News Archive - Liezel Labios

Wearable Lets Users Control Machines and Robots While on the Move

Engineers have developed a next-generation wearable system that enables people to control machines using everyday gestures — even while running, riding in a car or floating on turbulent ocean waves.

Sweat-powered Sticker Turns Your Drinking Cup into a Health Sensor

Engineers have developed a battery-free electronic sticker that attaches to everyday objects like a drinking cup and monitors vitamin C levels from a person’s fingertip sweat. The technology could make personal nutrition monitoring as effortless as holding a cup of coffee.

New Alloy Design Could Power Solid-state Batteries that Charge Faster and Last Longer

Engineers have developed a new design strategy for metal alloy negative electrodes that could significantly improve the performance and durability of next-generation solid-state batteries. The work could help advance the path toward practical, high-performance energy storage for electric vehicles.

Making Yeast More Efficient ‘Cell Factories’ for Producing Valuable Plant Compounds

Researchers have discovered a way to make yeast cells more efficient “factories” for sustainably producing valuable plant compounds, which could be used to help plants defend against disease, repel pests, attract pollinators, and withstand environmental stresses such as drought and heat.

AI Models Can Now Be Customized with Far Less Data and Computing Power

Engineers have created a new method to make large language models (LLMs) — such as the ones that power chatbots and protein sequencing tools — learn new tasks using significantly less data and computing power.

UC San Diego Engineer Awarded Hypothesis Fund Grant to Explore Aging in Brain and Heart Cells

Why do some of the body’s most important cells — like those in the brain and heart — age, even though they never divide? Chemical and nano engineering professor Zeinab Jahed has received a seed grant from the Hypothesis Fund to help answer this question.