Research
Engineers have the power to create new things and the responsibility to use our knowledge for good. Our faculty and students pursue novel, visionary research that leads to positive societal impact.
Explore areas of research excellence, and view video highlights from faculty labs.
Covid-19 Research
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, engineers at UCSC were eager to join the fight to combat the disease’s devastating effects. Learn about how they shifted their resources and research projects to address some of the most pressing problems of the current global crisis.
UC Santa Cruz Genomics Institute
In 2000, UC Santa Cruz made history with the Human Genome Project. Today, we are focusing the power of genomics – collaboratively, openly and ethically – for the benefit of both the individual and the planet. Join us!
Uncertainty Aware Robot Control
Professor Dejan Milutinović and his graduate students study the control of robotic and autonomous vehicle systems, especially in the presence of uncertainty. The research is multidisciplinary, involving control theory, statistical physics, mathematics and mechanics. In the lab, they can test at a small scale, so there is no need to invest in airplanes and automobiles to test their theories.
Interactive Systems for Individuals with Special Needs
Sri Kurniawan, professor of computational media, is leading her students to research and develop games and applications to help people with special needs.
Bioelectronic and Bioprotonic Devices
Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Marco Rolandi is researching the use of technological devices to mimic biological processes.
Statistics and Statistical Modeling
The Baskin School of Engineering statistics faculty is considered one of the best applied Bayesian departments in the world. The faculty collaborate with other departments across campus to use statistical models to create real-world applications from massive amounts of data.
Latest Research News
- Two UC Santa Cruz research teams that can make impactful advancements in drug discovery and human health outcomes have been chosen as recipients of the university’s inaugural Innovation Catalyst Grants program. These new grants, administered by the Innovation & Business Engagement Hub, are designed to support and propel early-stage technology innovations developed by UCSC researchers.
- The Computer Game Design program at the University of California, Santa Cruz, was listed in the top five best game/simulation development programs in the nation according to rankings released today by U.S. News and World Report.
- Sixteen UC Santa Cruz graduate students have received scholarships worth a total of $175,000 from the Achievement Rewards for College Scientists (ARCS) Foundation for the 2023-24 academic year.
- Alumnus Daniel Anderson received the 2023 Wilhelm Exner Medal in Vienna, Austria. The award—presented by the Austrian Industry Association (AIA), and dating back to 1921—is given to those who have made significant advancements in their respective scientific fields.
Baskin Engineering Faculty Working in our Major Research Areas
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Covid-19 Research
Projects related to COVID-19.
Algorithms, Logic, and Complexity
| Name | Department |
|---|---|
| Sesh Comandur | Computer Science and Engineering
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| Daniel Fremont | Computer Science and Engineering
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| Lise Getoor | Computer Science and Engineering
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| David Helmbold | Computer Science and Engineering
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| Phokion Kolaitis | Computer Science and Engineering
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| Allen Van Gelder | Computer Science and Engineering
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Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
| Name | Department |
|---|---|
| Luca de Alfaro | Computer Science and Engineering
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| Jeffrey Flanigan | Computer Science and Engineering
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| Lise Getoor | Computer Science and Engineering
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| Abhishek Halder | Applied Mathematics
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| David Haussler | Biomolecular Engineering
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| David Helmbold | Computer Science and Engineering
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| Heiner Litz | Computer Science and Engineering
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| Yang Liu | Computer Science and Engineering
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| Michael J Mateas | Computational Media
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| Narges Norouzi | |
| Adam M. Smith | Computational Media
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| Marilyn A. Walker | Computer Science and Engineering
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| Jim Whitehead | Computational Media
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| Yi Zhang | Computer Science and Engineering
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Bayesian Statistics
| Name | Department |
|---|---|
| David Draper | Statistics
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| Athanasios Kottas | Statistics
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| Herbie Lee | Academic Affairs
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| Juhee Lee | Statistics
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| Richard Li | Statistics
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| Marc Mangel | Applied Mathematics
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| Raquel Prado | Statistics
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| Bruno Sansó | Statistics
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Bioinformatics and Genomics
| Name | Department |
|---|---|
| Mark Akeson | Biomolecular Engineering
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| David L Bernick | Biomolecular Engineering
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| Phillip W Berman | Biomolecular Engineering
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| Angela Brooks | Biomolecular Engineering
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| Russ Corbett-Detig | Biomolecular Engineering
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| David W Deamer | Biomolecular Engineering
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| Camilla E Forsberg | Biomolecular Engineering
