CSE students and alumni help fuel the future of computing
From his childhood home near the South China Sea to the singing eucalyptus trees overlooking La Jolla’s scenic shoreline, UC San Diego alumnus David Loo (BS ’91) has zigzagged continents to earn a world-class education and launch global companies, including ServiceNow. Loo recently returned to the Computer Science and Engineering Department to accept its 2024 Distinguished Alumni Award. “This is where the seed of ambition was sown. This is where my curiosity was nurtured, setting the path for me to become an entrepreneur later in life,” said Loo at the awards ceremony.
Sarah Meiklejohn (PhD ’14) was a computer science student when the revolutionary paper “A Fistful of Bitcoins: Characterizing Payments Among Men with No Names” was published in 2013. Nearly a decade later, the research team led by Meiklejohn is still credited with shedding light on the structure of the Bitcoin economy and how it is used. Their paper was recognized with a Test-of-time Award at the Association for Computing Machinery’s Internet Measurement Conference (IMC) 2024 held recently in Madrid, Spain.
The story behind the paper and its impact on cybercrime was chronicled in a 2024 book, Tracers in the Dark: The Global Hunt for the Crime Lords of Cryptocurrency, by award-winning author and veteran cybersecurity reporter Andy Greenberg. Several chapters recounting Meiklejohn’s pivotal role in tracing these illicit transactions were featured in a WIRED magazine article also by Greenberg.
Other CSE alumni involved in the work are Marjori Pomarole (B.S. ’13) and Kirill Levchenko (PhD ’08).
The computer science and engineering community at UC San Diego broke ground this fall on a significant renovation of the building where most of its research and many of its classes take place.
The long-awaited renovation will add a student collaboration space on the first floor of the Computer Science and Engineering building. It will also add a 2,900 square foot state-of-the-art server room, which is key to the research of some of the department’s faculty. The additional server capacity will also allow the department’s artificial intelligence researchers to make advances.
UC San Diego’s Triton Quantitative Trading team emerged as the top performer in the Q3 Quant League Competition, achieving an impressive 27.4% profit. Competing against over 20 universities, the team skillfully adapted strategies to evolving market conditions, especially during the third quarter. Team members say: “Representing TQT in this competition was an incredible journey that pushed our technical limits, and we’re grateful for the opportunity to compete and grow as a team.”
Computer Science student Helyaneh Ziaei Jam is one of five UC San Diego graduate students applying engineering principles to solve medical challenges to have been selected as 2025 Siebel Scholars. The Siebel Scholars program recognizes the most talented students in the world’s leading graduate schools of business, computer science, bioengineering and energy science. The students are selected based on outstanding academic performance and leadership, and each receive a $35,000 award toward their final year of study.
The CSE community came out in full force this summer at picnics from Seattle to the Bay Area and, of course, the homeland of San Diego. Attendees enjoyed delicious food and spent a relaxing afternoon outdoors playing lawn games and reconnecting with friends. The CSE spirit was alive and well!
