Research Centers
Center for Biomolecular Science and Engineering
Directed by Dr. David Haussler, the Center for Biomolecular Science and Engineering is one of 21 centers around the world that make up the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium, a crucial component of the Human Genome Project. The Center’s affiliates represent a multitude of disciplines: biology, chemistry and biochemistry, computer engineering, computer science, applied mathematics and statistics, environmental toxicology, environmental studies, and physics. The CBSE has been very successful in achieving an international reputation for their work on the human genome. The Center will host Santa Cruz’s component of the California Institute of Science and Innovation (CISI), “QB3,” a venture shared with UC San Francisco and UC Berkeley. The School of Engineering is committed to developing the CBSE and plans to appoint 10-18 faculty over the next 10 years who will further the work and reputation of the Center.
INIST
The Institute for Networks and Information Systems Technology will serve as an umbrella organization for several planned centers of research excellence. The Centers will each focus on an area of systems or networking, supporting technologies, or on applications related to the Internet and data-intensive systems. The School has prestigious faculty and world-renowned research in many of these areas, especially in the core areas of networking and computer systems. The new electrical engineering program has brought expertise in areas of communications, opto-electronics, packaging and instrumentation. Faculty in mechanical engineering, materials science, and environmental engineering will further efforts in remote sensing, opto-electronics, packaging, and instrumentation. The Institute is part of a proposal for another CISI, “CITRIS” with Berkeley and Davis, and we anticipate the Governor will fund the Center in his 2001-02 budget. The CISI project will fund new facilities and additional research staff at Santa Cruz to support the Institute’s contributions to the $400 million CITRIS project.
Interdisciplinary Engineering Research Center (Tentative Title)
A third organized research unit (ORU) in the Baskin School of Engineering will promote innovative research in novel and smart materials, environmental sensing and engineering, ocean engineering, nanoelectromechanical and microrobotics, and engineering management. These areas contain enormous opportunities for synergy with the two other ORUs in the School and also in collaboration with the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey.