Annual Report 2019-2020

Director’s Note As we celebrate the 10 year anniversary of the IDEA Engineering Student Center, I think back on what has been accomplished and I cannot help but feel a great sense of gratitude towards everyone that has contributed to our programs, including the incredible staff of the IDEA Center, both past and present. Alejandra, Gennie, Jessica, Lisa, RubÊn, Sara and Sinaí, constitute the best team one could ever hope for. It has been a pleasure and an unbelievable honor to lead this inspired group of professionals, who, day in and day out, give their absolute best for our students.

As we transition into a post-pandemic world, it is clear now, more than ever, that there is immense need for the work of the IDEA Center on behalf of engineering students. Support in the form of the Summer Engineering Institute, Transfer Prep, the Engineering Learning Communities, professional development workshops, engineering success courses, mentoring, and research opportunities, are essential to ensure that the Jacobs School of Engineering is responsive to the needs of our future engineers and scholars, who have the technical training and personal values to make our world a better place.

Being the best engineering school, means being the best engineering school for students. Indeed, we are here to serve, educate and provide opportunities for all engineering students, graduate and undergraduate. Thus, the IDEA Center strives to provide academic support and social engagement that enhances values of diversity for a global community, and as the world changes, so does our programming. We are currently in the process of developing our next strategic plan, which will define the work of the Center up to 2024. As the current Faculty Director of the Center, I am directly involved in its development, but implementation is left to Prof. Darren Lipomi, the next Director of the IDEA Center, who will begin his tenure on 1 July 2021. Welcome Darren! I leave the Center in great hands and with great hope for the future.

It has certainly been a privilege to lead the IDEA Center during the six years of my tenure as Director, a time of consolidation and great creativity in the development of new programs. These efforts allowed me to recognize that I come to work every morning because I love my job, because I love working with the students, and because I believe in them. For me the enormous responsibility, and the great joy, of leading the IDEA Center makes leaving this role bittersweet. I will deeply miss the day-to-day connections with our staff and students, who take with them a piece of my heart.

To our students: You are part of something bigger, do not give up on that. The great Eleanor Roosevelt used to say: "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." This is so true! Do not let people with small minds convince you otherwise. Make a commitment to live by the following precepts: Contribution and service to others, commitment to living with integrity, and generosity. I have this expectation and I have this hope. Hope that we can build something extraordinary, with kindness, compassion and respect for others. Hope that we will eliminate borders and bring down walls and hope that you will define the future and change the world for the better.

May you all be blessed!

Olivia A. Graeve, Ph.D. Faculty Director, IDEA Engineering Student Center Professor, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Message from the Dean Technical approaches, while crucial, are not enough. This is one of the recurring themes of 2020, from pandemic response to social justice. It’s also relevant for engineering and computer science education. Yes, we have well tested techniques and approaches to engineering and computer science education.

But we must find ever more equitable, compelling and inclusive ways to build community and ensure that we actually provide a transformative Jacobs School education to all of our students.

There is no one way to do this. That’s where the IDEA Engineering Student Center shines. With varied programs, culture-building efforts, and collaborations, the IDEA Center is the heart of our Jacobs School of Engineering education enterprise.

In a “normal” year, this is demanding, meaningful work. But as we all know, 2020 is anything but normal.

Thank you to everyone in the IDEA Center and across the entire school who pivoted all our student and prospective-student programs to virtual platforms in Spring 2020. The incredibly talented incoming Jacobs School students of Fall 2020 are a testament to the success of our efforts to virtually share the spirit of the Jacobs School with potential students and their families.

Amongst the incredible headwinds of 2020, this has also been a year of celebrations. In Fall 2020, the IDEA Center began celebrating 10 years of building community, empowering students, and supporting efforts to diversify engineering and computer science. This celebration continues into 2021.

We are also celebrating 20 years of our game-changing Jacobs School Scholars and Fellows programs.

I am forever grateful to Irwin and Joan Jacobs for their vision and generosity, which strengthens our intellectual community in incalculable ways. My heartfelt thanks extends to all our donors and supporters. So many incredible people stepped up in a tough year to support our students.

Finally, thank you students for your perseverance. And thank you to everyone inside and outside the IDEA Center who works so hard on behalf of our students. We are training the innovation workforce our nation so desperately needs. Thank you for being a part of this important work.

Sincerely, Albert (“Al”) P. Pisano Dean, UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering

1

Engineering Student Overview Engineering Students

FA’19

9,225

Total

6,027Undergraduate

The University of California San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering educates tomorrow’s technology leaders and conducts leading-edge research that drives innovation for the global good. With more than 281 faculty and over 9,200 students in six departments, the Jacobs School of Engineering ranks 9th among the nation’s top engineering schools and is the largest engineering school on the West Coast.

US News and World Report Ranking Jacobs School of Engineering ranks #9 among the nation’s top engineering schools and #5 in the nation among public universities.*

1,934

US News Best Global Universities Rankings Engineering at UC San Diego ranks: #7 in the nation among public institutions. #12 in the nation overall.

Masters

#54 in the world.**

1,264

PhD

‘19-’20

Degrees Awarded

2,647

Total

1,409Undergraduate 1,018Masters 220

PhD

Standings: Undergraduate Degrees Awarded*** #4 in California (and #6 on the West Coast) for bachelor’s degrees awarded in engineering and computer science. #4 in California (and #5 on the West Coast) for bachelor’s degrees in engineering and computer science awarded to women.

Standings: Enrollment*** #1 on West Coast for school-wide enrollment.

The Jacobs School of Engineering at UC San Diego is the largest engineering school on the West Coast, according to the latest enrollment data from ASEE.

*US News and World Report Ranking of Best Engineering Schools (published March 2020) **US News and World Report Best Global Universities for Engineering ranking (published October 2020) ***ASEE 2019 data (published October 2020)

2

Table of Contents Director’s Note Message from the Dean Engineering Student Overview

1 2

ABOUT US

5

IDEA Center at a Glance Meet the Staff

6 7

SUMMER PROGRAMS

9

Summer Engineering Institute Transfer Prep

10 14

SPECIALIZED PROGRAMS

17

Jacobs Scholars Program ACES Scholars Program IDEA Scholars Program

18 20 22

MENTORSHIP

25

Transfer Engineering Academic Mentorship Program Jacobs Undergraduate Mentoring Program

26 27

ACADEMIC ENRICHMENT

29

Guided Engineering Apprenticeship in Research Pilot Program Workshops and Information Sessions for Engineers Graduate and Scholarly Talks ENG 10: Fundamentals of Engineering Applications ENG 15: Engineer Your Success Engineering Learning Communities

30 32 33 34 36 37

6

DIVERSITY RECRUITMENT

39

Welcome Activities for Admitted Students Graduate Recruitment Diversity Organizations Annual Conferences

40 43 44

7

STUDENT LIFE

47

Welcome Week Student Travel Fund Matching Funds Engineering Leadership Summit Diversity Engineering Student Organizations Triton Engineering Student Council Ring Ceremony

48 50 53 54 55 56 58

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

60

3 4 5

3

idea

at a glance

Community | Excellence | Diversity | Inclusion | Leadership | Collaboration | Creativity | Innovation

mission.

To foster an inclusive and welcoming community, increase retention and graduation rates, and promote a sustainable culture of academic excellence among all engineering students at UC San Diego.

vision.

To provide engineering students with academic support and social engagement that enhances values of diversity for a global community.

goals.

1. Foster a diverse student body at the Jacobs School of Engineering.

2. Increase retention and graduation rates among our diverse engineering student population.

3. Provide student-centered services that promote academic success.

4. Promote a supportive and inclusive environment for all engineering students.

5. Support engineering student organizations and project teams.

6 | 2019-2020 Annual Report

Updated October 2019

Meet the Staff

Olivia Graeve, PhD

Lisa Trahan

Gennie Miranda

Faculty Director

Director of Strategic Initiatives & Assessment

Director of Operations

Alejandra Arguelles

Ruben D. Rodriguez

Jessica Baldis

Program Coordinator

Program Coordinator

Academic Success Coordinator

Sinai Cota

Sara Eckardt

Sloan Scholars Program Assistant

IDEA Student Center Coordinator IDEA Center About Us | 7

Summer Engineering Institute

The Summer Engineering Institute introduces incoming freshman to the rigors of a university-level engineering curriculum and helps build their awareness of relevant campus programs and resources. Students take part in organized social activities on evenings and weekends and begin forming a peer network and lasting friendships.

