From Pancakes to Prototypes: UCI Engineers Celebrate E-Week 2026
Sept. 5, 2026 – UCI Engineering Plaza was bustling with students and faculty during the 2026 E-Week hosted by the Engineering Student Council (ESC) last week. E-Week is an annual celebration that takes place during National Engineers Week,” said Marilyn Nguyen, a biomedical engineering student and ESC board member. “Its aim is to create an inclusive, high-energy week that showcases UCI Engineering’s excellence not only in academics, but also through creativity, service, and school spirit. We want to make engineering accessible and exciting for everyone.”
It began on Monday with a Kick-Off Fair where students explored the various engineering clubs and organizations on campus. On Tuesday, ESC hosted a community outreach event, Antgineering. A group of 180 high school students from Santiago High School, University High, Trabuco Hills and Valley High toured labs where they learned about HyperXite, The UCI Rocket Project, Anteater racing teams, Design Build Fly, and UAV Forge. Hands-on interactive STEM activity booths from organizations such as American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), Mat Sci Club, and UCI Rocket Project Solids provided students with a glimpse into UCI’s engineering programs.
On a sunny Wednesday morning, three griddles manned by engineering professors lined Engineering Gateway for the Dean’s Breakfast. Pancakes galore, fresh fruit, juice, and chatter filled the air as students lined up for E-Week T-shirts and breakfast. Interim Dean Faryar Jabbari along with engineering faculty and ESC spent the morning cooking 70 pounds of buttermilk pancakes for over 450 students.
On Friday afternoon, engineering students brought their competitive spirit to EngiTank, ESC’s annual design and pitch competition. The teams of three to four undergraduate students had one day to brainstorm, develop, and pitch a product idea to solve a real world problem. Competitors were challenged to identify inefficiencies in modern healthcare and design a medical device to solve them, whether through a physical innovation or a digital platform. Ideas ranging from pneumonia detection software to a home accessibility sleeve-like device were pitched to panelists Mark Walter, professor of teaching of mechanical and aerospace engineering and Mahmoud Elfar, postdoctoral scholar of electrical engineering and computer science.
Of the eight teams, the winner was VenaScan, an implantable device created to proactively detect venous thromboembolism (VTE), particularly in patients with sickle cell disease. VenaScan was created by freshman biomedical engineering student Krystel Nicdao Luna and sophomore biological sciences students Arnav Harsh and Harshita Saripalli who received the $200 prize. “As individuals who are passionate about improving the current state of healthcare and medical devices, we saw Engitank as an amazing opportunity to not only practice our skills in presenting, but to gain feedback from professionals on how to improve for the project’s future,” said Luna.
Recognizing that individuals with sickle cell anemia face a 25% lifetime risk of VTE and a high likelihood of recurrence, the device aims to address a critical gap in early detection. By integrating ultrasound-on-a-chip technology with electrical impedance sensors, VenaScan is designed to monitor blood flow and identify early signs of clot formation before clots travel to vital organs. “EngiTank provided us the perfect platform to bridge the gap between a biological concept and an engineering prototype, allowing us to get expert feedback on how our idea could become a tangible product to improve medical detection,” said Saripalli.
At the end of E-Week, this intersection of engineering and business for entrepreneurial students set stepping stones in the right direction for their future.
- Caroline Lu
