About Engineering and the Sciences

Engineering and the Sciences at UC Santa Barbara: we’re highly ranked and continue to expand our research and educational programs:

  • Five current faculty have won the Nobel Prize since 1998 – making UC Santa Barbara the only University to claim this notoriety.
  • The College of Engineering is ranked second nationally in the percentage of faculty elected to the prestigious National Academy of Engineering.
  • Our faculty members are consistently noted as among the most highly cited in their fields.
  • Our uniquely successful interdisciplinary and entrepreneurial approach to research and teaching is a key part of our success in winning significant research grants and creating exciting corporate collaborations. We offer numerous Interdisciplinary Research Centers and have strong collaborative research ties with other world renowned institutes and laboratories.
  • We continue to receive significant new and renewed funding in a wide range of areas, including bio-nanotechnology, bioengineering, regenerative medicine and materials research, among many others. We also offer the unique and exciting Technology Management Program, an exceptional business program that educates students to create economic value through new technologies.

Here’s just a sample of the wide range of initiatives with which we’re involved:

  • We have recently received numerous, noteworthy research grants: Bio-nanotechnology, Bioengineering and Regenerative Medicine:
    • We were named to the National Cancer Institute’s Multi-Center Nanotechnology Collaboration. We are working with UCSD and the Burnham Institute, in La Jolla, to apply our acumen in materials science and nanofabrication to the task of creating intelligent nanoplatforms that can deliver payloads of smaller particles to destroy, image or modify tumors, deliver therapies and perform key measurements. We will receive about $2 million from the National Cancer Institute’s grant, a five-year initiative that establishes seven university centers across the country to develop nanotechnology platforms to treat and monitor cancer.
    • We have been chosen to receive two NIH Program of Excellence (PEN) in Nanotechnology grants – and we’re the only University to participate in two such grants. The research involves developing novel technologies to diagnose and treat diseases of the heart and lungs. The grants are part of NIH’s strategy to accelerate progress in medical research through innovative technology and interdisciplinary research. Both research efforts bring together bioengineers, materials scientists, biologists and physicians working in interdisciplinary teams.
    • The W. M. Keck Foundation's Medical Research Program has awarded UC Santa Barbara $1.25-million to support a pioneering multidisciplinary research initiative focusing on tiny RNA molecules–microRNAs–and their impact on the regulation of gene function. The UCSB research team will apply recent breakthroughs to control the expression of any gene, including those that contribute to serious diseases such as cancer. Although many laboratories have validated the biological and potential therapeutic importance of microRNAs, UCSB is the only campus moving this technology to actual intervention.
    • UCSB will receive $1,343,859 in state funds by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine over three years to fund stem cell research. The long-term goal of UCSB's stem cell research program is to understand how human embryonic stem cells can be differentiated into ocular cells that might be used to treat eye disease, especially macular degeneration. A wide variety of interdisciplinary studies of the basic biology of stem cells will be supported, including work on model organisms as well as human embryonic stem cells. Participating researchers come from UCSB's Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, the College of Engineering, and the Neuroscience Research Institute.
  • Materials Research Lab – The National Science Foundation (NSF) has renewed and increased its support of the MRL -- as a Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) -- making a $20.52 million, six-year award. The MRL at UC Santa Barbara investigates a wide range of materials, including new semiconductors for microelectronics, novel nanostructures for high-speed communication devices and advanced polymeric materials. Active collaborations exist with a variety of small to large companies, which have a direct benefit to the region. In addition, the center directs pioneering education and international outreach programs, including undergraduate research opportunities, graduate training, outreach to K-12 students and teachers, and community outreach.
  • Institute for Multi-scale Materials Studies – The Los Alamos National Laboratory and UC Santa Barbara formed a new partnership in multi-scale materials and mechanics. We will offer a new graduate emphasis that focuses on recent advances at the molecular- and nano-scale to the performance of soft matter – such as polymers and biological systems
  • Technology Management Program (TMP) – The Technology Management's educational programs reside in the College of Engineering and includes classes in management, entrepreneurship, new product development, marketing, and much more taught by world class scholars, highly successful business lecturers and entrepreneurs. In addition, the program includes networking with California's top business and entrepreneurial leaders, an annual business plan competition that launches successful new ventures, student mentoring, an evening lecture series, and endless ways for participants to develop and apply their leadership skills.

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