![\"Carla](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/UCOP_gradslam_3360-400x338.jpg\")
<\/p>\nCarla Bassil\u2019s machine learning-assisted device could improve food safety and human health<\/p>\n
June 2, 2026 by Marni Ellery<\/p>\n
Each year about 49 million Americans experience food-borne illnesses, resulting in 128,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths. But what if every refrigerator came equipped with an electronic nose that could sniff out spoilage, contamination and unsafe compounds in our food?<\/p>\n
Now, Berkeley engineer Carla Bassil may be one step closer to making this a reality.<\/p>\n
A Ph.D. student in electrical engineering and computer sciences (EECS), Bassil is developing multi-modal gas sensing technologies for food safety, human health and environmental monitoring. Her presentation on her latest concept \u2014 a machine learning-assisted gas sensor chip designed to improve food safety \u2014 earned her first place at this year\u2019s UC Berkeley Grad Slam, followed by a second-place finish at the UC systemwide competition.<\/p>\n
For Bassil, a young researcher and aspiring entrepreneur, the Grad Slam experience was both validating and inspiring. \u201cA Ph.D. really is a marathon. You can go a very long time \u2014 in my case, three years \u2014 without visibility on your work or feeling like you\u2019ve accomplished much,\u201d she said. \u201cTo see that business leaders and the community recognize that my research is impactful and exciting helps strengthen my motivation. It serves as a reminder of why I\u2019m doing this: to improve people\u2019s lives through this technology.\u201d<\/p>\n
Helping people has long been an important goal for Bassil. Growing up, she wanted to pursue a career in healthcare and considered becoming a doctor. She soon realized, however, that the clinical setting wasn\u2019t the right fit for her and pivoted to engineering.<\/p>\n
\u201cEngineering combines my love for science and problem solving, but it also offers another way that I can help people: by creating technology-based solutions,\u201d said Bassil. \u201cI\u2019m driven by the idea that my work could positively impact people\u2019s day-to-day lives.\u201d<\/p>\n
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UC Berkeley\u2019s Carla Bassil won second place at the 2026 UC systemwide Grad Slam competition. (Photo by Robert Durell\/University of California)<\/p>\n
Bassil became interested in biosensors while studying biomedical engineering as an undergraduate student at Texas A&M University. She enjoyed the challenge of designing devices to meet both human usability and technical requirements. After earning her master\u2019s in business, Bassil headed to Berkeley to pursue her Ph.D. and further explore this technology.<\/p>\n
\u201cBerkeley stood out to me because of all the bio-EE work going on here,\u201d said Bassil. \u201cWe have professors Rikky Muller<\/a>, Ana Claudia Arias<\/a>, Liwei Lin<\/a> and, of course, my advisor, professor Ali Javey<\/a>. There\u2019s a plethora of research at Berkeley that combines the bio aspect with electrical engineering, and I wanted to work at the crux of that.\u201d<\/p>\n Bassil was also drawn to the sense of inclusivity she felt on campus. \u201cWhen comparing other schools, I was struck by the representation of women in the Berkeley EECS Ph.D. program,\u201d she said. \u201cI think that reflects the department\u2019s commitment to attract top talent while fostering an inclusive and supportive environment.\u201d<\/p>\n When Bassil started at Berkeley, biosensor technology had already made some significant strides. Sensors that monitor sweat or interstitial fluid, like patches that track glucose levels in our blood, were either commercially available or headed in that direction.<\/p>\n Bassil, however, was interested in the electronic nose, or e-nose, a gas sensor concept that emerged in the 1980s. Rather than targeting a single gas, like a carbon monoxide detector, it uses a multiplexing gas sensing technology. By combining the information from an array of sensors and their relative responses to create a \u201cgas fingerprint,\u201d the e-nose can help identify a scent, not just the compounds in the scent.<\/p>\n According to Bassil, the e-nose also offers a non-invasive way to monitor \u201cthe next untapped area\u201d of biometrics: our scent. She imagines someday using this sensing technology to better understand the human body, just as dogs are trained to detect a change in their owner\u2019s scent and remind them to take medication.<\/p>\n For now, though, Bassil is focusing on food safety. While gas sensors are currently used for this purpose in some industrial settings, Bassil is integrating machine learning algorithms with her chips to enhance the sensors\u2019 accuracy and specificity, which could lead to faster and more reliable food safety screening at scale. Bassil said she could see this sensing technology being packaged as a plug-in device on a smartphone, so people can check their food for allergens while on the go.<\/p>\n \u201cMachine learning has proved to be a game changer for sensor technology, thanks to advances in pattern recognition capabilities and greater ease of use,\u201d said Bassil. \u201cAnd what\u2019s exciting is that you can train the e-nose on your choice of objects, so you can potentially design sensors tailored to any application.\u201d<\/p>\n Bassil hopes to someday spin out her biosensor research into a commercial product. In the meantime, she credits the Bakar Fellows<\/a> and Kavli Discovery Fellows<\/a> programs with helping to develop her communication and leadership skills, soft skills that she considers \u201ccomplementary to the hard science skills we need in our Ph.D.\u201d<\/p>\n This summer, Bassil will participate in the NSF I-Corps<\/a>, a customer discovery program in which she will be able to analyze different markets where her technology may be applicable. Based on that data, she can then determine the best commercial direction.<\/p>\n \u201cI have only two more years left in my Ph.D. program, but I still have a lot of work to do,\u201d said Bassil. \u201cHopefully, when I leave Berkeley, I\u2019ll have a technology that is mature and ready for commercialization.\u201d<\/p>\n Related content: UC Berkeley\u2019s Carla Bassil earns 2nd place at UC systemwide Grad Slam competition<\/a><\/p>\n
Video: Machine learning-assisted gas sensor chip for food safety applications<\/a><\/p>\n