How One UC San Diego Student Is Building a Future with SaaS
Asencio’s work has concerned a variety of UC San Diego supporters, together with mentorship with bioengineering and knowledge science affiliate professor Benjamin Smarr and knowledge science graduate fellow Conan Minihan. Photograph by Liz Diaz.
From justice‑impacted to tech builder
Asencio’s journey with Minihan started in San Diego County Jail round 2011 and continued once they reconnected as UC San Diego college students, the place each pushed previous stigma to pursue schooling and a special future. After Asencio’s launch in March 2022, he confronted steep obstacles in job searches due to his felony document, however he stayed centered on growing technical expertise that might translate into significant work and group influence.
He additionally confronted obstacles from spending years away from know-how, however says due to giant language fashions (LLMs) he was capable of leap frog years of programming and machine studying lessons by interacting straight with AIs like Anthropic’s Claude. Asencio stated that he turned to AI and knowledge science, studying knowledge and immediate engineering and coding so he may construct merchandise like iCipher and Aralan somewhat than await conventional employment alternatives. These tasks now anchor his SaaS enterprise mannequin: cloud‑delivered instruments designed to sort out actual‑world issues in prison justice, well being and worldwide enterprise.
HDSI, Triton Underground Students and AI schooling
Asencio’s trajectory is tightly related to UC San Diego’s College of Computing, Data and Knowledge Sciences (SCIDS)’ Halıcıoğlu Knowledge Science Institute (HDSI), the place Minihan labored with Triton Underground Students for an Schooling for Empowerment workshop within the Fall of 2025. Asencio was a panelist on the occasion’s San Diego Reentry Roundtable and mentioned how alternatives at UC San Diego have helped change his trajectory and assisted him in constructing AI instruments — like iCipher — that serve others.
Minihan, himself a primary‑era and previously incarcerated school graduate and now an HDSI doctoral scholar, can be engaged on a curriculum to empower justice‑system‑impacted learners who’ve traditionally confronted stark obstacles to success in know-how. Inside that broader ecosystem of help, campus companions equivalent to Triton Underground Students supply mentorship, scholarships, peer help and a pathway into UC San Diego for incarcerated, previously incarcerated in addition to these impacted by the justice system — serving to contributors like Asencio translate technical coaching into lengthy‑time period tutorial {and professional} alternative.