As we plan for future offerings of the credit-bearing SEI program, we are reviewing the courses that students take through SEI to ensure that they best serve students’ academic needs.

Saturday, August 3rd, 2019 marked the beginning of the IDEA Engineering Student Center’s fourth Summer Engineering Institute (SEI), a five-week residential program that runs during Summer Session II. SEI first started at UC San Diego in 2011 as Summer Prep, a one-week residential program focusing on building community and awareness of campus resources for 22 incoming engineering freshmen.

“

Since then, SEI has grown to be a five-week, credit-bearing residential program experienced by 1 out of every 8 incoming engineering freshmen. SEI acclimates students to UC San Diego prior to the start of Fall Quarter. The program does this by supporting academic success, increasing awareness of campus resources, and building community.

In Summer 2019, 117 incoming engineering freshmen participated in the Summer Engineering Institute Participants were 28% female and 72% male, with 1 participant identifying as non-binary.

34%

SEI was the best decision I ever made, and I feel very ready to start fall quarter knowing I am coming in with friendships I know will last a very long time. I learned a lot of the campus very well, and I learned about many resources I probably would have never heard about. It was an amazing five weeks.

“

belong to an underrepresented minority group

up to

10 | 2019-2020 Annual Report

43%

are the first in their family to attend college

46%

self-identified as being eligible for a Pell Grant

Academic Success through the Development of Positive Academic Attitudes and Study Habits SEI supports students’ academic success through coursework and developing effective academic attitudes. SEI 2019’s 117 participants took two courses during Summer Session II: ENG 10: “Fundamentals of Engineering Applications”, and a course in their major field of study: MAE 8, CSE 5A, NANO/CENG 15, ECE 5, or SE 1.

One of the major goals of SEI is to develop positive academic attitudes and study habits for success in engineering coursework. Students’ pre/post survey responses illustrate growth in their academic attitudes. Students’ ideas about important strategies for their academic success grew from more limited actions like taking notes and interacting with instructors during class to include not only interacting with instructors, but also attending office hours and working with peers outside of class.

Students’ understanding of the importance of peer study groups grew as well, through their experiences working on teams and supporting each other. As one student put it: “I definitely value group work and discussion with other peers right now. Seeing other people work hard also encourages me to work harder myself.”

Participants face a busy schedule, which mimics that of many undergraduate students, but promotes the development of new time-management skills. In addition to taking six-units of coursework during the summer, students participated in 15 academic workshops during the first four weeks of the program that introduced them to various campus departments, programs, and resources. Campus partners included, but were not limited to, Geisel Library, the Office of Academic Integrity, CAPS, OASIS, RAZA Resource Centro, LBGTQ Resource Center, Women’s Center, Black Resource Center, Academic Enrichment Program, Study Abroad, and the Career Center.

“

SEI was a good program. It helped me get used to the university life and made me realize some of the habits I have to change to fully take advantage of resources.

Bioengineering, 8%

“

Chemical Engineering, 5% Computer Science and Engineering, 22%

Engineering Departments, 100%

Electrical and Computer Engineering, 23%

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, 35% Structural Engineering, 6% Nanoengineering, 1% IDEA Center Summer Programs | 11

Developing a Strong Community of Engineers In addition to the academic focus, the Summer Engineering Institute strives to create a warm and welcoming community for engineering students through evening and weekend social events. Students develop a strong sense of community and establish lasting friendships through events like a Tower Building Competition, Beach Day, and Karaoke Night. These community building events were organized by 10 Peer Facilitators, upperclassmen who live alongside the participants and offer mentorship, advice, and a support network. According to students’ pre/post survey responses, these activities had a positive impact on their sense of belonging at UC San Diego, Jacobs School of Engineering, and among their peers.

Participating in SEI increased students’ sense of belonging on campus The Summer Engineering Institute closed with a lively project showcase for Engineering 10, which welcomed donors, campus and community partners, as well as friends and families to recognize the hard work students put into their projects over the

12 | 2019-2020 Annual Report

previous five weeks.

The Summer Engineering Institute was funded in part by the Boeing Company, the California Space Grant Consortium, the Padovani family, and the National Science Foundation.

“

We would like to take the time to thank all of our partners and supporters.

I really enjoyed my time here and bonded well with my suitemates. I like how it eased me more gradually into college life and how we were able to have easy access to older UCSD students to ask them questions.

“

IDEA Center Summer Programs | 13

Transfer Prep

The Transfer Prep Program provides incoming transfer students with the opportunity to become acclimated to campus life, build skills and habits necessary for success in engineering, and develop community amongst their peers before beginning their courses in the fall.

With the help of 9 quirky and energetic engineering transfer students and four full-time staff, the IDEA Engineering Student Center hosted 80 new transfer students from July 9-12, 2019 for the annual Summer Transfer Prep Program. The four-day, three-night schedule was jam-packed with opportunities to network with faculty, industry representatives, staff, current and incoming students.

Transfer Prep participants had the chance to learn about campus resources, meet their department advisors, tour their departments, the Envision Maker Studio and the community resource centers on campus. These students also had the unique opportunity to visit 4 companies and receive general advice and tours to Solar Turbines, J Craig Venter, Nordson and Northrop Grumman.

“

Overall, amazing experience. Best part was all the new people I met and friendships and connections I made. I know that my fall experience will be greatly enhanced thanks to the program.

“

This program continues to be free for all of our incoming transfer engineering students. In Summer 2019, 1 in every 5 new transfer students at the Jacobs School of Engineering participated in Transfer Prep. And new this year, we implemented a commuter program to help fit the needs of our nontraditional students who want to participate in this amazing program, but may not be able to stay on campus overnight.

14 | 2019-2020 Annual Report

When asked “Why would you recommend Transfer Prep to other incoming transfer engineering students?", participants responded:

“ “ “ “ “ “ It is a great opportunity to learn more about student life at UCSD and more specifically engineering student life. It’s an opportunity to make friends and feel comfortable about the university before starting school in the fall quarter.

This program gave me a huge head start before I began my first year.

Thanks to it, I know about my prerequisite classes, the research/internship opportunities available at school and I got to network closely with not only current engineering students but also the professors and faculty.

It is a very helpful preparation program for incoming engineering students to get to know other incoming engineering students, current students, faculty, and to get to know the university and its resources.

IDEA Center Summer Programs | 15

Jacobs Scholars Program

Jacobs Scholars have access to a unique network of like-minded scholars, professionals, and industry leaders to provide them with the connections they need to succeed while studying at one of the top engineering schools in the country.

The Jacobs Scholars Program was established 20 years ago by Dr. and Mrs. Irwin and Joan Jacobs to recruit promising applicants to the Jacobs School of Engineering.

Scholars in the program receive a 4-year full scholarship which covers tuition, room and board, and living expenses to complete their bachelor’s degree in one of the 6 engineering departments.

Being in the program offers numerous academic and institutional benefits. These benefits include graduatelevel UC San Diego library privileges and the ability to change majors. In the Fall of 2019, the Jacobs Scholars Program had the biggest class to date with 15 scholars.

Each Jacobs Scholar is a member of the Jacobs School Scholars Society. The Society connects incoming Scholars with continuing Jacobs Scholars who serve as their peer mentors throughout their undergraduate career.

In addition, the Society also coordinates a number of academic enrichment and professional development events throughout the academic year, including a quarterly lunch with engineering faculty, resume reviews, and social events. This year one of the socials included an organized BBQ and laser tag!

A highlight of this academic school year includes celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Jacobs Scholars and Fellows Program. Alumni and current Jacobs Scholars and Fellows were invited to commemorate this achievement with Dr. and Mrs. Irwin and Joan Jacobs. The luncheon was hosted during Homecoming Weekend with over 50 guests and their families in attendance.

