal blood sample in just 30 minutes. The UC San Diego research team is co-led by Drew Hall, a professor of electrical and computer engineering, and Louise Laurent, professor and co-director of the Center for OB/GYN Research Innovation at UC San Diego School of Medicine. The researchers will collaborate with women’s health diagnostic company Sera Prognostics, and magnetic sensing leader Allegro MicroSystems.  Read news coverage in the San Diego Union-Tribune. Read more

On average, consumers replace their smartphone every four years. But the device’s core computing functionalities are still intact and still relatively powerful. Computer scientists at UC San Diego are now giving these smartphones a second life. The phone’s motherboards are removed, connected into clusters and redeployed as a general-purpose computing platform. With Google’s support, the university plans to deploy a datacenter built from 2,000 Pixel smartphones that will provide hundreds of researchers and students with low-cost, low-carbon cloud computing, reducing the need for newly-manufactured hardware and associated emissions. At UC San Diego, the project is led by computer science faculty members Ryan Kastner and Pat Pannuto; alumna Jennifer Switzer, PhD ‘25 leads the project at Google as a postdoctoral scholar. Read more on the Google blog, CNET and FOX News. 

Engineers are giving old EV batteries new life by upcycling their parts. Chemical and nano engineers led by Professor Zheng Chen developed a method to upcycle the cathode from lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries — a type of lithium-ion battery used in EVs and energy grids — into one that stores more energy. The upcycled product is a higher-performing cathode known as lithium manganese iron phosphate (LMFP). The upcycling method is environmentally friendly, too! And, it works on various types of spent LFP batteries from different manufacturers. Chen and his team plan to commercialize the upcycling method through ExPost Technology, a battery recycling startup that Chen co-founded. Read more

The smart ring can simultaneously and continuously monitor up to four different chemical biomarkers — a combination of glucose, ketones, vitamin C, uric acid, lactate or alcohol — from finger sweat. The technology, developed by researchers in the lab of chemical and nano engineering Professor Joseph Wang, could aid in diabetes management, nutrition tracking and more. To the researchers' knowledge, this is the first fully integrated smart ring for daily biochemical monitoring.  Read more

Tiny particles made from the membranes of human immune cells could offer a promising new way to fight fungal infections that are becoming harder to treat. Engineers at the Jacobs School created antifungal nanoparticles that target Candida albicans, a fungus responsible for oral and vaginal yeast infections as well as life-threatening bloodstream infections. In mice with severe Candida infections, the nanoparticles greatly reduced the amount of fungus in major organs and significantly improved survival. Read more

Bioengineering alumnus Garrett Smith, PhD ‘12 is bringing his decades of experience across the innovation ecosystem back to San Diego, as founding managing partner of recently launched ReefHaven Ventures. The San Diego-focused venture capital fund is dedicated to early-stage medical technology startups, and has already invested in three UC San Diego-affiliated medtech companies. Smith founded his first company as a bioengineering PhD student at UC San Diego, and in the years since, has shared his expertise with many of the campus programs to support tech transfer and entrepreneurship education, including serving as founding program director of UC San Diego’s first biomedical accelerator, and serving on the executive board of the MedTech Accelerator at the Institute for the Global Entrepreneur.  Read more

Computer science alumnus Justin Allen has supported the mission of the Jacobs School of Engineering since graduating in 2010, serving for many years on the Computer Science and Engineering Alumni Advisory Board. Now, he and his wife, Jennifer, have expanded their support through planned giving to student scholarships, creating a legacy that will help future students access the world-class education Justin received at UC San Diego. The planned gift from the Allens will support students pursuing majors in computer science and engineering at the Jacobs School of Engineering, as well as students in data science and computing programs affiliated with the Halıcıoğlu School of Data Science and Computing.  Read more

The Jacobs School of Engineering at the University of California San Diego ranks the #9 engineering school in the nation. With 278 faculty and 10,240 students in six departments, the Jacobs School of Engineering is the largest engineering school in California. We train the innovation workforce for the economy to come. This is one of the many ways that  we power emerging industries.