ECE News

March 30, 2026

ECE Prof. Daniel Blumenthal's OCAQπ Group demonstrate integrated stabilized laser chips performing clock and quantum operations on a room temperature trapped ion qubit

March 19, 2026

ECE Prof. Steven DenBaars selected for two prestigious awards named for Holonyak, who in 1962 achieved fame for demonstrating the first semiconductor laser diode to emit visible light

March 18, 2026

ECE Professor James Buckwalter cited by the  U.S. National Academy of Inventors (NAI) for his “remarkable achievements as an academic inventor and a rising leader in his field”

March 11, 2026

The Santa Barbara South Coast Chamber of Commerce is proud to announce TechTopia 2026 Summit, an immersive half-day gathering celebrating the Coast’s vibrant innovation ecosystem

March 10, 2026

ECE Professor Spencer Smith's SLAB lab-designed invention may expand what neuroscientists can learn about the brain

March 2, 2026

ECE Distinguished Professor, Steven DenBaars is honored by Optica for pioneering contributions to high-efficiency GaN LEDs and laser diodes

February 25, 2026

Hair-width LEDs could replace lasers — and ECE doctoral student, Roark Chao is helping make it happen

February 25, 2026

It’s not just Amazon and Google, The South Coast is seeing a range of tech companies taking hold — often sprung from the University of California, Santa Barbara

February 23, 2026

ECE Prof. B.S. Manjunath, is honored as the first Frank Koenig Distinguished Chair — one four endowed chairs in the department 

ECE Spotlights

Hometown: Glendale, CA
Favorite Course: Quantum Photonics (ECE 136C)
Hometown: Claremont, CA
Research Area: Electronics & Photonics
BBC's Witness History highlights Nakamura's 1993 invention of blue LED light, which led to the white LED
ECE Profs J. Bowers, S. DenBaars, S. Nakamura, M. Alizadeh, G. Moody & U. Mishra play a vital role in the creation and current activities in the IEE
Hometown: Santa Maria, CA
Favorite Course: IC Design and Fab II (ECE 120B)
Research Area: Electronics & Photonics
Advisor: Chris Palmstrøm / Palmstrøm Research Group