The performance of our Jacobs Scholars after graduation continues to be inspiring. In Spring 2019, seven Jacobs Scholars completed their engineering degrees and were celebrated in the first virtual graduation ceremony with Dr. and Mrs. Irwin and Joan Jacobs in attendance. Our recently graduated scholars are either headed to pursue an advanced degree in engineering at competitive PhD and MA programs, or they have accepted full-time roles at companies such as Google and Northrop Grumman.

18 | 2019-2020 Annual Report

IDEA Center Specialized Programs | 19

Academic Community for Engineering Success

ACES supports students from economically and educationally underserved backgrounds, and focuses on enhancing student success in their chosen engineering major through admission to the Summer Engineering Institute, faculty mentorship, a collaborative peer support community, and additional academic enrichment.

The Academic Community for Engineering Success (ACES) is a National Science Foundation (NSF) funded program aimed at fostering academic excellence in highly motivated engineering students from economically and educationally under-served backgrounds. During the 2019-2020 year, ACES welcomed 23 low-income engineering students into the program.

Key elements of the ACES Program include: • Summer Engineering Institute: In September 2019, Cohort 3 ACES Scholars completed UC San Diego’s 5-week, residential Summer Engineering Institute (SEI), earning six credits towards their engineering degree.

• Faculty Mentoring: During the 2019-20 academic year, twenty-one new ACES faculty mentors were recruited, and in January 2020 meet-and-greet events were held for the new ACES Scholars and faculty mentors. Faculty were then matched with ACES Scholars based on majors and areas of interest. ACES Scholars will meet with their faculty mentor at least once per quarter for two years. Many of our older ACES Scholars meet more regularly and have begun doing research in their mentors’ laboratories.

• Peer Mentoring: Incoming ACES scholars were matched with older scholars who helped guide and answer questions during their first year.

• Fall Quarter Weekly Discussions: During Fall Quarter, first-year ACES Scholars met in a small discussion group once a week. Topics included time management, study skills, test anxiety, attributes of successful students, resume writing, etc.

• Professional Development Workshops and Connections with Industry: Five professional development workshops were scheduled throughout the year. These workshops included industry partners such as the Space and Naval Warfare Command (SPAWAR) and gave ACES Scholars a chance to connect with working engineers as they built skills in resume writing, interviewing, networking, etc.

• Social/Community Building Activities: An ACES social or community-building activity was held each quarter, including dinner and games at UC San Diego’s game room in Fall and an online games night during Spring • NSF-STEM scholarships and Acknowledging Hard Work: ACES scholarships were awarded to first and second year ACES Scholars each quarter during the academic year. In addition, we acknowledged the hard work ACES Scholars put into their academics by giving $20 gift cards to scholars receiving a 3.2 GPA or increasing their GPA by .5 from one quarter to another.

With the unprecedented situation created by the COVID-19 pandemic and the move to online instruction during the Spring 2020 Quarter, the ACES Scholars program shifted to supporting students virtually. This included virtual office hours and online workshops with representatives from IBM, Intuit, and Indeed focusing on professional development such as resume writing, interviewing skills, and networking. ACES Scholars completing the 2-year NSF portion of the program received a closing package in the mail featuring an ACES windbreaker and a letter of completion.

20 | 2019-2020 Annual Report

During the 2019-2020 Academic Year...

100%

of first-year ACES Scholars were retained in engineering

91%

of second-year ACES Scholars were retained in engineering

Of the third cohort in the 2019-2020 Academic Year...

36%

are underrepresented minorities

50%

are female are first-gen college students

82%

IDEA Center Specialized Programs | 21

IDEA Scholars Program

The IDEA Scholars Program works to foster community building and academic excellence among our top incoming freshman engineering students from diverse backgrounds.

IDEA Scholars Welcome The IDEA Center welcomed 44 new IDEA Scholars to the Jacobs School of Engineering at the start of the 2019-2020 academic year. IDEA Scholars, who are predominantly first-generation and/or from underrepresented minority groups, will now call UC San Diego home.

Among the first year cohort of IDEA Scholars, 29 students are female, 35 students are from underrepresented minority groups, and 14 are first-generation students.

The start of the 2019 academic year saw several updates to this program, which has a total of 200 students participating as IDEA Scholars. These updates are described below:

Weekly Discussions Reimagined for First-Year IDEA Scholars During Fall 2019 Quarter, each first-year IDEA Scholar participates in the IDEA Scholars Weekly Discussion. These are weekly, one hour discussions, ranging in topics.

Updates to the the Weekly Discussion included the following: • A resume discussion and review • A discussion about graduate school (including requirements, programs, rationale for attending, and degree types) • Effective tips for personal statements

Big/Little Program The Big/Little component is the mentorship program of the IDEA Scholars program, which pairs an incoming IDEA Scholar with a second, third, or fourth-year IDEA Scholar.

A revised matching process for Bigs and Littles was implemented in Fall 2019. Students were able to meet their potential match in a “speed dating” style format. This allowed for greater student input when pairing, increasing the longevity of the Big/Little relationship.

A training session was also provided for Bigs to establish a baseline understanding of expectations and responsibilities as mentors, methods to connect with Littles, and active listening skills.

Starbucks gift cards were offered to pairs in order to incentivize consistent participation in the program. Students were asked to take photographs of their meetings, both for accountability, but also so they could be printed and taped to the walls within the IDEA Center, celebrating them and the program.

Professional Development IDEA Scholars participated in a trip to San Diego Regional Airport Authority where they learned about the history of the San Diego airport, operations, personnel, logistics, and future plans. Students were able to network with professionals from various departments.

22 | 2019-2020 Annual Report

IDEA Scholars Graduation Reception IDEA Scholars Graduation Reception celebrated 44 students who graduated with their engineering degree in Spring 2020. Due to COVID-19, along with state and university regulations, the traditional IDEA Scholars Graduation Reception was reinvisioned into a farewell video, which captured footage from graduating IDEA Scholars taking a trip down memory lane, and farewell wishes from staff, faculty, and Dean Pisano. The video, which can be viewed on the IDEA Center’s YouTube Channel (https://www.youtube. com/IDEAStudentCenter), recognized all graduating IDEA Scholars, with a special recognition to those who received the following awards:

Community Service in Engineering Award

Gabriel Gutierrez, BS Structural Engineering

Academic Excellence in Engineering Award

Arielle Yoo, BS Bioengineering

“

Justin Hoover, BS Bioengineering

Harrison (Wei) Li, BS Bioengineering

I don’t know where I’d be if I wasn’t an IDEA Scholar. It gave me a sense of community and a group of friends when I didn’t know anyone coming into UCSD.

“

IDEA Scholars at SEI

“

- Jessica Sanchez, class of 2020

Being an IDEA Scholar had a big impact on my time at UCSD. The friends I made through the Summer Engineering Institute are the friends I sat with in all of my engineering classes. After graduation, I’ll be starting my Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. When I get there, I’m hoping to find a community like the one the IDEA Center has created at UCSD, because this community has been such a big part of my experience.

- Gabe Shatkin, class of 2020

IDEA Center Specialized Programs | 23

Transfer Engineering Academic Mentorship Program The student coordinators for Transfer Engineering Academic Mentorship (TEAM) program: Michael Hanson, Tee Srey and Andrew Nguyen worked hard this year to implement new ideas that tailor to the undergraduate transfer student experience. With their personal experiences in mind, TEAM continues to be a small and inclusive environment for transfer engineering students to feel welcome at the beginning of each school year.

In 2019-2020, we adopted a new group structure to allow peer mentors to network with more students and feel supported. So rather than be matched 1:1 students are placed in a “mentoring group” with current and incoming transfer students. This year, we also extended the invitation to large group events to all engineering transfer students, even if they’re not in the TEAM program.

“

Being a veteran student, it was valuable having another veteran engineering student as my mentor. He could relate to me on so many levels and we really formed a lasting bond.

We were able to connect on technical skills the military trains you on and were able to use those skills directly in our major.

26 | 2019-2020 Annual Report

“

Transfer Engineering Academic Mentorship Program pairs incoming transfer engineering students in the Jacobs School of Engineering with upperclassmen transfer students.