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| Ed Green | Biomolecular Engineering
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| David Haussler | Biomolecular Engineering
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| Richard Hughey | Undergraduate Education
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| Kevin Karplus | Biomolecular Engineering
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| Daniel H. Kim | Biomolecular Engineering
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| Todd M Lowe | Biomolecular Engineering
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| Benedict John Paten | Biomolecular Engineering
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| Nader Pourmand | Biomolecular Engineering
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| Joshua M Stuart | Biomolecular Engineering
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Cancer Research
| Name | Department |
|---|---|
| Angela Brooks | Biomolecular Engineering
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| Rebecca DuBois | Biomolecular Engineering
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| Camilla E Forsberg | Biomolecular Engineering
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| David Haussler | Biomolecular Engineering
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| Daniel H. Kim | Biomolecular Engineering
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| Juhee Lee | Statistics
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| Holger Schmidt | Electrical and Computer Engineering
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| Joshua M Stuart | Biomolecular Engineering
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| Chris Vollmers | Biomolecular Engineering
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| Ali Yanik | Electrical and Computer Engineering
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Communications, Signals, and Image Processing
| Name | Department |
|---|---|
| Sara Abrahamsson | Electrical and Computer Engineering
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| Farid U Dowla | Electrical and Computer Engineering
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| Benjamin Friedlander | Electrical and Computer Engineering
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| J. J. Garcia-Luna-Aceves | Computer Science and Engineering
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| Roberto Manduchi | Computer Science and Engineering
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| Patrick E Mantey | Electrical and Computer Engineering
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| Katia Obraczka | Computer Science and Engineering
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| Hamid R Sadjadpour | Electrical and Computer Engineering
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| Yu Zhang | Electrical and Computer Engineering
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Computational Biology
| Name | Department |
|---|---|
| Angela Brooks | Biomolecular Engineering
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| Ed Green | Biomolecular Engineering
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| Narges Norouzi | |
| Joshua M Stuart | Biomolecular Engineering
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Computer Hardware: Architecture, Chip Design, FPGAs, and Design Automation
| Name | Department |
|---|---|
| Scott Beamer | Computer Science and Engineering
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| Matthew Guthaus | Computer Science and Engineering
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| Richard Hughey | Undergraduate Education
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| Sung-Mo (Steve) Kang | Electrical and Computer Engineering
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| Tracy Larrabee | Computer Science and Engineering
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| Heiner Litz | Computer Science and Engineering
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| Ken Pedrotti | Electrical and Computer Engineering
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| Jose Renau | Computer Science and Engineering
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| Martine Schlag | Computer Science and Engineering
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| Anujan Varma | Computer Science and Engineering
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Computer Games
| Name | Department |
|---|---|
| Nathan Altice | Computational Media
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| Elin Carstensdottir | Computational Media
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| Katherine C Isbister | Computational Media
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| Michael B John | Computational Media
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| Sri Hastuti Kurniawan | Computational Media
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| Michael J Mateas | Computational Media
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| Eddie Melcer | Computational Media
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| Adam M. Smith | Computational Media
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| Noah G Wardrip-Fruin | Computational Media
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| Jim Whitehead | Computational Media
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Computer Security and Privacy
| Name | Department |
|---|---|
| Owen Arden | Computer Science and Engineering
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| Yannis Demertzis | Computer Science and Engineering
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| Darrell Long | Baskin School of Engineering
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| Ethan L. Miller | Computer Science and Engineering
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| Chen Qian | Computer Science and Engineering
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Computer Vision, Visualization, and Graphics
| Name | Department |
|---|---|
| James E Davis | Computer Science and Engineering
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| Angus Forbes | Computational Media
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| Suresh Kumar Lodha | Computer Science and Engineering
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| Alex Pang | Computer Science and Engineering
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| Allen Van Gelder | Computer Science and Engineering
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Cyber-Physical Systems
| Name | Department |
|---|---|
