Baskin Day is an annual student-run event open to everyone, where we celebrate the achievements and community of students and faculty within the Jack Baskin School of Engineering. This annual event is a great way to meet new people who share your interests and just an all-around fun time! In addition to showcasing engineering research and student organizations, Baskin Day will also be hosting a recruiting fair and several fun activities, like an engineering-themed Jeopardy! game show.

Come check us out from 12-5 p.m. in the Baskin Engineering Courtyard on October 25th!

Featured Speakers

Opening Speaker: Jim Whitehead

Time: 12:00pm- 12:30pm

Location: E2-180

 

Jim Whitehead is a Professor of Computational Media and the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Experience for the Baskin School of Engineering. In this role, he has worked to create easily accessible ways for students to get involved in research, via the creation of research onboarding classes. Jim has also worked to create early design experience classes where students build artifacts following the engineering lifecycle of design-build-evaluate-iterate. Jim worked to create the Slugworks creatorspace located in the basement of the Jack Baskin Engineering building. Jim has research interests in procedural content generation for games and automated software engineering, especially for autonomous vehicle testing. Jim received his PhD in Information and Computer Science from UC Irvine in 2000.

Faculty Presenter: Pascale Garaud

Time: 12:30pm- 1pm

Location: E2-180

Pascale Garaud is the Chair of Applied Mathematics at UC Santa Cruz, specializing in fluid dynamics and magnetohydrodynamics in astrophysics. She combines numerical simulations with analytical methods and directs the Kavli Summer Program in Astrophysics. Garaud is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and serves on the Physical Review Fluids  Editorial Board.

GWC - Resume Review Workshop

Time: 1:00pm – 1:30pm

Location: E2 -180

Nishan Lama and Azeya Taimoor will be going over resumes that demonstrate what good practices look like versus ones that don’t. They will also provide a checklist of best practices so that students can take note of how to improve their resumes. If time permits, they will review resumes submitted by live participants! 

Faculty Presenter: Wes Modes

Time: 1:30pm-2:00pm

Location: E2-180

Wes Modes is a California artist specializing in social practice, sculpture, and new media. Notable works include “Secret History of American River People,” a decade-long project documenting marginalized narratives, and “DriftConditions,” which uses procedural audio to create immersive soundscapes. Modes’ projects, such as the webzine “Unavoidable Disaster” and the installation “Black Rock Station,” blend technology and storytelling, inviting audiences to explore complex social and historical themes. Modes’ work emphasizes community engagement and innovative use of digital media.

SCAI x Autoslug: Joint ML + CV Workshop

Time: 2pm – 2:30pm

Location: E2 – 180

Ruthwika Gajjala from SCAI and Daksh Shah from Autoslug will be leading an introductory workshop on machine learning concepts pertaining to computer vision! This is a great opportunity to expand your knowledge about machine learning!

Industry Panel

Time: 2:30pm – 4pm
Location: E2 – 180

Keep swiping to meet all of our lovely panelists!

Panelist: Michael Riepe

Michael Riepe, Ph.D., is a Distinguished Software Engineer at Achronix Semiconductor Corporation with over 25 years of experience in Electronic Design Automation. He holds a B.S. in Computer Engineering from UC Santa Cruz and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan, where his research focused on VLSI circuit design. A dedicated mentor, Michael has served on the UC Santa Cruz Alumni Council and worked on projects like Tassel, a web app connecting students with alumni volunteers.

Panelist: Sirisha Kaipa

Sirisha Kaipa is the Co-founder and CTO of dabbL, leveraging AI to revolutionize college and career exploration. With over 20 years of experience as an engineering team lead, architect, and manager, her expertise spans enterprise storage, infrastructure, and high availability products. She has held key roles at companies like Dell EMC, LinkedIn, and Symantec (Veritas).

Panelist: Joe Quadara

Joe Quadara is a game development expert specializing in gameplay, “game feel,” and the “Three Cs” (character, camera, controls). As a former Design Director at 2K Games, he oversaw major franchises like Tomb Raider, Borderlands, and Civilization. Now, he runs Recurver, consulting indie game teams, and directs Lunar Lunchbox. Quadara also mentors through Gameheads, supporting BIPOC students in game development, and his career is highlighted in Press Reset by Jason Schreier.

Panelist: Manasa Rapuru

Manasa Rapuru is a bioinformatician at Thermo Fisher Scientific, working in R&D for the dPCR/qPCR business. With an M.S. in Bioinformatics and a B.S. in Microbiology, she has over five years of experience applying bioinformatics methods in microbial and human genetics.

Panelist: Gloria Wang

Gloria Wang is a Senior Software Engineer passionate about using technology to create social good. She has contributed to projects like Adobe Express and mental health solutions at Modern Health. Beyond her technical work, she has served as a crisis hotline counselor, shaping her approach to impactful solutions. Currently, she is an Affiliated Scholar at the University of San Francisco’s Center for Law, Tech, and Social Good, focusing on technology’s role in positive social change.

Featured Recruiters and Advisors

Recruiter: Madhu Vohra

Time: 1:00pm- 4:00pm

Location: Baskin Courtyard

 

Madhu Vohra is the Co-founder and CEO of dabbL, an AI-powered app offering personalized college and career counseling for high school students. With over 25 years of experience in enterprise software, she has led large teams and initiatives across global locations, bringing a wealth of leadership and engineering expertise to her role.