With 100 undergraduates in the program, incoming students were given the opportunity to choose their peer mentors, and then were grouped within the same department. Team building and getting-to-know-you activities in the Fall Quarter provided everyone the chance to get to know each other a bit more and start to build community. Winter Quarter focused on professional development activities: we toured the communications company Viasat, and hosted industry partners Qualcomm and Viasat at our quarterly networking events with TEAM participants.

“

Visiting a company and meeting engineering professionals who were similar to me and who also started off at a community college was really inspiring and motivating.

“

Spring presented a challenge with transitioning to remote life, so we partnered with our sister program Jacobs Undergraduate Mentoring Program (JUMP) and invited TEAM students to attend the workshops JUMP had planned for their program. During quarantine, we sent out snack care packages to students to support them during finals. We look forward to making improvements as we continue with this remote structure, and aim to continue to create community among our transfer engineering students.

Jacobs Undergraduate Mentoring Program This year we welcomed 250 very enthusiastic engineering students to the Jacobs Undergraduate Mentoring Program (JUMP). We have a total of 100 graduate student mentors, 65 upperclassmen peer mentors and 85 incoming and second year students participating in JUMP in 2019-2020. All undergraduates indicated their mentor preference at the welcome event and were matched successfully with one of their top ranking options.

Each mentorship group consisted of at least one graduate student, one upperclassmen and one incoming or second year student.

As we continued with the Fall 2019 Quarter, 6 JUMP student coordinators planned events and activities that encouraged the undergraduate mentees to meet as many graduate and peer students. In addition to socials, we launched the first “JUMP

Jacobs Undergraduate Mentoring Program is a community of engineering students (both undergraduate and graduate) and alumni, who provide each other with support, advice, guidance, and experience.

Lounges”, where undergraduate students were able to mingle with more graduate mentors, and learn about specific topics facilitated by our graduate mentors. Topics varied from learning about graduate school to building strong support networks in college.

Winter Quarter brought more themed JUMP Lounges allowing this space to be more than a place to connect and study, but also develop technical and soft skills. In the Spring quater we transitioned to fully remote meetings. We offered professional development workshops led by some of our graduate mentors.

The session most enjoyed by JUMP participants was presented by one of our grad mentors, Steven Bopp on “Branding Yourself” which provided students with tips for standing out in a competitive job market.

JUMP 2019-2020 Participants 100 graduate mentors 65 upperclassmen peer mentors 85 underclassmen mentees IDEA Center Mentorship | 27

This year we piloted the Guided Engineering Apprenticeship in Research (GEAR) undergraduate research program with 30 participants and 16 Jacobs School of Engineering laboratories. Modeled after the CSE Early Research Scholars Program (ERSP), GEAR provides a parallel year-long experience to second and third year students from the Jacobs School’s other five departments.

GEAR aims to provide a scaffolded research experience to support the development of students’ research self-efficacy, engineering identity, and sense of belonging and inclusion within the field—especially among underrepresented, first generation, and low-income students.

Students work in teams of two to divide the work, practice collaboration skills, and support each other. In addition to completing a research project under the mentorship of faculty and graduate students in their lab, GEAR participants begin the year by taking ENG 20 “Introduction to Engineering Research” in the Fall Quarter, participate in professional development workshops starting in Winter Quarter, and create a research poster to summarize their work in Spring Quarter. Students are connected with a GEAR Central Graduate Student Mentor who meets with students regularly to provide general research advice and mentorship, as well as leads professional development workshops.

Course ENG 20 Introduction to Engineering Research Topics include defining a research problem, finding and reading technical papers, technical writing, and effective practices for presenting research

30 | 2019-2020 Annual Report

Workshops & Socials Winter 2020: Project Management Resiliency in Research Graduate Mentor & Student Meet-Up Spring 2020: Effective Poster Presentation Skills Public Speaking and Professional Development

Student Feedback

“

“It made me think that research is something that I can do and it's something that brings me joy— looking into something that's never been done before.”

“It opened my mind up to the idea of going to grad school a lot more, because when I entered college, I didn't even really consider it as an option.”

“My confidence went up because if research is just solving a problem in a structured, scientific way then, really, anybody can be a researcher.”

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, GEAR pivoted to a fully remote experience in the Spring 2020 Quarter and students completed their research posters. Although the planned inaugural Undergraduate Engineering Research Symposium had to be cancelled this year due to COVID-19, GEAR students instead created soundbites to showcase their work to a broader audience. Check out a sample of students’ work on the GEAR website at gear.ucsd.edu.

Acknowledgements:

Dr. Ekaterina Evdokimenko — ENG 20 Instructor Fabian Martinez Pallares — ENG 20 Teaching Assistant Maritza Sanchez ­— GEAR Central Mentor Thank you to Prof. Christine Alvarado and all the faculty, post docs, and graduate students who hosted and mentored students.

The pilot year of the GEAR program was supported, in part, by an Innovation Grant from the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion.

IDEA Center Academic Enrichment | 31

Workshop and Info Sessions for Engineers The IDEA Engineering Student Center offers 7-10 Workshops and Information Sessions for Engineers (WISE) each quarter for our undergraduate students to promote their academic, personal and professional development. In addition, each session is prepared with a specific skill that a student will acquire at the end of the session and/or a clear benefit to the student, which is communicated to students at the time that each session is being advertised.

Topics throughout the school year focused on graduate school preparation, research involvement, professional and career preparation and job search, wellness, study abroad, and technical skill development. Each focus consisted of a series of 4-5 topics that built off each other throughout the academic year. In Winter 2020, we expanded our workshop offerings and invited the Gordon Engineering Leadership Center to host a Student

WISE is a series of academic, professional, and technical skill-building workshops and info sessions offered throughout the quarter. These free events cover topics such as programming languages, graduate school preparation, professional development as an engineer, and much more!

Leadership series for our engineering student leaders. We also offered a Summer Internship & Research Series for students to learn about the various opportunities available to them for the summer through Academic Enrichment Programs and the Corporate Affiliates Program.

Due to the transition to remote learning, workshops were fully virtual during Spring Quarter and the recordings were posted on the IDEA Engineering Student Center YouTube channel. As part of the unprecedented change, we invited Counseling and Psychological services to facilitate a session around “Balancing Transitions during COVID-19.� Additionally, a third Career Services workshop was added to the schedule in order to take into account virtual interviews. Marketing for WISE workshops continued via social media in order for students to learn about the different academic workshops being offered to them.

Winter Quarter Workshops Communication & Collaboration Yoga @ Jacobs Study Abroad Financial Aid and Scholarships Information

Spring Quarter Workshops How to Manage Anxiety in your New Environment

AEP Summer Programs

How to Stay Motivated for a Virtual Spring Quarter

Corporate Affiliates Program Internship Programs

Writing a Winning Engineering Resume

Leading Change: Project Management & Product Development

Graduate School 101

Meditation Workshop

Budgeting for Graduate School Effective Leadership Transition Interviewing Skills 101 Navigating a Virtual Job Search

32 | 2019-2020 Annual Report

Graduate & Scholarly Talks

Engineering Graduate & Scholarly Talks are a series of free academic, professional, and technical training workshops open to all Graduate & Post-Doctoral engineering students at the Jacobs School of Engineering.

This year Grad Talks offered 9 sessions per quarter, with an average of 25 students attending per event, and a yearly attendance of 1,500 graduate students and post-docs. Some of our PhD students took an active role in sharing their knowledge and wisdom by presenting on topics like: NSF and The Ford Foundation.

We also invited faculty and industry members to present on: STEM Diversity, Being a Woman in the Job Search, and Applying to Jobs in Academia. In Winter Quarter we collaborated with the Gordon Engineering Leadership Center in presenting on various topics, as well as the Jacobs Graduate Student Council, which participated in numerous panel sessions.

In Spring Quarter our series transitioned smoothly to a virtual format, following our move to remote learning due to COVID-19.

Presentations were hosted on and recorded through Zoom, then posted on the IDEA Engineering Student Center’s YouTube channel and Grad Talks webpage, along with additional resources provided by the presenters. We are extremely thankful to each of the graduate engineering departments (Bioengineering, Mechanical and Aerospace, Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Structural Engineering) that sponsored lunch for students who attended Grad Talks in the Fall and provided thank you gifts for our speakers in the Spring. And a special shout out to Dr. Tod Pascal and Dr. Zheng Chen, who were our faculty directors for Grad Talks during the 2019-2020 academic year.

