Jacobs’ Journal of Engineering Research is a student organization at the University of California, San Diego, representing the undergraduate engineering community. Jacobs’ Journal has officially registered with the Center for Student Involvement each year since March 3rd, 2020 and is currently active in the 2021 – 2022 academic school year.
This journal encompasses topics within science and engineering research, inviting students from any major to get involved, whether in the Jacobs School of Engineering or not. This online exclusive journal serves as an opportunity for undergraduates at UCSD to showcase personal academic research and projects. Students are even encouraged to submit their work for editing and approval, in order to become published.
Our Goals
Our goal as a student organization is to provide opportunities for undergraduate students to become more aware, involved, and familiar with engineering research. Undergraduates join as writers, attend informational sessions to learn how to look for and read academic papers, research, draft, and publish engineering review articles. Writers follow a general timeline with each article they write, with the purpose of clarifying and simplifying the research process for novice members. Writers get one-on-one editing and mentoring on a weekly basis. Writing sessions are scheduled throughout the quarter where students are encouraged to share the research process with their peers and create a sense of community.
Students have the opportunity to attend speaker events throughout the year and network with researchers from a variety of disciplines. The purpose of such an event is to introduce particularly younger students to the myriad of research topics which exist within the engineering community. Through early rounds of recruiting before registering as a club, we learned that interested students may join with some expectations but fail to develop or find a direction in their topics. That is why Jacobs’ Journal prioritizes diversity in terms of the speakers we invite, different backgrounds and experiences in different fields are a great benefit to our members. On top of this, writers gather each quarter for research discussions, where students bring 2-3 research papers to present and talk about together.
Our priority is to provide students with the skills and information needed to succeed in research. Opportunities to get involved in research, especially through UCSD’s Academic Enrichment Programs (AEP) are heavily encouraged for our writers.
Our Pillars
Jacobs’ Journal stands on three main pillars: Community, Collaboration, and Curiosity. These ideas form the foundation which contribute to the success of our members.
Community
To be frank, “engineers” and “writing” don’t often overlap. But this only makes it more important to develop strong resources to elevate the voices and the work of engineers in research. Developing a tight knit community and offering spaces for our writers to freely share and relax means we enjoy our time on the team and look forward to meetings. Jacobs’ Journal has been operating as a young student organization with a humble team (check us out here). We are constantly looking for students and writers to join our team, and we open recruitment at the beginning of each quarter. Learn more and apply here!
Since its beginnings, Jacobs’ Journal has operated on a strictly flexible schedule in terms of publication, because we prioritize the success of our members. This way, our writers are given ample time to draft high quality publications and reviews.
Collaboration
The key aspect of our publication is the editorial process. Students who join as writers attend weekly, one-on-one editorial sessions and work in a mentor-mentee relationship for the duration of their articles. Our peer editors won’t necessarily be your TA’s or experts in the field. Instead, editors are experienced writers and are able to guide students from any discipline through the research process, by constantly asking questions. By being involved throughout each stage of the writing process, our writers gain confidence in their work.
Curiosity
Perhaps the strongest defining quality of a great writer is their curiosity. We often encourage our writers to step out of their comfort zone. Our writers have full autonomy with regards to article ideas, serving as an opportunity to get creative and inventive.