Grand Challenges Initiative - GCI Speaker Series with Dr. Prashanth Asuri Archive

Event Recap: Translating Bioengineering Discovery and Innovation into Industry and Societal Impact GCI Speaker Series with Dr. Prashanth Asuri

March 18, 2026 by Alex Lewandowski | Education, Internet, and Technology

The Grand Challenges Initiative hosted an engaging and insightful Speaker Series event on Monday, March 16, featuring Prashanth Asuri, Ph.D., M.B.A., Chair and Professor of Bioengineering at Santa Clara University. Held in the Ideation Zone, the session brought together students and faculty interested in the intersection of bioengineering, industry collaboration, and societal impact. Dr. Asuri drew

Event Recap: You Don’t Get All the Facts: Leadership Lessons from Uncertain Times in Western Water Management GCI Speaker Series with Camille Touton

March 4, 2026 by Alex Lewandowski | Environment and Sustainability

March 3 | Argyros Forum 209 The Grand Challenges Initiative hosted an insightful and timely conversation with Camille Touton, former Commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, who brought her firsthand experience managing water in the American West to Chapman University. The talk centered on how leaders navigate high‑stakes decisions when information is incomplete and

GCI Showcase: Fall 2025 Featuring Other Class Projects

December 23, 2025 by Alex Lewandowski | Student presentations

Grand Challenges Initiative Showcase: Celebrating Innovation and Collaboration On Friday, December 5, 2025, the Grand Challenges Initiative (GCI) hosted its semi-annual Showcase the close of the fall semester. This event marked the culmination of three semesters of hard work for four student teams — though one team impressively completed their project in just a single

Progress in Action Our GCI 250 Teams Share Major Steps Forward on Their Projects

November 14, 2025 by Micah Kim | Student presentations

Our GCI 250 students have been hard at work, making exciting progress on their interdisciplinary group projects. Each team has been using their creative and technical skills to collaborate and tackle real-world issues. Keep reading to see some highlights of our GCI 250 teams! FETCH: A Synthesizing Smart Dog Collar Members: Torki Alghamdi, Tristan Horgan,

GCI Showcase: Spring 2025 Talented student teams demonstrate the skills and knowledge they gained in the GCI program!

June 17, 2025 by Alex Lewandowski | Student presentations

The annual Grand Challenges Initiative Showcase was a vibrant celebration of student innovation and collaboration. Student teams presented their final projects to guests and judges, sharing breakthroughs and competing for recognition. Overall, the showcase highlighted the hard work, creativity, and impact of the student teams’ efforts. Here are our winners: Flint Science Award

Guest Speaker: Jennifer Gill Roberts, Grit Ventures Labs to Launch: Commercializing Technology from the Nation's Top Labs

March 10, 2025 by Micah Kim | Grand Challenges Initiative

On Thursday, February 27th, GCI and the Fowler School of Engineering welcomed guest speaker Jennifer Gill Roberts, Co-Founder of Grit Ventures, for our GCI Speaker Series. Roberts talked about entrepreneurship within the technology sector, how to successfully launch a new idea, as well as career advice. Her talk was focused technical fields including industrial automation,

GCI Project Still Burning Bright

April 12, 2024 by Micah Kim | Grand Challenges Initiative

Chapman’s Grand Challenges Initiative program is unique in that students are taught how to utilize the skills they learn in the classroom to tackle real-world problems. Recently, Chapman alum Slade Laszewski and former Chapman professor Shenyue Jia published a paper that initially began as a GCI project. Recently, we were able to sit down with

Meet GCI Postdoctoral Fellow — Hector Camarillo Abad

March 13, 2024 by Sylvie Bastardo | Grand Challenges Initiative

Meet Hector Camarillo Abad, one of our GCI postdocs! Abad completed his undergraduate, master’s, and Ph.D. in Cholula, Puebla, Mexico, at Universidad de las Américas Puebla. He spent 12 years there completing his education. Abad is now utilizing all of the knowledge he gained while obtaining his degrees, into his research on human-computer interactions with

Guest Speaker: Kishonna Gray, U of Michigan

December 2, 2023 by Sylvie Bastardo | Grand Challenges Initiative

On Tuesday, November 28th, GCI welcomed guest speaker Dr. Kishonna Gray for our GCI Speaker Series. Dr. Gray talked about the research she has done regarding how technology impacts our culture and the world around us. Her talk on Tuesday was centered around disparities in the representation of people of color as well as women,

4th Annual Outstanding Publication Award Grand Challenges Initiative Recognizes Research by Kamal Diki

May 23, 2023 by Gregory Goldsmith | Grand Challenges Initiative

We are pleased to announce our 4th annual Chapman University Grand Challenges Initiative Outstanding Research Publication Award by a Grand Challenges Initiative Postdoctoral Fellow. The award is supported by alumni of the Grand Challenges Initiative Postdoctoral Teaching and Research Fellows Program. The selection committee, which included Drs. Jason Keller (chair), Crystal Ng (Former GCI Fellow), & Aaron Harrison