Graduate & Scholarly Talk Select Topics How to Deliver Good Presentations

Networking & Making Industry Connections

Hard vs. Soft Skills in Industry

Diversity in STEM

How to Find Good Internships

Dealing with Imposter Syndrome

IDEA Center Academic Enrichment | 33

ENG 10: Fundamentals of Engineering Applications

ENG 10 is designed to increase motivation and student success in engineering through an application-orientated, hands-on introduction to engineering mathematics and design processes.

In 2019-2020, a total of 178 students took ENG 10 “Fundamentals of Engineering Applications” during the Summer Engineering Institute and academic year to get a hands-on introduction to engineering mathematics, programming, and design. Seventeen project teams designed solutions to real-world problems using newly acquired knowledge in programming, CAD, and 3-D printing. Examples of project prototypes include: Fly Not Die speed sensor and automatic braking system for electric scooters, SolarFlower “solar panel” that follows the movement of the sun, Petscape automatic pet feeder, SeeSound audio visualizer, and FireSense fire suppression system.

This was a productive year for the ENG 10 team in which we made changes and new additions to the curriculum based on recommendations of the ENG 10 Curriculum Committee, composed of faculty, instructors, staff, and graduate students.

This year we introduced: • Circuit Playground Express (CPX) as the microcontroller used in the course, so that students program in Python throughout the course.

• Three step-by-step Arduino labs to structure student’s introduction to the CPX. • A two-part CAD tutorial that incorporates a homework assignment so that each student has the opportunity to build their CAD skills.

This year we also developed additional materials for future implementation: • Mathematics reference materials for the four math topics featured in the course.

• A bank of ideas for final projects and homework assignments that guide students through developing their project proposal.

• Coding reference materials for common sensors and actuators used in projects.

As with all courses, ENG 10 pivoted to being fully remote during the Spring 2020 Quarter. This was a serious challenge for hands-on courses. We experimented with the course by focusing on activities that are more conducive to remote participation--coding and CAD design. Students used an online CPX simulator to test their code. With more time to plan and adapt, we look forward to trying another approach by mailing materials kits to students in the Fall 2020 Quarter.

Thank you to the Curriculum Committee and this year’s instructors and TAs: Curriculum Committee: Prof. Janet Becker, Prof. Saharnaz Baghdadchi, Dr. Ekaterina Evdokimenko, Prof. Olivia Graeve, Ankit Agarwal, Alex Knyazev Instructors: Dr. Ekaterina Evdokimenko, Jordan Campbell, Robyn Ridley TAs: Maritza Sanchez, Ved Vakaria, Arash Yazdani, Ingram Vargas Consuelos Thank you to the EnVision Maker Studio for their partnership.

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IDEA Center Academic Enrichment | 35

ENG 15: Engineer Your Success

ENG 15 focuses on academic and personal planning, time management, study skills, and paths to personal growth. Activities include individual and collaborative exercises, personal reflections, and a final project.

ENG 15: Engineer Your Success was launched during the Spring 2020 quarter. The course was originally piloted by Prof. Andrew Kahng during the 2016-2017 academic year as ENG 2. The re-launched course has a new instructor, Dr. Katya Evdokimenko. This discussion-based course guides students through self-discovery of their goals and habits as engineering students and provides opportunities to reflect on new strategies and ways of thinking to support their success.

The course was offered remotely to a small cohort of eight students amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants included first year students, transfer students, and those living in both San Diego and their home communities. The course was a much needed opportunity to connect, reflect, and feel supported during Spring Quarter.

One hundred percent (100%) of students recommended the course on their CAPE evaluations.

Students appreciated the course’s focus on time management and scheduling, opportunities for introspection, discussing how Maslow’s hierarchy of needs fits into having a better life, and strategies for minimizing distractions.

We are excited to grow course enrollment during the upcoming academic year, especially for incoming freshmen and transfer students who may need additional support connecting with other engineering students and adjusting academically to UC San Diego as the current health situation continues to unfold.

“ “ “ I was able to learn a lot about myself as a student and how to successfully approach engineering.

I look forward to applying what I have learned in the future.

This course has helped me identify with engineering better than before. [Dr. Katya] has taught me an exceptional amount of information about myself and everyone else.

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Engineering Learning Communities

Engineering Learning Communities provide small, cooperative learning environments for students in pre-requisite math, science, and engineering classes. Students reinforce their skills through problem solving sessions and office hours with experienced peer educators and collaboration with fellow students to practice and apply their knowledge.

Engineering Learning Communities (ELCs) are collaborative study groups for engineering students that are facilitated by Peer Educators. ELCs meet every week for two hours and participants practice problems, prepare for exams, master fundamentals, strengthen study skills, learn the value of collaborative study, and gain confidence in a supportive group environment.

During the 2019-20 academic year, 881 students signed up for ELC sections and 642 students attended at least one section. Fifty-one ELC sections were offered for the “gateway” courses required of most engineering students, including Math 20B (3 sections), Math 20C (6 sections), Math 20D (6 sections), Math 20E (4 sections), and Math 18 (6 sections); Chemistry 6A (3 sections), Chemistry 6B (1 section), and Chemistry 6C (1 section); Physics 2A (6 sections), Physics 2B (5 sections), and Physics 2C (6 sections). ELC was also offered to a select number of major courses, including MAE 30A (1 section), MAE 30B (2 sections), and SE 101B (1 section).

97% of students who participated in in-person ELCs during 2019-20 would recommend ELCs to fellow students.

91% of students participating in in-person ELCs during 2019-20 felt the ELC helped them succeed in the course.

Serving Students Online With the unprecedented situation created by the COVID-19 pandemic and the move to online instruction during the Spring 2020 Quarter, it was imperative to continue to support our engineering students with virtual ELCs. We implemented a rapid transition to online ELCs, including training our Peer Educators and equipping those who needed it with additional technology. During Spring Quarter, we offered 16 online ELC sections and 208 students attended!

Summer ELCs

“ “ “ “

For the first time ever, IDEA Center offered two summer ELC sections. These sections were used not only to support engineering students taking Physics 2C online, but to pilot strategies for increasing student participation in and effectiveness of online facilitation.

Thank you! I’ve never felt so confident going into any Math exams before, I appreciate all your help.

My [Peer Educator] was very kind and positive when interacting with each student. One thing I very much appreciate is that she would go up to every student and ask them how they were doing.

The practice problems really helped me grasp the material. Without them, I was struggling a lot more figuring out how to go about problems, but the examples let me understand how to use the material.

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Welcome Activities for Admitted Students

Due to COVID-19 and transition to remote work in mid-March 2020, we shifted all our yield activities for students who have been admitted to an undergraduate engineering major at UC San Diego to a virtual format.

Virtual Triton Day The IDEA Engineering Student Center worked with all 6 engineering departments and the Office of Admissions to offer all department information sessions to admitted students via Zoom webinar during Virtual Triton Day on April 4, 2020. In partnership with the Jacobs School Communications Team, a website was created that lists all engineering webinars and panels: http://jacobsschool. ucsd.edu/academic/academic_undergrad/admitted The webinar information was shared with admitted students through the applicant portal.

In addition to the Zoom webinar platform, we added a Chat feature on the IDEA Center's website to allow admitted students to communicate with our staff in real time. We utilized Instagram and YouTube to advertise and post recordings for webinars. The IDEA Center also coordinated the collection of all engineering digital assets to be shared with admitted students through the Admissions Office's Virtual Triton Day website.

The IDEA Center continued to coordinate the email campaign to admitted engineering students, which was supplemented by emails that were sent by engineering departments to students who have been admitted to their majors.

