November 2023 Five10 Report

Fall 2023 Engineering News is live! Read about our faculty, staff, and students' stories in our fall newsletter: from our faculty who received the prestigious NSF Career award, Santa Clara’s youngest graduate, a new Ph.D. in Bioengineering, and so much more! Read the Fall 2023 Engineering News.

School of Engineering and School of Law teamed up for this year’s Christmas in the Park. Continuing participation in the South Bay tradition, the Schools came together to represent Santa Clara in Downtown San Jose. You can find the trees located just across from the Signia Hotel on Market St. SCU’s Maker Club members: Kira Hofelmann '24, Thuy Vy Nguyen '25, Charlie Wallace '24, Mahnoor Kareem M.S. '25, Jenny Huynh '23, M.S. '25 created the Engineering ornaments in the Maker Lab/Innovation Zone. Students and Staff from both Schools helped to decorate the trees in the Enchanted Forest. Staff participants included Nicole Morales, Ricardo Padilla, Jr., Caroline Perez-Salgado, Shane Wibeto, Valerie Woitte, and Jose Diaz, (all School of Engineering) with Rianna Mendoza and Serena Mann (School of Law).

Nathan Rogers ’12 (Civil Engineering) is a co-founder of Well Constructed, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting communities in West Africa with the funding, construction, and maintenance of freshwater wells. Today, the group is on track to complete its 323rd well by year’s end, serving and reaching over 175,000 people and continuing to make a positive impact. Read more.

Valeriya Chulyukina ’22 (Mechanical Engineering) was chosen for IM100 and Emerging Talent awards this year! “The iMasons Emerging Talent Award is given to young professionals showing promise in the digital infrastructure industry. These young professionals are standouts in their field and the up-and-coming leaders of our industry.” Congratulations, Valeriya!

What's the latest? Alumni/ae, we would love to celebrate your remarkable accolades, achievements, and awards. If you have an intriguing story to tell, we're all ears! Please share your news here.

AMICA: In the digital age, global misinformation poses a significant challenge, impacting Chinese-speaking diaspora communities. While existing initiatives focus on English and Western languages, Chinese Americans face a unique disadvantage. Addressing this, AMICA, an innovative information retrieval system designed by Xiaoxiao Shang, Jinming Nian, Yi Fang, Yuhong Liu (all Computer Science and Engineering), Ye Chen, Xintong Xue, Ruoxi Chi, Shuangzhou Xu, and Subramaniam Vincent (Markkula Center for Applied Ethics), targets the specific needs of Chinese Americans. By scanning platforms like WeChat and Twitter, it employs advanced search functionalities, ranking content based on accuracy and the likelihood of misinformation. Recognizing the importance of Chinese Americans in the U.S. electorate, AMICA aims to bridge the information gap, currently undergoing real-world testing with plans for future enhancements using advanced technologies. Watch the video.

Talk Data to Me: Santa Clara University recently hosted the 3rd annual INRIX Hack 2023, a recruiting hackathon centered around smart moving, transportation, and mapping, at the Sobrato Campus for Discovery and Innovation from Nov. 11-12. This year, the team of Inchara Raveendra ’24, Shamli Ingole ’24 (both Computer Science and Engineering), Wenxiang (Billy) Zhang (Computer Science), and Xiaoming Huang (Mathematics and Computer Science) secured 1st place for their project “Talk Data to Me.” The assistant optimizes driving routes for real-time efficiency, suggests personalized TV shows for relaxation, recommends restaurants along the route, integrates with your calendar, provides smart parking insights, and enables energy-saving and home automation, including preconditioning your home and centralized control of smart devices through voice commands. Congratulations, Inchara, Shamli, Billy, and Xiaoming!

Hackworth Fellows: Meet the engineering students who have been awarded the 2023-24 Hackworth Fellowships from the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics: Xiomara Quinonez ’24 (Computer Science and Engineering), Ben Shiverdaker ’24 (General Engineering), and Justin Sun ’24 (Electrical and Computer Engineering, Engineering Physics, Mathematics, Computer Science). The goal of the program is to have Fellows engage more deeply with the application of ethics to a topic of concrete concern, to complete an important project related to that concern, and to grow as an ethical leader. In order to pursue this goal, Fellows are expected either to develop their own programs in an area of interest to them or to work with existing programs at the Ethics Center. Congratulations, Xiomara, Ben, and Justin! Read more.

Swadés, the Indian Student Organization at SCU, recently celebrated Diwali, the Festival of Lights, symbolizing the triumph of light over darkness and good over evil. The event commenced with traditional Pooja and the Indian National Anthem, reflecting gratitude and respect for the cultural roots. Attendees were introduced to an array of cultural showcases, including dance performances, singing, and interactive games like 'Guess the Movie' and 'Bollywood Tambola.' The evening culminated in a traditional Indian dinner, followed by a vibrant DJ, making the celebration a memorable fusion of culture and festivity. Visit their Instagram page to see more.