Dean Alexander Wolf 
Scientists play a crucial role in understanding the climate crisis by researching its causes and predicting its impacts. For decades, our colleagues in the physical, natural and social sciences have sounded the alarm about the consequences of global warming, warnings that have largely been ignored among those for whom this crisis constitutes an “inconvenient truth.”
Open source is a hallmark of Baskin Engineering, examples being the Genome Browser and the Center for Research in Open Source Software, to name just two.
While the ebb and flow of industry priorities can be disruptive, engineering graduates will continue to be in high demand. The industry’s continuing growth, the unique skill set that engineering graduates possess, and their versatility and hands-on experience are all factors that make our students valuable assets to companies in the tech industry.
The Human Pangenome Reference Consortium, co-led by our biomolecular engineering faculty members Benedict Paten and Karen Miga and supported by fellow researchers at the UC Santa Cruz Genomics Institute, released the first draft of a human pangenome.
Generative AI technologies will not replace engineers, but they will inevitably reshape the skills and habits of mind necessary for engineers and engineering students to succeed. The worst thing we could do as responsible and progressive educators is to try to resist their presence in the classroom.