research

The SFSU team that earned the BDC spot did so through a semester-long effort in Associate Professor Fernando Felicio dos Santos de Carvalho’s “Product Design II” class, dedicated to developing new, sustainable ways to solve a problem on California’s North Coast tinted by climate-change: overpopulated sea urchins that are preying on the bull kelp and destroying the ecosystem.

Funding from the supporters allowed for travel arrangements, fieldtrips, and other events that provided critical learning opportunities for the team, chosen from among eight SFSU competing teams by a juried panel to travel to New York for the competition.

The MillerKnoll Foundation focuses on engaging young people through art and design, promoting equity, and building a sustainable future. These priorities reflect the organization’s deeply held belief in the power of design to transform lives and create lasting impact.

Team Urbon students Huan Chang, Luke Seeley, Xin Zhang, and Elliot Ostergaard showed phenomenal engagement and effort in the weeks leading up to the trip, working on refinements and improvements stemming from the jury panel's comments, producing posters, models, videos, and working on their final live presentation that focused on supporting the recovery of Northern California’s bull kelp forests. The team collaborated on the project with The Nature Conservancy, the Noyo Center for Marin Science, and Above/Below, bringing real-world relevance to the endeavor.

While in New York, the students were professional, involved, effective, and enthusiastic as they delivered stellar presentations, representing SFSU with pride on an international stage, said Carvalho, who teaches courses in SFSU’s School of Design within the College of Liberal and Creative Arts.

“My passion for science began at San Francisco State University in 1970, when I took a molecular biology course taught by Dr. Sarane Bowen,” Fong recalls. “That class sparked my fascination with DNA and RNA and their essential roles in the life of cells.”

That spark led Fong to pursue a Ph.D. at Indiana University and postdoctoral research at UCLA and the National Institutes of Health. In 1984, he founded Clontech Laboratories. “What began in the classroom at SFSU became the foundation for a company that grew to nearly 400 employees over 15 years,” he says. Clontech rose to become one of the largest biomedical tool companies founded by an Asian American in the U.S. before its acquisition by Becton Dickinson in 1999. Fong later launched Kenson Ventures, LLC, a Silicon Valley–based venture capital firm that has invested in and mentored numerous biotech companies through IPOs and acquisitions.

Reflecting on his career, Fong says, “I have come to value sustainability and continuity — principles that guide both my professional endeavors and my contributions to the scientific community.” These principles, together with his gratitude for the opportunities afforded by his education in the U.S. as an immigrant from Hong Kong, continue to inspire his deep connection to SFSU. Over the years, he has given generously of his time, expertise, and philanthropy.

“My passion for science began at San Francisco State University in 1970, when I took a molecular biology course taught by Dr. Sarane Bowen. That class sparked my fascination with DNA and RNA and their essential roles in the life of cells.”  
—Kenneth S. Fong (B.A., ’71; M.A., ’74), Ph.D.

In 2014, he endowed the Kenneth S. Fong Translational Research Award at SFSU, designed to support faculty and student collaborations and innovation in perpetuity. “By generating discoveries that can attract funding from NIH, NSF, and other sources,” Fong says, “the program creates a self-sustaining cycle of research, innovation, and impact.”

Since its launch, the award has funded 11 interdisciplinary projects, engaging 27 faculty and 75 students. These projects have spanned fields as diverse as biomedical engineering, chemistry, biology, physics, and computer science — from robotic exoskeletons for stroke rehabilitation, to breast cancer treatments using diverse ancestry cell lines, to advances in prosthetic arm technology. Collectively, the research has secured more than $21 million in additional funding from national agencies including the NIH, NSF, NASA, and the Department of Defense.

For SFSU student research assistant Charlie Vidal Sanchez (B.S., Civil Engineering, ’20; M.S., Structural & Earthquake Engineering, ’21), the support was life-changing. “It was at SFSU that I saw all the doors open for me where they were once closed, potential seen in me when there was once none, and where I took advantage of every opportunity I could,” he says. With the confidence and experience gained from his participation in Fong-supported research, Charlie went on to win first place in the CSU Research Competition, earn a master’s degree through SFSU’s accelerated program, and launch his own construction company. 

“It was at SFSU that I saw all the doors open for me where they were once closed, potential seen in me when there was once none, and where I took advantage of every opportunity I could.”  
—Charlie Vidal Sanchez (B.S., Civil Engineering, ’20; M.S., Structural & Earthquake Engineering, ’21), who assisted with Fong-awarded research as an SFSU student