College of Science & Engineering

Elmer Guzman didn’t always see himself as a researcher. A first-generation Chemistry senior at San Francisco State University, he wasn’t sure he belonged in a lab until this summer, when he became one of the first Gilead Innovation Initiative Scholars.

“It makes me feel proud of myself,” Guzman said. “Just seeing the recognition and knowing that there are opportunities trying to help students who are new to research makes me feel like there is a future to these things.”

Guzman is one of 30 student scientists who made up the first cohort of the Gilead Innovation Initiative at SFSU. The Gilead Foundation generously gifted $1.25 million in programmatic support to SFSU’s College of Science & Engineering (CoSE) via two awards during fundraising for the University’s new Science and Engineering Innovation Center (SEIC). In addition to supporting student research activities, the foundation also provided $3.75 million to outfit SEIC labs with state-of-the-art equipment and furnishings.

The Gilead Innovation Scholars — 11 undergraduate and 19 graduate students — were awarded $5,000 stipends to conduct research between June 1 and August 23. (Faculty members were also awarded a $1,000 honorarium for mentoring the scholars). Many of the student awardees were first-time researchers as well as students who had never received financial support for working in research labs. 

The Gilead award is unique in that it is inclusive of research activities throughout CoSE. It included at least one student from each of the eight CoSE departments and schools, supporting the training of astronomers, biologists, chemists, computer scientists, engineers, geologists, mathematicians, physicists, psychologists and others. Projects ranged from molecular biology and ecology to nanoparticles, artificial intelligence, youth psychology and many other topics in science and engineering. 

Read the full story at SF State News

One month in, SFSU students are already benefiting from the new science facilities

There’s a prominent new addition to 19th Avenue: San Francisco State University’s new Science and Engineering Innovation Center (SEC). The University’s latest academic building is a source of excitement for the College of Science & Engineering (CoSE). Fall 2024, faculty, staff and students began moving into the building and using the new facilities. Students quickly settled into the building and are excited to use the learning spaces. 

“It reminds me of a biotech company I’ve toured. The layout is very similar. The labs are also equipped with the latest technology,” said Lika Chhit, a senior Cell and Molecular Biology and Chemistry double major. “I’m really excited to do research in the new lab.”

The new 125,000-square-foot SEC is home to the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry and the School of Engineering, as well as the CoSE dean’s office and the College of Professional & Global Education (CPaGE) main office on the fifth floor. SEC will serve all 7,000 CoSE students and hundreds of general education students each year. 

The University will partner with other minority-serving institutions to improve student training and manufacturer energy efficiency

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) awarded San Francisco State University $3.75 million to establish and lead the new Western Regional Center of Excellence to train a new generation of clean energy engineers and improve energy efficiency among manufacturers. This new center, housed within the School of Engineering, will be one of five regional Centers of Excellence in the nation and the only one in the West.

Over the next five years, San Francisco State’s Industrial Assessment Center (IAC) will partner with four other minority-serving institutions — San Jose State University, San Diego State University, Laney College and Cuyamaca College — to promote renewable energy and energy efficient technologies, reduce manufacturer emissions, improve industrial assessment methods and more in a multi-state region including the western United States, Hawaii and Alaska.

“This award recognizes SF State as a leader in advanced energy technologies and engineering education. The Center of Excellence will expand our best practices to other existing and new IACs, in order to promote the development of diverse energy engineers who can meet the high workforce demand in this field,” said Ed Cheng, professor and associate director of the School of Engineering, who is leading this project.

Based out of SF State’s IAC, the new program will be a regional hub for IACs to collaborate with government, nonprofit, labor and industry partners. Building upon services and training opportunities already provided via IACs, the center also will support training at other minority-serving institutions, establish programs in tribal communities and address environmental justice issues. This includes development of new curricula and best practices for IACs and other organizations.

Since 1992, SF State’s IAC program has provided Central and Northern California manufacturers free assessments of energy use, waste generation and water consumption. These assessments are mainly conducted by SF State Engineering students under the supervision of University faculty. The SF State IAC’s clients are usually within 150 radial miles from San Francisco, though the team has traveled to Humboldt and Fresno Counties and even other states such as Arizona.

