The September UC IT Town Hall will feature President Michael V. Drake. He is very interested in speaking with the UC IT community, and you have the opportunity to submit questions for him in advance! Please submit your questions via this survey no later than August 30. Please recognize that he likely will not be able to answer all questions, given time constraints. The town hall takes place

By Val Trullinger. Awards tend to be given at the end of major projects—if you’re lucky. Your team spends months, if not years, of blood, sweat, and tears; and sends their product out to the world, hoping it does well. The most positive outcome for many software projects? Your users don’t hate it, it’s stable, and now you can move on to other things. If your users actually like your

By Rachel Leven. Our understanding, planning, and response to wildfires benefit from connections with data and computing sciences, UC Berkeley researchers say. Recent developments in machine learning and simulations can help first responders detect fires earlier, predict fires’ paths and limit blazes quickly. Through collaborations with practitioners in other fields like microbiology and forest management, these tools are answering previously intractable questions about fires that can inform policy and practice. “Data

A newly established Institute for Future Health at the University of California, Irvine will combine research and clinical work to address the movement toward a more personalized healthcare model. The institute aims to integrate lifestyle, community, environment and socioeconomic factors in conjunction with biomedical and clinical knowledge to radically transform health systems away from hospitals and clinics and into the hands of each individual. “The mission of the Institute for

Learn about privacy laws and how to best protect yourself at the Privacy 101 Online Webinar, presented by the UC San Diego Campus Privacy Office, on August 18, from 9:00 a.m. to 12 p.m. Register now! This event is open to the public and all who are interested. The Privacy 101 Workshop will focus on privacy issues and best methods to protect personal data. Other topics to be discussed include recently-enacted

By Kristen McIntyre. Student success depends on having timely support programs in place to address learning and achievement gaps. UCI has developed a program, called COMPASS, to help instructors and advisors pinpoint student need and provide that essential support. It does this by making it easy to access student data—enrollment, degree completion progress, current grade status, and other demographic data—for analysis. COMPASS, short for Comprehensive Analytics for Student Success, was

By Jon Bashor. As quantum computers evolve from theory to functioning machines and begin solving problems beyond the capabilities of even the fastest supercomputers, finding a way to link these powerful new systems to communicate with other quantum machines becomes the next challenge. Recently. Mekena Metcalf, Anastasiia Butko, and Mariam Kiran of the Berkeley Lab Computing Sciences Area decided to pool their expertise after attending a workshop in San Francisco

So many interesting UC Tech 2021 sessions have been scheduled, it could be easy to overlook some of the special events. If you’ve registered for the conference, be sure to create your own schedule and add these special presentations. Monday, August 9 ·         4:30pm – 5:00pm: Conference Open House: Prize Preview and Games Kickoff ·         5:00pm – 5:30pm: Online Welcome Reception: UC Tech Trivia and Special Activities Tuesday,

By Yvonne Tevis. Colleen Gordon doesn’t sew—but early in the pandemic she co-founded a mask-making project that produced 6,000 home-sewn masks—masks that would go to neighbors, patients, the homeless, and anyone who needed one. An IT project manager for UC Davis Health, Gordon and her UC colleagues were sent home in March 2020. “It was a very surreal moment,” she said. She remembers feeling helpless, and wanting to do something

By Shani Murray. As Scientific American reiterated this month, we are in the midst of a climate emergency. 2020 saw record-breaking wildfires and hurricanes and ended in a tie with 2016 as the hottest year on record. Aware of the massive scope of challenges that lie ahead in fighting climate change, UCI announced in January a new initiative called Solutions that Scale. Recognizing that “solutions to planetary problems must reach planetary proportions,” the initiative aims to “converge scientists and academics,