• Abdulaziz, A. (ECE) – Learning-Based Channel Estimation for Next-Generation Wireless Communications

    Engineering 2 Engineering 2 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA
    Hybrid Event

    Coherent wireless reception depends on accurate channel state information (CSI), yet acquiring CSI through pilot transmission consumes time–frequency resources that could otherwise carry data. This tradeoff becomes more pronounced in time-varying and frequency-selective channels and in short-packet communications, where accurate channel estimation is challenging and pilot overhead can be significant. This dissertation investigates how CSI […]

  • Valderrama, S. (CSE) – Closing Data Gaps for Cybersecurity AI Training and Evaluation

    Engineering 2 Engineering 2 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA
    Hybrid Event

    Artificial intelligence and machine learning models depend on large and diverse datasets to learn patterns across different situations and generalize to cases they have not seen before. In cybersecurity, suitable data is difficult to find for two main reasons: first, sensitive information limits what organizations can share; second, public datasets often lack the coverage or […]

  • Mirzanezhad, H. (EE) – Van der Waals materials-based memory devices for neuromorphic computing

    Jack Baskin Engineering Baskin Engineering 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA

    The separation of memory and processing in conventional computer architectures leads to significant energy consumption associated with data transfer, known as the von Neumann bottleneck. Two-dimensional (2D) materials provide a promising platform for developing nanoscale memory devices for in-memory and neuromorphic computing because of their atomic-scale thickness, lack of dangling bonds, and ability to form […]

  • Tornoe, S. (ECE) – Improving the UV optical response and suppressing surface plasmon resonance in aluminum and silver base telescope mirrors

    2300 Delaware Avenue 2300 Delaware Ave, Santa Cruz, CA
    Hybrid Event

    Aluminum and silver are excellent metal-bases for astronomical telescopes designed for broadband spectral measurements. In particular silver excels in the violet to infrared spectral range range with over 95% reflectance. In turn aluminum excels deep ultra-violet to infrared with over 90% reflectance across the bulk of its spectral range. In astronomical telescope optics, each percent […]

  • Headrick, C. (BMEB) – The Regulation of mRNA Cleavage in Nonsense-mediated mRNA Decay: From Inside (intra-pathway determinants) Out (extra-pathway regulation)

    Biomedical Sciences Building 575 McLaughlin Drive

    Nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) is a translation-coupled quality control pathway that degrades mRNAs that harbor a premature termination codon (PTC) and 5-30% of normal cellular mRNAs. The NMD field sits at a pivotal moment with recent developments that endonucleolytic cleavage is the primary mechanism of mRNA decay conserved across metazoans. Discovery of a conserved NMD […]

  • Mastoras, M. (BMEB) – Polishing genome assemblies and leveraging their improved quality to study centromere variation

    Physical Sciences Building Physical Sciences Building, Santa Cruz, CA
    Hybrid Event

    A complete and accurate genome reconstruction serves as the foundation for studying an organism’s biology and the mechanisms underlying disease. It is particularly critical for reference genomes, which provide a universal coordinate system for downstream genomic analysis. Errors or missing sequences in a reference genome create bias in all of the studies built on top […]