[2] Although it is a relatively young engineering school, it is already known in the Silicon Valley region and beyond for producing prominent tech innovators, including the founders of companies Pure Storage, Cloudflare, Concur Technologies, Five3 Genomics, and a host of other startups.

Its current research areas include:[8] In May 1985, Robert L. Sinsheimer, then Chancellor of the University of California, Santa Cruz, conducted a workshop on the feasibility of sequencing the human genome.

[10] Researchers in the consortium became nervous that if Celera was able to complete the sequencing project first, it would patent the results and restrict the redistribution and scientific use of the data.

[11] Haussler had rigged together a makeshift supercomputer out of 100 Dell Pentium III processor workstations for the genome project, but Celera was working with one of the most powerful computer systems available at the time, and their chances looked grim.

[17] Research centers within the Baskin School of Engineering include[18] Research institutes within the Baskin School of Engineering include[19] The main UC Santa Cruz campus is located just thirty miles from one of the largest global centers of technology and innovation in the Silicon Valley and has spent decades cultivating relationships with industry leaders in the area through its Silicon Valley Initiatives.

[21] Business Insider has ranked UC Santa Cruz one of the top twenty schools to land a person a job in the Silicon Valley.

It is located three blocks from Natural Bridges State Beach and includes state-of-the-art clean rooms, office space, loading docks, luncheon areas, and a thirty-foot tall, net-enclosed arena to provide airspace for robotics testing.

Research conducted at the Baskin School of Engineering has led to the development of a number of new technologies that are currently being used in industry, medicine, and security.

Students and faculty have engaged in collaborative research projects with industry partners at companies such as Adobe Inc., Amazon, Apple Inc., eBay, Facebook, Google, Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, and IBM.