Research Vision
The Baskin School of Engineering is building and maintaining excellence in three major areas: information technology (IT), biotechnology (BT), and nanotechnology (NT). These three areas are closely linked and synergistic in nature, and activities in each area are supported and enhanced by contributions from the others. Applied mathematics and statistics makes critical contributions to each of these areas, in addition to their contributions to programs in the social and natural sciences.
For a full overview of the UCSC School of Engineering long-term research planning, see the UCSC SOE 10 Year Plan.
Information Technology
Information technology includes the School's founding programs computer science and computer engineering along with information systems management and the developing program in software engineering. As our most evolved area, the School maintains several areas of excellence in its information technology programs.
Biotechnology
Recent worldwide events in biotechnology have accelerated our plans for a department of bioengineering. Research in biotechnology has rapidly advanced, introducing the need for more scientists and engineers. Due mostly to the work of Dr. David Haussler, the School maintains an excellent reputation for its work in bioinformatics. This recognition has resulted in Dr. Haussler's Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator award, the School's participation in one of the Governor's first California Institutes for Science and Innovation ('QB3'), and extensive media coverage. As a result of these successes, the School has fast-tracked plans to establish a department of bioengineering. The Bioengineering Department will administer several interdisciplinary academic programs in bioinformatics, molecular level bioengineering, microarrays and microfluidics. Currently the bioinformatics area is our strongest area of emerging research excellence with international stature. Several senior faculty members have expressed interest in moving to UCSC and our success in recruitment will immensely accelerate our progress in this area of growing importance. UCSC SOE currently offers BS, MS and PhD degrees in bioinformatics.
Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology is an enabling technology for both information technology and biotechnology. Size minimization for portability and energy savings cannot be realized without nanotechnology. Nanoscale device technology is best suited to molecular interfaces in bioengineering. The continuing trends in device feature size scaling (Moore's law) enables nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) which will have advantages over the current microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). The increasing needs for higher throughput network switching are most likely met by optical NEMS in the future with novel materials. This is the area that our School is lacking and yet cannot be overlooked in engineering disciplines. The Electrical Engineering Department already has a strong research program which uses molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) technology, and they have plans to build up this area. Strategic hiring of key senior faculty members will provide significant inroads.
Target Areas of Excellence by Department
| AMS | CS | CE | EE | BE* | IE* | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bayesian statistics and dynamic mathematical modeling | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| Bioinformatics and biomolecular engineering | X | X | X | X | ||
| Communications, signal and image processing | X | X | X | X | ||
| Engineering management | X | X | X | X | X | |
| Information technology infrastructure/database, storage, networks, and computer security | X | X | X | X | ||
| Machine learning, human-computer interface, graphics and visualization | X | X | X | |||
| Optoelectronics and optical systems | X | X | X | |||
| Remote sensing and environmental technology | X | X | X | X | ||
| Software engineering | X | X | ||||
| VLSI, nanosystems, MEMS/NEMS | X | X | X | X | ||
| X * | ||||||
Key:
AMS - Applied Mathematics and Statistics
CS - Computer Science Statistics
CE - Computer Engineering
EE - Electrical Engineering
BE - Bioengineering
IE - Interdisciplinary Engineering