Engineering Overnight Program Components of the Engineering Overnight Program were offered to admitted students from underrepresented minority, first-generation, and low income groups through webinars and virtual panel sessions. The following webinars were offered live from April 9 to 16, 2020: • • • • •

Get to Know Your Teaching Assistants Getting Involved in Student Organizations: Panel Session with Engineering Student Leaders Research Involvement Student Panel Summer Engineering Institute Overview IDEA Scholars/ACES Scholars Panel Session

A separate email campaign was held for this group of students, inviting them to attend the live webinars and/or watch the recordings on our Instagram TV or YouTube channels. We also sent postcards to this group of students, as well as admitted students who identified as women, prior to Triton Day. The postcard included testimonials from current engineering students and encouraged admitted students to subscribe to our Instagram TV and YouTube channels. The Computer Science and Engineering and Bioengineering Departments also planned to send a welcome package to the same groups of students who have been admitted to their majors.

We reached a total number of 284 students through our live webinars. We were happy with our efforts in pivoting to virtual offerings within a couple of weeks, and used what we learned to enhance our activities for Virtual Transfer Triton Day.

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IDEA Center Diversity Recruitment | 41

Virtual Transfer Triton Day We planned for Virtual Transfer Triton Day with a couple of changes from Triton Day, namely improving our communication process with students, and ensuring that admitted students were provided with webinar links earlier. The IDEA Center worked with the Admissions Office to send information on the department information sessions to admitted transfer students earlier, hoping that providing them with more prior notice would lead to increased attendance to the virtual sessions.

Our activities for Virtual Transfer Triton Day were similar to Virtual Triton Day, with the exception of the postcards being sent to all admitted transfer engineering students. In addition, invitation to the following webinars that were offered May 8 to 21 were also extended to all admitted transfer engineering students: • • • • •

Jacob School of Engineering Welcome and Overview Successfully Transitioning to Engineering @ UC San Diego Transfer Engineering Student Panel: Internship, Research and Preparing for Your Future Career in Engineering Engineering Graduate Student Panel: Transfer Students' Journey from Community College to Graduate School Getting Involved and Finding Community at the Jacobs School of Engineering

Attendance to the live webinars averaged 71 students.

Offering all yield activities to students who have been admitted to an undergraduate engineering major at UC San Diego in a virtual format is definitely a first for the IDEA Center. It was great to see the engineering community come together to give a warm welcome to admitted students, and show them the amazing engineering community awaiting them at the Jacobs School of Engineering.

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Graduate Recruitment

The IDEA Engineering Student Center participates in numerous recruitment activities throughout the year that are geared towards increasing diversity among engineering graduate students on campus

It was a busy time for graduate recruiting during Fall 2019, and we had some exciting collaborations with Graduate and Undergraduate Admissions that allowed us to attend more conferences and interact with more diverse student populations.

Gennie Miranda, IDEA Center’s Director of Operations, dusted off her recruiter polo and ventured to Arizona to represent the Jacobs School of Engineering at the 2019 Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) National Convention. Meanwhile, Sinai Cota, the Sloan Scholar Assistant and Programs Coordinator, took three engineering students to Hawaii for the annual Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) Conference. Students were able to build community amongst each other and share positive experiences with prospective students. The American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) National

Conference lent a unique opportunity to talk with incoming high school students and get them pumped and thinking about graduate school. Finally, Great Minds in STEM’s annual HENAAC Conference celebrated Hispanic excellence in STEM in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.

We are ecstatic at the opportunity to keep participating in outreach and recruitment activities for prospective graduate engineering students from underrepresented minority groups.

They provide opportunities for some of our current PhD students to share their stories and make connections with future Jacobs School graduate students. These activities also advance our work in continuing to support and motivate first generation college students, as well as students from nontraditional and underrepresented backgrounds as they navigate through their future career in academia and STEM.

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Diversity Organizations Annual Conferences

For the second year in a row, Matching Funds grants provided support for diversity engineering organizations Out in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, Women in Computing, Society of Women Engineering and Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers to send students to their annual conference for personal and professional development.

Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) National Convention Members of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) at UC San Diego attended the SHPE National Convention in Phoenix, Arizona. From October 30 - November 3, 2019, SHPE sent 30 of its members to the conference. Student leaders helped prepare the attending cohort of students by collaborating with campus departments such as Career Services and the SHPE San Diego Professional Chapter to provide workshops on mock interviews and resume writing. These workshops helped build confidence among members.

“One of my favorite workshops was ‘Micro-inequalities and unconscious bias’ presented by DuPont and it was a reminder of the importance of addressing problems in the workplace. No matter how inclusive a company may claim to be, when a microaggression occurs, we need to address it.”

“I learned what a Doctorate of Engineering is, and had the opportunity to get personal contacts with a lot of graduate school recruiters who would love to have me visit their campuses.”

- First Generation College Student and First-Time Conference Participant

Women in Computing (WIC) at Grace Hopper Conference In November 2019, 14 members of the Women in Computing (WIC) Student Organization at UC San Diego attended the Grace Hopper Conference held in Orlando, Florida. The conference is attended by women in technology from all over the world. A great benefit to the students included attending the Career Expo. At least 10 students in attendance reported completing an average of 4 interviews each, with over 90% of them receiving job offers.

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Society of Women Engineers’ (SWE) Annual Conference Sponsoring 26 members, the UC San Diego Section of SWE attended the Women's Engineers 19’ (WE) Annual Conference held in Anaheim, CA. Student leaders connected with women in STEM and shared programming and work done by the UCSD student chapter.

When asked about their experience attending the SWE Conference, 88% of the participants indicated that they would not have been able to afford the cost of attending.

SWE members who attended the conference gained valuable networking skills and exposure to a large community of successful women engineers.

“WE19 was an amazing experience that helped me learn more about industry and how to succeed as a woman. It made me aware of issues women face in the engineering workforce that I did not know about it. This makes me feel more prepared as I begin to pursue opportunities in industry. I also received tips and skills that helped me grow professionally as I was forced out of my comfort zone.”

- SWE Member and WE19 Participant

oSTEM — Out in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics The UC San Diego chapter of oSTEM — Out in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics supported eleven members to attend the 2019 oSTEM National Conference in Detroit, Michigan. The oSTEM National Conference promoted exploration of individual identity and effectively educated those in attendance about the intersections of identity, including but not limited to lesser-known gender and sexual identities and queer people of color. Student leaders gained a foundation for how they can foster an increased sense of community among their peers through events that focus on social, professional, and intersectional activities.

“Not only was the conference highly beneficial and informative, it helped establish a lasting foundation for the future of oSTEM at UC San Diego.”

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Welcome Week ‘19

In Fall 2019, we coordinated numerous events and participated in many activities aimed at welcoming 1,677 new undergraduate and 718 new graduate engineering students to the IDEA Engineering Student Center and the Jacobs School of Engineering. The bulk of these events were held during Welcome Week from September 23-27, 2019.

Jacobs School Open House We coordinated the annual Jacobs School Open House on September 27, 2019. All new engineering students were invited to attend this event, where they learned about the various campus services and programs available to engineering students in one place. Held in the Jacobs Hall Lobby, we had 16 campus partners participate, sharing information about their programs with hundreds of students who attended this event.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Academic Enrichment Programs Basic Needs Center Corporate Affiliates Program: Team Internship & Co-op Program Counseling and Psychological Services Center for Student Involvement EnVision Maker Studio First Year Experience & Transfer Year Experience Global TIES Gordon Engineering Leadership Center Graduate Division Institute for the Global Entrepreneur Office of Academic Support and Instructional Services Study Abroad Teaching + Learning Commons The Basement The Library

We also held an open house for the IDEA Engineering Student Center and Engineering Learning Community (ELC) space during the event. We believe it is important for new students to see the IDEA Center and ELC spaces, and know where they are located. As such, we planned an activity at the IDEA Center, where they collected a ticket after learning about one of the programs/services that we offer. They were then able to exchange this ticket for a prize at the ELC courtyard. There were additional activities students could participate in at the ELC space, where there was food and music.

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Presentations and Tabling Activities The IDEA Engineering Student Center continued to coordinate undergraduate orientation sessions for all 6 engineering departments, scheduling these events on September 23rd and 25th, and getting the word out to new students. Presenting at these orientation sessions is an important way for us to inform new students of the programs and services that we offer to engineering students, encourage them to participate and get involved, and let them know how to connect with us in person and electronically.

