Since its founding in 2001, CITRIS and the Banatao Institute have tackled the big questions, leveraging the research strengths of four University of California campuses — at Berkeley, Davis, Merced and Santa Cruz — to create technology solutions for society’s most pressing challenges.
In This Section
UC Berkeley
CITRIS and the Banatao Institute at UC Berkeley are located in Sutardja Dai Hall (SDH). Specially designed to house CITRIS, the building contains 141,000 square feet of laboratory space for collaborative research, faculty offices, the Banatao Auditorium, conference rooms and classrooms. Sutardja Dai Hall also hosts the CITRIS Invention Lab, a rapid prototyping space used by UC entrepreneurs in our CITRIS Foundry startup accelerator program and the student maker community. The Berkeley Marvell Nanofabrication Laboratory at CITRIS occupies a two-story, 15,000-square-foot wing of Sutardja Dai Hall where academic and industry researchers develop prototypes for new biosensors, photonics devices and other MEMS/NEMS sensors. SDH is equipped with hundreds of sensors and sophisticated systems for building management that forms a living laboratory on campus for energy research and proof-of-concept demonstrations.
UC Davis
CITRIS at UC Davis brings expertise in engineering, nanoscience, law and medicine to bear on complex challenges related to food, health, the environment and society.
For student engagement and mentorship, CITRIS at Davis has established partnerships with the Engineering Student Startup Center and three non-engineering campus programs — the Blum Center for Developing Economies, the Center for Regional Change and the Institute for Social Sciences. These partners provide support and matching funds for the UC Davis CITRIS Tech for Social Good program and open doors for students from social sciences and diverse fields.
UC Merced
The University of California, Merced is a leader in uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV/UAS) research. CITRIS at UC Merced specializes in gathering scientific data using uncrewed aerial systems, with the goal of developing practical solutions in the fields of agriculture and landscape ecology, as well as promoting the use and understanding of aerial data collection in the community. To that end, it conducts mapping flights for various university research projects and also offers drone training courses. CITRIS builds upon UC Merced’s facilities and resources, offering research partnership opportunities to industry, and offering UAS instruction to their partners as well as to the general public.
UC Santa Cruz
Proximity to Silicon Valley makes UC Santa Cruz a natural place to engage the world’s industrial leaders and put new technology solutions to work. In the Network Management and Operations (NMO) Lab, for example, students work directly with Cisco engineers on networking projects that solve immediate customer challenges. CITRIS at UC Santa Cruz also focuses on technological innovations for cleaner and more sustainable energy sources. The Center for Sustainable Energy and Power Systems (CenSEPS), for example, works with the city of Santa Cruz to achieve the goal of energy self-sufficiency for the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf. Current research related to California’s water supply includes a network of thermal probes to assess and manage an aquifer recharge pond.