Advisor: Pat Smith

Time: 1:00pm- 4:00pm

Location: Baskin Courtyard

Pat has been at Google for 7 years! Currently, Pat is a Strategic Virtual Outreach Program Manager, creating events for Careers OnAir to educate and help students prepare for the application process. Before this, he spent 6 years as a recruiter for Software Engineering Interns. Prior to Google, Pat interned with the United States Olympic Committee and Paralympic Committee, where he helped prepare Team USA for the Rio 2016 Games. Outside of work, you can find him hiking, spending time with friends, or taking his Doogler (dog + Googler) Murphy to the beach!

 

Advising Booth

Time: 1:00pm- 4:00pm

Location: Baskin Courtyard

Want to learn how you can succeed in your classes/career or want to get involved in your community? ACE, Career Success, EOP, and MEP will be joining us to offer students with resources, insights, and advice for school, careers, and programs! Learn more about our school’s academic programs and seek new opportunities with them!

 

Scroll and Hover Through the Featured Student Organizations!

 
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ACM


UCSC ACM is one of the largest computer science clubs on campus dedicated to promoting diversity and collaboration within the CSE community in Santa Cruz. We host some of the biggest events for computer science, engineering, and research for our school including our most recent ACMHacks!

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Autoslugs


Autoslug provides hands-on opportunities for students to get involved in applied computer vision, autonomy, ML, and other fields in a team environment along with providing undergrad collaboration with on-campus research groups.

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Bioinformatics


We are Bioinformatics, Academically orientated club focused on building a community for those interested in bioinformatics

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CAC


CAC plans community events to spread cancer awareness and fundraise money for non-profit cancer organizations like the American Cancer Society.

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Chemistry Club

The Chemistry Club at UCSC strives to build a community of UCSC students interested in chemistry and related fields. Members gain opportunities to network with faculty and local industry as well outreach to local schools at events throughout the academic year. Peer mentoring and study sessions are regularly held!

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CruzHacks

CruzHacks is UCSC's largest hackathon. It is a three day event where you can work with others on new software and/or hardware projects.

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CNSA


Our computer networking club hosts weekly meetings where we discuss a variety of computer networking topics and related subjects. We offer hands-on labs with switches and routers for practical learning, and we bring in guest speakers from the tech industry to talk.

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Formula Slug


Formula Slug is the Formula SAE Electric Team at UC Santa Cruz. We design, build, and compete an electric race car for competition in Brooklyn, Michigan each year. We have several different mechanical, electrical, manufacturing, business, and outreach teams, that all play a role in completion of our vehicle.

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GWC


Girls Who Code aims to provide a safe space to discuss personal topics that women in technology face which may be hard to discuss in a typical college setting or among a group of friends. Along with discussion circles, club meetings also help students prepare for both behavioral and technical interviews.

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HCI


UCSC Human Computer Interaction Club brings students together that share a passion for understanding, designing, and improving the interaction between humans and technology and developing solutions using AI and technology for real-world problems.

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NeurotechSC


NeurotechSC is an undergraduate student organization that aims to teach a curriculum based on neurotechnology and pursue a collaborative project with the goal of submitting to a competition.

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Rocket Team



As UCSC Rocket Team our mission is to design and build high-powered rockets that model current challenges in space exploration and Aerospace Engineering.

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SCAI


SCAI is UCSC’s leading AI club looking to educate members through engaging instruction, speaker events, and competitions.

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Slugcp


Slugcp is a place to practice competitive programming through websites like Codeforces. We host practice sessions, contests, lectures, and even participate in ICPC.

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Slug Gaming



Slug Gaming at UC Santa Cruz is a student-run gaming organization. We believe that gaming has created an outlet to bring people together, and provides a space where background, skill, interest, and other aspects of life are not the driving force for the community.

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SHPE

The aim of SHPE known as Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, is a club designed to develop the professional aspect of what it means to be a student. We are a club designed for Latinos by Latinos, ensuring an environment that is reminiscent of home.

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SLUG



SLUG is a group of students who are passionate about Linux and open-source software and strive to foster an inclusive and diverse community around these topics. .

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Slugbotics


Slugbotics is hands-On Competitive Robotics at UCSC.

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Slugworks


Slugworks is a student-facing creative space.

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SPS


SPS at UCSC is a community by and for physics students. We strive to make our community and department a welcoming and supportive environment.

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SUM



SUM (Slugs United by Mathematics) is the math club at UCSC! We are a social club that where you can hang out with people who are interested in math and related subjects like computer science, physics, and engineering.

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SWE


SWE is a club for women in engineering.

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SACNAS


SACNAS invests in the next generation of diverse STEM leaders. We are dedicated to building the capacity of our scientists with the necessary leadership skills to advance their careers and lead change at the highest levels.

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Slug Security


Slug Security is UCSC's premiere cybersecurity club. We offer a fun and inclusive environment for anyone interested in hacking, cybersecurity, or programming. We welcome students from all backgrounds and proficiency levels to join us. Join us for workshops, talks, and competitions, and explore the exciting world of cybersecurity.

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WSS


Women in Science Society is a supportive community for women pursuing a STEM degree