Campuswide, we tabled at most of the open houses held by the community centers, as well as the Student Services Festival.

We tabled with student representatives from our diversity engineering student organizations and Triton Engineering Student Council at these events. By participating in these activities, we aim to show engineering students that we partner with many campus units to provide them with a web of support across the campus.

Diversity Engineering Organizations Joint General Body Meeting On September 25, 2019, we partnered with the diversity engineering organizations National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), Society of Women Engineers (SWE), Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE), Women in Computing (WIC), Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers (SASE), and Out in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (oSTEM) to hold a joint general body meeting. Warren Lecture Hall 2001 was nearly filled to capacity with students who attended this casual community welcome event to meet engineering student leaders, learn how to get involved in our diverse community, and receive advice on how to be a successful engineering student at UC San Diego.

Welcoming Graduate Students In addition to inviting all new graduate engineering students to the Jacobs School Open House, the IDEA Center presented at the various graduate orientation sessions organized by the engineering departments. We also tabled with the Jacobs Graduate Student Council at the New Graduate Student Orientation Resource Fair.

IDEA Center Student Life| 49

The Student Travel Fund provides financial assistance to undergraduate students looking to attend conferences a

Dynamics and Evolution of HIV and other Human Viruses Conference Attendee Tyler Jang

“I was able to display my work on HIV research on a poster at the [virtual] conference. I saw a ton of different presentations from researchers all over the USA, Europe, and Africa who went into great depth about their research on HIV, COVID-19, and other viruses. It was great that I could meet all these talented researchers from all over the world.”

Forbes 30 Under 30 Summit Attendee Minghua Ong

“Being at the conference was an incredibly surreal experience. Not only did I get to see leading professionals across industry (Kevin Durant!

Jonny Sun! Trevor Martin!), I also got to discover the up and coming. For me, that was the best part. I’m interested in rehabilitative engineering, which is an uncentralized field, and until this conference, I wasn’t exactly sure what my field looked like. Seeing all these cool start ups gave me an idea of what to strive for. My favorite start-ups weren’t even directly rehabilitative, and it was awesome to hear their story. I felt like I deeply connected with the representatives from Mentally VR—a revolutionary VR therapy service to make mental health resources more accessible. I also got to attend an unconventional hackathon! In the span of an hour and a half to two hours, my team and I had to create a solution for harmful algal blooms in the Great Lakes region.”

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l e v Tra

and competitions. This fund was created by students for students in conjunction with our annual Ring Ceremony.

HKN Student Leadership Conference Attendee Siteng (Tim) Jiang

“The conference consists of multiple workshops, networking events, etc.

Cypress sponsored a workshop where they have a product similar to an Arduino. The PSoC has Bluetooth modules, programmable parts, and various connectors. On day 2 there were multiple blocks of workshops students can choose from, such as “50 great ideas in 50 minutes”, “landing your dream job”, “How legislators can affect engineers”, etc. At the event, we also got a chance to network with other HKN chapters, share what works, what doesn’t, how to more effectively host events, induct members, acquire funding, and engage with communities. Our students not only gained a lot of experience networking with other students and national governors but also received great feedback on this year’s SLC which we can improve when WE host SLC 2020 at UCSD.”

s d n Fu SACNAS: The National Diversity in STEM Conference Attendee Amanda Breton

“I was able to experience a very supportive and collaborative environment and connected with many people outside of UC San Diego as well as some at UC San Diego who I met by chance. I was able to attend a GEM Grad Labs session which I feel helped not only convince me to go to graduate school, but also prepared me for looking for funding. Additionally, I was able to meet many different graduate schools and see many different types of research, which helped me think about what I want to study in the future. I met a researcher at Brown University who was doing very interesting research that was somewhat similar to my own, and he gave me his business card to keep him in mind for when I apply to graduate school, which was very cool.”

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IEEE Rising Stars 2020 Conferencee Mahmoud Maarouf

“This event has given the opportunity for our IEEE officers and members to learn more about the disciplines of engineering, an opportunity to network with hundreds of different students whom are all passionate about their field and position in IEEE. This conference has given insight on what it is like to be an engineer and to be a contributing member to society. Throughout the conference, students felt very pleased to be able to achieve such a great learning opportunity and be surrounded by a group of young professionals like themselves.”

TigerLaunch Entrepreneurship Competition Seattle Regionals Attendee Tiffany Wang

“It was an amazing experience! Not only did I get to pitch in front of a panel of judges, but I got to interact with all the other teams who were also staying at the same Airbnb the night before the competition. I got a chance to connect with a group of diverse, bright students all working on their own ideas and will continue to keep in touch with some of them.

Although I am not one of the four teams moving onto the final round, seeing the traction that other teams have been able to accomplish—the number of users, outcomes of said users, paying customers—made me more motivated to get to that stage too.”

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Matching Funds

Engineering student organizations participating in select project-based competitions may apply for this program, in which funds raised by the student organization will be considered by a selection committee for matching on a dollar-for-dollar basis.

During the 2019-2020 academic school year, the program awarded $56,391 to 17 different project-based teams and diversity student organizations.

A highlight of this year includes Triton Robosub placing in the top 25 at the International Robosub Competition held at the Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific’s Transducer Evaluation Center pool in San Diego. A newly formed organization, Triton Robosub built an autonomous submarine and qualified for the semifinal in their first year competing.

As a result of COVID-19 closures, competitions were moved virtually, cancelled or rescheduled to a later date.

For the UC San Diego Design, Build, Fly student organization, their competition moved forward with judging and scoring based on final reports of design and test flights of a banner tow-

ing bush plane. Of 113 teams allowed to compete, they scored 33rd place along with two other universities.

Another student organization to highlight is Triton Unmanned Aerial Systems. Despite the cancellation of their competition, Triton UAS continued to work on and published a technical design paper to present the Swallow, the team’s main flight platform for the 2020 AUVSI Student Unmanned Aerial System Competition.

Their report provides a detailed analysis of the design methodology, an evaluation of testing procedures and results to demonstrate the system’s readiness for competition.

The goal of completing these deliverables was to showcase their work to those who have supported them and sponsored their project. They plan on holding mock mission demonstrations and record videos of the test flights once they can resume in person activities.

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Engineering Leadership Summit

We build a community of engineering student leaders through the Engineering Leadership Summit. We partner with the Corporate Affiliates Program, Gordon Engineering Leadership Center, and EnVision Maker Studio in training new student organization officers at the beginning of the academic year

The Engineering Leadership Summit is a one-day leadership training in the Fall organized in collaboration with the Corporate Affiliates Program, the Gordon Center, and with support from EnVision Maker Studio. The summit hosted a workshop around communication and collaboration as well as provided networking opportunities for student leaders to connect with their peers. Students learned about financial resources available to them through the Jacobs School of Engineering to help support projects for their organization and to fund their professional development endeavors. Through a panel discussion, industry representatives shared what leadership looks like within their companies and how student organizations can cultivate positive partnerships with industry. There were industry members present from companies including Facebook, Cubic, and Northrop Grumman. In Fall 2019, over 54 students attended, representing 39 engineering student organizations.

“

A collaboration between students and on campus entities is essential to cultivate the best experience for students. Mentorship from peers and industry leaders is helpful in helping students discern between career paths, and there are a variety of leadership and communication styles; understanding those of your members will help make working together a lot more fruitful. The Summit helped me in better understanding these different components.

- Summer Batasin, President, Triton Engineering Student Council

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“

Diversity Engineering Student Organizations

IDEA Engineering Student Center directly supports and partners with the diversity student organizations National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), Society of Women Engineers (SWE), Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE), Women in Computing (WIC), Out in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (oSTEM), and Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers (SASE) in promoting academic success, and a supportive and inclusive environment for all engineering students.

This marked a fundamental shift from previous years where each diversity organization, along with TESC, would host separate general body meetings (GBM) at the beginning of the academic year. With the creation of a joint GBM, students were offered an opportunity to learn about multiple organizations at the same time and meet various organization’s board members who were present.