| Alvaro A. Cardenas | Computer Science and Engineering
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| Gabe Elkaim | Electrical and Computer Engineering
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| J. J. Garcia-Luna-Aceves | Computer Science and Engineering
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| Patrick E Mantey | Electrical and Computer Engineering
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| Steve McGuire | Electrical and Computer Engineering
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| Dejan Milutinovic | Electrical and Computer Engineering
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| Katia Obraczka | Computer Science and Engineering
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| Chen Qian | Computer Science and Engineering
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| Ricardo Sanfelice | Electrical and Computer Engineering
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| Mircea Teodorescu | Electrical and Computer Engineering
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| Yu Zhang | Electrical and Computer Engineering
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Database Systems
| Name | Department |
|---|---|
| Peter Alvaro | Computer Science and Engineering
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| Yannis Demertzis | Computer Science and Engineering
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| Lise Getoor | Computer Science and Engineering
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| Phokion Kolaitis | Computer Science and Engineering
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Data Science
| Name | Department |
|---|---|
| Marcela Alfaro-Córdoba | Statistics
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| Peter Alvaro | Computer Science and Engineering
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| Sesh Comandur | Computer Science and Engineering
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| Lise Getoor | Computer Science and Engineering
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| David Helmbold | Computer Science and Engineering
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| Darrell Long | Baskin School of Engineering
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| Ethan L. Miller | Computer Science and Engineering
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| Rodney T Ogawa | Education Department
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| Abel Rodriguez | Statistics
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| Yi Zhang | Computer Science and Engineering
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Distributed Systems
| Name | Department |
|---|---|
| Peter Alvaro | Computer Science and Engineering
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| Owen Arden | Computer Science and Engineering
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| Lindsey Kuper | Computer Science and Engineering
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| Heiner Litz | Computer Science and Engineering
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| Carlos Maltzahn | Computer Science and Engineering
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| Ethan L. Miller | Computer Science and Engineering
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| Alexander Wolf | Computer Science and Engineering
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Electronic Circuits
| Name | Department |
|---|---|
| Matthew Guthaus | Computer Science and Engineering
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| Sung-Mo (Steve) Kang | Electrical and Computer Engineering
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| Patrick E Mantey | Electrical and Computer Engineering
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| Ken Pedrotti | Electrical and Computer Engineering
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| Stephen C Petersen | Electrical and Computer Engineering
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Human-Computer Interaction
| Name | Department |
|---|---|
| Angus Forbes | Computational Media
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| Katherine C Isbister | Computational Media
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| Sri Hastuti Kurniawan | Computational Media
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| David Lee | Computational Media
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| Roberto Manduchi | Computer Science and Engineering
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| Steve McGuire | Electrical and Computer Engineering
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Mathematical Modeling and Numerical Analysis
| Name | Department |
|---|---|
| Nic Brummell | Applied Mathematics
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| Pascale Garaud | Applied Mathematics
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| Marcella Gomez | Applied Mathematics
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| Qi Gong | Applied Mathematics
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| Abhishek Halder | Applied Mathematics
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| Dongwook Lee | Applied Mathematics
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| Richard Li | Statistics
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| Marc Mangel | Applied Mathematics
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| Daniele Venturi | Applied Mathematics
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| Michael J Mateas | Computational Media
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Nanoscience and Nanotechnology
| Name | Department |
|---|---|
| Ken Pedrotti | Electrical and Computer Engineering
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| Holger Schmidt | Electrical and Computer Engineering
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Natural Language Processing
| Name | Department |
|---|---|
| Jeffrey Flanigan | Computer Science and Engineering
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| Lise Getoor | Computer Science and Engineering
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| Marilyn A. Walker | Computer Science and Engineering
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| Yi Zhang | Computer Science and Engineering
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Networks
| Name | Department |
|---|---|
| Alvaro A. Cardenas | Computer Science and Engineering
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| J. J. Garcia-Luna-Aceves | Computer Science and Engineering
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| Patrick E Mantey | Electrical and Computer Engineering
