by Karyn Skemp
J.J. Garcia-Luna-Aceves anticipates increased collaborations and a new initiative addressing human-centric ambient computing.
UC Santa Cruz and CITRIS and the Banatao Institute are pleased to welcome Professor J.J. Garcia-Luna-Aceves as the new director of CITRIS (Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society) at UC Santa Cruz. Garcia-Luna-Aceves is a Distinguished Professor of Computer Engineering in the Baskin School of Engineering.
As the CITRIS-UC Santa Cruz director, Garcia-Luna-Aceves will be responsible for directing operations and ensuring that the CITRIS mission is carried out at the campus level. As a major contribution, and in collaboration with the other campuses, he hopes to launch a new CITRIS initiative focusing on cyberphysical systems and the Internet of Things. His goal is to establish a research center headquartered at the UC Santa Cruz Silicon Valley campus, which will include participation by the four University of California CITRIS campuses — Berkeley, Davis, Merced, and Santa Cruz — and will integrate industry participation and sponsorship as key elements.
“We have several faculty members in the Baskin School of Engineering with considerable expertise in cyberphysical systems, data science, data and computer systems security, and what we now refer to as the ‘Internet of things,’” says J.J. “Together, these faculty members, along with our colleagues on other CITRIS campuses, can find new approaches to computing and security that will ensure data is impervious to corrupted systems and malicious individuals.”
Garcia-Luna-Aceves’ own research focuses on the principles of computer communication, wireless networking, mobile and pervasive computing, information-centric networks and cyberphysical networks. He believes we are at an inflection point in computing, and that without a radical new approach to security, we are putting ourselves at an escalating risk for privacy breaches, fake news, and other serious security infractions. “We need to be able to trust the data, even if we can’t trust the participants or the container that holds the data,” he says.
Garcia-Luna-Aceves said he is looking forward to enhanced collaboration between UC Santa Cruz faculty and colleagues across the CITRIS organization, not only through a new initiative, but also through existing CITRIS initiatives, which include healthcare, human-centric robotics, sustainable infrastructure and connecting communities through technology.
Garcia-Luna-Aceves will join CITRIS as the Director of CITRIS UC Santa Cruz effective July 1, 2018.
Photo by Karen Skemp