One highlight during 2019-2020 is that UC San Diego’s chapter of oSTEM (Out in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) was awarded the Chapter of the Year designation at the oSTEM Annual Conference in Detroit, MI. Out in STEM is an LGBTQIA+ affirming organization that aims to provide services and support for students in science, technology, engineering,and mathematics and to create a dynamic network between students and professionals in industry and academia. They were selected from among more than 90 university chapters across the country, a truly remarkable distinction for an organization! The UC San Diego chapter was recognized for its dramatic membership growth over the past year and quality of programs provided to students.

The chapter hosts monthly talks in partnership with LGBTQIA+ industry leaders and faculty, as well as organizes a mentorship program for LGBTQIA+ students in STEM.

The joint general body meeting attracted nearly 250 students, resulting in a standing room only. Several students stood in the back of Warren Lecture Hall listening to each organization’s mission, signature events, volunteer opportunities, and next general body meeting. The joint general body meeting signaled a new era for the diversity organizations, where they took the initiative to create a new, more inclusive meeting format for all engineering students.

In addition to the organization’s professional focus, oSTEM organizes biweekly study and social sessions to foster academic excellence, strengthen the sense of community among members, and establish a safe space for students in the LGBTQIA+ community. Aside from the IDEA Center, UC San Diego’s oSTEM chapter receives support from the LGBT Resource Center and the Student Success Center in the Division of Physical Sciences.

The National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), Society of Women Engineers (SWE), Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE), Women in Computing (WIC), Out in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (oSTEM), and Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers (SASE) with support from the Triton Engineering Student Council (TESC), held their first annual joint general body meeting on September 25, 2019.

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Triton Engineering Student Council The Triton Engineering Student Council (TESC) strives to foster community within the Jacobs School of Engineering by working closely with engineering student organizations and hosting events that bring students of all engineering disciplines together.

New this year is the creation of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between TESC and the IDEA Engineering Student Center. The purpose of the MOU is to provide specific guidance to TESC officers in successfully carrying out their role and responsibilities as student leaders, and to specify the support and services they receive from the IDEA Center.

To kick off the year, TESC held their Fall annual signature event “Engineers on the Green” at Warren Mall. At this event, undergraduate students had the opportunity to learn about the various engineering student organizations available to them on the UC San Diego campus, and how to become involved in the engineering student community. About 1,100 students attended the event with 45 engineering student organizations present, including diversity organizations and project teams.

Another signature event organized by TESC in the Fall Quarter included SD Hacks, a 36-hour hackathon attended by over 750 hackers in attendance from all over California, as well as some students from out-of state. The event is held annually on the UC San Diego campus in RIMAC. This year, 145 teams submitted projects under their tracks of Sustainability, Education and Health and Wellness. SD Hacks also celebrated it’s 5th Year Anniversary!

TESC coordinates with engineering student organizations and project teams on their storage and physical space needs. This includes providing access to on campus storage facilities and work spaces, and collaborating with the Jacobs School of Engineering for project space development. Starting in the 20192020 academic year, the Director of EnVision Maker Studio will be providing supervision on the use of these spaces, and working in partnership with TESC in facilitating access among student organizations. With the support of IDEA Engineering staff, TESC coordinated the first application cycle and selection committee recruitment consisting of student leaders and faculty.

This application process was delayed due to remodel construction efforts, which were initially expected to be completed in Summer 2020, but has been halted due to campus closure as a result of COVID-19.

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The Triton Engineering Student Council (TESC) empowers UC San Diego engineering students by connecting them with impactful communities, projects, and career building opportunities

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Ring Ceremony Ring Ceremony includes recognition awards, a keynote speaker, the Jacobs School graduation oath, and the presentation of the rings. The graduation oath is a commitment of participants to uphold standards of ethics, integrity, and quality as practicing engineers and as graduates of the Jacobs School of Engineering.

Following UC San Diego’s decision to transition to remote learning in Spring 2020 as a result of the pandemic, we started planning for a virtual Ring Ceremony in mid-April. This event was streamed through the Jacobs School of Engineering and IDEA Center website on June 13, 2020, from 3pm to 4:30pm.

Virtual Ring Ceremony, which featured live and pre-recorded content, celebrated our graduating engineering students, who continued the tradition of reciting the graduation oath to express their commitment to upholding standards of ethics, integrity, and quality as practicing engineers and as graduates of the Jacobs School of Engineering. Participants received a ring prior to the event to be worn as a symbol of this commitment.

We were committed to holding a virtual ceremony that included key components of our traditional event, where participating students were able to hear their name called, recite the oath with their graduating peers, and share this special moment with their family and friends, who were all able to tune in to the live stream.

Despite the shift to a virtual platform, 291 graduating students participated in the Virtual Ring Ceremony. An additional 108 students purchased a ring, even though they did not participate in the Ring Ceremony. We also continued to make the Jacobs School of Engineering graduation stole available at a low cost of $10. We had 375 graduating students purchase a stole, most of them also participating in the Ring Ceremony.

We kept most of the components of our traditional Ring Ceremony program, with a few additional features to enhance graduating students’ experience of this virtual event.

• Department Messages: Virtual Ring Ceremony started with a slideshow of congratulatory messages from each of the Engineering Department Chairs to the graduating class.

• Ceremonial Welcome: Al Pisano, Dean of the Jacobs School of Engineering, provided the opening remarks, and spoke live throughout the event.

• Graduating Student Speaker: Laura Alejandra Morejon Ramirez, who graduated with a degree in Aerospace Engineering, was selected as this year’s student speaker. We showed a recording of her sharing her college journey with the graduating class and their guests.

• Department Awards for Student Excellence: graduating undergraduate students from each of the 6 engineering departments who have earned recognition in the Jacobs School community for their outstanding academic and leadership performance were recognized with a slideshow that showed each student’s photo and highlights on why they were chosen for the award. This was followed by video clips of faculty on why each student was selected for this award. The awards were mailed to students before the event.

• Keynote Address: Ronne Froman-Blue, an American retired naval officer, provided her message live to the graduating class and their guests. Ronne was the first woman to serve as commander of the United States Navy Region Southwest, a position known as the “Navy Mayor of San Diego”.

• Origin of the Ring Ceremony: Dean Al Pisano shared the origins of the Ring Ceremony, underscoring the significance of this event.

• Recitation of the Oath: Dean Al Pisano led the graduating class in reciting the oath. Students were asked to get their ring and program (which were mailed to them before the event), so that they can all recite the oath together. The oath was also presented on the screen for students to follow along.

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• Presentation of the Rings: Hearing their name called as they walk across the stage, while their friends and family cheer from the audience, is the moment that each graduating student looks forward to at the Ring Ceremony event. At this virtual event, students were divided by their home department. Each department started with a recorded message of congratulations from the Department Chair. This was followed by each student’s name being called, in alphabetical order by last name. As each student’s name was called, a personalized slide appeared on the screen that included the student’s photo, name, degree being awarded, and a couple of their college highlights/accomplishments.

• Closing Remarks: Dean Al Pisano provided his concluding remarks live.

Virtual Ring Ceremony was streamed on the Jacobs School of Engineering and Ring Ceremony websites, as well as livestreamed on IDEA Center’s facebook page, allowing all students, their family and friends to tune in live. As such, we did not have to limit the number of guests who can attend this event. In addition, students can re-watch on the site after the event, through the weekend.

In addition, students had access to an electronic Yearbook after the Virtual Ring Ceremony. This interactive platform allowed graduating students to make their own page and receive messages from other students, family, and friends.

291 graduating students registered to attend Ring Ceremony 2020 Award for Excellence in:

Electrical & Computer Engineering Keshav Rungta

NanoEngineering Leilani Kwe

Computer Science & Engineering Weiyang (Frank) Wang

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Barry Lawlor

Structural Engineering Jessica Yeu-Mao Chan

Bioengineering Almudena Prieto Prieto IDEA Center Student Life| 59

Acknowledgements Special thanks to: California Space Grant Consortium Daylight Solutions, Inc. Irwin and Joan Jacobs Jack Wolf Endowment Scholarship Janet and Mark Handzel National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering National Science Foundation Northrop Grumman Corporation Office of the Vice Chancellor for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Olivia J. and Martin K. Winkler Engineering Scholarship Roberto and Colleen Padovani Endowed Scholarship The Boeing Company

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