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| John T Musacchio | Computer Science and Engineering
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| Katia Obraczka | Computer Science and Engineering
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| Chen Qian | Computer Science and Engineering
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| Ricardo Sanfelice | Electrical and Computer Engineering
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| Bradley R. Smith | ITS-Vice Chancellor’s Office
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| Anujan Varma | Computer Science and Engineering
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| Alexander Wolf | Computer Science and Engineering
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Photonics and Electronic Devices
| Name | Department |
|---|---|
| Shiva Abbaszadeh | Electrical and Computer Engineering
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| Sara Abrahamsson | Electrical and Computer Engineering
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| Nobby Kobayashi | Electrical and Computer Engineering
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| Michael Mikio Oye | Electrical and Computer Engineering
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| Marco A Rolandi | Electrical and Computer Engineering
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| Holger Schmidt | Electrical and Computer Engineering
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| Toshishige Yamada | Electrical and Computer Engineering
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| Ali Yanik | Electrical and Computer Engineering
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Nanostructured Energy Conversion Technology and Research (NECTAR) Group
Rolandi Group in Bioelectronics
Power Systems and Energy Engineering
| Name | Department |
|---|---|
| Yihsu Chen | Electrical and Computer Engineering
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| Keith Corzine | Electrical and Computer Engineering
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| Patrick E Mantey | Electrical and Computer Engineering
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| Leila Parsa | Electrical and Computer Engineering
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| Yu Zhang | Electrical and Computer Engineering
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Programming Languages
| Name | Department |
|---|---|
| Owen Arden | Computer Science and Engineering
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| Cormac A Flanagan | Computer Science and Engineering
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| Lindsey Kuper | Computer Science and Engineering
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| Tyler Rey Sorensen | Computer Science and Engineering
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| Allen Van Gelder | Computer Science and Engineering
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Real-time Systems
| Name | Department |
|---|---|
| Luca de Alfaro | Computer Science and Engineering
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| Scott Brandt | Computer Science and Engineering
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Remote Sensing and Environmental Technology
| Name | Department |
|---|---|
| Marc Mangel | Applied Mathematics
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| Patrick E Mantey | Electrical and Computer Engineering
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| John Vesecky | Electrical and Computer Engineering
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Real-time Environmental Information Network and Analysis System (REINAS)
Robotics and Control
| Name | Department |
|---|---|
| Gabe Elkaim | Electrical and Computer Engineering
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| Qi Gong | Applied Mathematics
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| Abhishek Halder | Applied Mathematics
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| Dejan Milutinovic | Electrical and Computer Engineering
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| Steve McGuire | Electrical and Computer Engineering
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| Ricardo Sanfelice | Electrical and Computer Engineering
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| Leila Takayama | Computational Media
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| Mircea Teodorescu | Electrical and Computer Engineering
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| Donald M Wiberg | Electrical and Computer Engineering
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Dynamics, Autonomous Navigation, Surface Engineering and Robotics (DANSER) Lab
Systems Biology
| Name | Department |
|---|---|
| Robert L Coffman | Biomolecular Engineering
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| Marcella Gomez | Applied Mathematics
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| Joshua M Stuart | Biomolecular Engineering
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Software Engineering
| Name | Department |
|---|---|
| Luca de Alfaro | Computer Science and Engineering
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| Cormac A Flanagan | Computer Science and Engineering
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| Jim Whitehead | Computational Media
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| Alexander Wolf | Computer Science and Engineering
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Stem Cells
| Name | Department |
|---|---|
| Camilla E Forsberg | Biomolecular Engineering
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| Ali Shariati | Biomolecular Engineering
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Storage Systems
| Name | Department |
|---|---|
| Peter Alvaro | Computer Science and Engineering
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| Scott Brandt | Computer Science and Engineering
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| Heiner Litz | Computer Science and Engineering
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| Darrell Long | Baskin School of Engineering
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| Carlos Maltzahn | Computer Science and Engineering
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| Ethan L. Miller | Computer Science and Engineering
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Vaccines and Antiviral Therapeutics
| Name | Department |
|---|---|
| Phillip W Berman | Biomolecular Engineering
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| Rebecca DuBois | Biomolecular Engineering
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