Goodbye single-use plastics!🌱 Wonderfil, a startup by #BaskinEngineering alumna Shiloh Sacks (B.S. ’21, electrical engineering) and co-founder Amelia Eichel, makes it easy to refill soap products with self-serve dispensers.
Via @lookoutsantacruz.bsky.social: bit.ly/47qgkCE
“We’re trying to understand the fundamentals of how neurons can be adaptively tuned to solve problems,” said #BaskinEngineering student Ash Robbins—part of a @ucsantacruz.bsky.social team who taught brain organoids to solve a goal-directed task.
Via @discovermag.bsky.social: bit.ly/4uCeatV
🎉 Congrats to #BaskinEngineering grad student Eren Dogan (Ph.D. ’27, computer science and engineering), who was one of four @uofcalifornia.bsky.social students to receive the inaugural Costas John Spanos Semiconductor Manufacturing Award from CITRIS and the Banatao Institute!
bit.ly/4u4oNoO
🧠 #BaskinEngineering researchers effectively coached organoids, tiny pieces of brain tissue grown in the lab, to solve the “cart-pole” problem—an engineering benchmark to measure how effective systems are at processing information.
Via @futurism.com: bit.ly/4b4srGx
🧬 A #pangenome can reveal the spectrum of genome variation within a species. The toolbox for working with pangenomes is filling up, thanks to #BaskinEngineering researchers @khmiga.bsky.social, @benedictpaten.bsky.social, and @russcd.bsky.social.
Via @natmethods.nature.com: go.nature.com/4spcbHb
Researchers at UC Santa Cruz have trained brain organoids—tiny pieces of brain tissue grown in the lab—to solve the "inverted pendulum" or "cart-pole" problem, a fundamental benchmark used in robotics, control theory, and #AI.
Via National Today: bit.ly/4lahyYj
Want to take a break from video games, but still read about them? A new book on #AnimalCrossingNewHorizons by #BaskinEngineering Prof Noah Wardrip-Fruin dives into what made the game so popular during the Covid-19 pandemic.
As seen in @theguardian.com: bit.ly/3OKtc01
A new UC Santa Cruz study shows how visual-language #AI models that help control self-driving cars can be exploited or hijacked with carefully coded real-world commands—led by #BaskinEngineering researchers.
Via The Drive: bit.ly/40csTO2
“If we can figure out ways in which living neural networks compute so efficiently, we would have a big breakthrough in terms of trying to find and develop a better architecture for artificial computing,” said #BaskinEngineering Assistant Professor Tal Sharf.
Via UNDARK: bit.ly/408zE3r
UC Santa Cruz researchers trained brain organoids—lab-grown clusters of human brain cells—to solve a goal-directed task, boosting success rates from 4.5% to 46%. Led by #BaskinEngineering faculty.
Via Gadget Review: bit.ly/4slsSn1
A male and female scientist in lab coats hold a small circular container for growing brain organoids.
A female scientist sits in front of a portable metal shelf that contains three racks of equipment, including multiple screens.
Open Culture Science is a new startup that could transform how labs grow cells and tissues worldwide. Founded by two UCSC Genomics Institute grads, it aims to automate processes that are currently painstakingly manual. 🔬🧠 news.ucsc.edu/Open-C...
Thrilled to see Ash Robbins, a #BaskinEngineering electrical and computer engineering Ph.D. student leading this research—it's the first rigorous demonstration of goal-directed learning in brain #organoids and extends their usefulness for studying brain diseases. 🧠
🎉 Congrats to #BaskinEngineering Assistant Professor of Biomolecular Engineering Vanessa Jonsson who received a UCSC Innovation Catalyst grant! Her team is developing a single single nasal swab test that can detect multiple viral infections and a person's immunity.
Read on: bit.ly/4cHyRxE
Proud to see #BaskinEngineering #ComputerScience alumus Jules Kadher Kabore launch yourUSA.ai, an AI-powered, web-based form-filling assistant designed to make immigration and government paperwork simpler, clearer, and less stressful. 👏
Via Business Insider: bit.ly/4aJH8yL
🌎 #BaskinEngineering Assistant Professor of Applied Mathematics @ashesh6810.bsky.social will build #AI models to project extreme Earth-system events with the support of the highly competitive Sloan Research Fellowship. Learn more: bit.ly/40f0UND
Greenhouses are essential to feeding a growing global population, but often come with real environmental costs. #BaskinEngineering Professor Katia Obraczka is developing tech to monitor greenhouse conditions with precision—reducing water and energy use while improving crop production. bit.ly/3OGkQ9y
CruzHacks participants work together on computers and leadership poses together on UCSC's East Field
🏆 Baskin Engineers made a HUGE splash at CruzHacks 2026, winning in sustainability, justice, and education projects! The event offers students the opportunity to design, build, and present original technology “hacks” for prizes equivalent to $500. Learn more about the projects: bit.ly/4aCET1c
🏆 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
“...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
🌪️⛈️ 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
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
“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
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
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
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