“From the manufacturer’s standpoint, the IAC provides benefits in terms of energy and associated costs savings. But important co-benefits of this reduced energy consumption are reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and industrial pollutants that can negatively impact populations in historically disadvantaged communities,” explained Cheng.

The DOE currently funds 37 university-based IAC programs in 28 states. In over 40 years, these programs provided more than 20,000 assessments at small- and medium-sized manufacturers — more than 90% of the nation’s manufacturing base — typically finding more than $130,000 in potential annual saving opportunities for manufacturers.

Establishment of these regional centers of excellence is part of a combined $18.7 million in funding from the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The DOE also announced a $54 million funding opportunity to expand IAC programs to community colleges, trade schools and union training programs and establish new building training assessment centers at higher education institutions. These efforts support President Joe Biden’s Justice40 Initiative, which directs 40% of benefits of certain federal investments (clean energy and energy efficiency, clean transit, sustainable housing, etc.) to communities marginalized, underserved and overburdened by pollution.

Visit SF State’s IAC for more information about student training opportunities and how to request an energy assessment.

After a three-year hiatus, the EOS Center’s open house welcomes the community to its scenic locale for family-friendly fun

What does an oceanographer do? How are scientists using oysters and eelgrass to save San Francisco Bay? Want to meet “slug bunnies”?

Answers to these questions and more can be found at San Francisco State University’s Estuary & Ocean Science (EOS) Center’s free Marine Lab Open House Sunday, April 30, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Community members can meet local marine scientists and San Francisco Bay critters and learn how EOS Center scientists collaborate with nature to conduct research and mitigate impacts of climate change.

“We miss welcoming the community to the EOS Center. Hearing what our community asks, what they don’t understand and how they would like to be involved makes us think and helps us be better scientists and communicators,” EOS Center's Interim Executive Director Katharyn Boyer said.

The EOS Center is located at San Francisco State’s Romberg Tiburon Campus (3150 Paradise Drive, Tiburon, California). This will be the first in-person open house EOS Center has hosted since its 2019 event, which drew over 1,000 attendees.

Boyer has noticed that the community has shifted its focus to wanting to understand the issues facing the local Bay ecosystem. Many EOS Center researchers work with onsite partners from the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center and National Estuarine Research Reserve to make advances in nature-based solutions to local climate change.

“The EOS Center is the only marine lab on San Francisco Bay. We do the on-the-ground, in-the-mud, under-the-water, in-the-lab research that reveals how the Bay functions,” Boyer added, pointing out that the Center has trained students and scientists for nearly 45 years. “Our deep and immersive (pun intended) understanding of this ecosystem means we are often the first to notice when those functions have gone astray.”

At the open house, the public will have access to nearly 100 active marine lab scientists who will be showcasing their work and are eager to talk to the community. The family-friendly event includes a variety of activities that range from a touch tank with Bay creatures and listening to whale and dolphin sounds to more informational activities about underwater plants that reduce ocean acidification. There will also be a food truck and oyster bar.

“One of my favorite things to do at our open house is point out the slug bunnies on the eelgrass in our tanks,” Boyer said, explaining that they are a type of sea slug called eelgrass sea hares that vaguely resemble a green, striped rabbit. More importantly, these little creatures promote eelgrass growth by eating algae on eelgrass blades — and this growth can calm shore water, store carbon and reduce ocean acidification. Boyer finds that the slugs are a great way to draw children and adults alike into larger science and conservation conversations … until they are distracted by the environment surrounding the EOS Center.

“A true open house story: a small grey whale breached right along our shore while I was waxing poetically about how sea hares are climate change heroes, and I quickly lost my audience,” Boyer said, highlighting EOS Center’s scenic and significant locale overlooking the water. “But I hope that the wonders of the slug bunnies had already sunk in, showing that the little things in the Bay deserve our attention too.”

Register for the free Marine Lab Open House and learn more about the EOS Center.