In 1984, Hu came to a second defining moment in her scientific career, which was moving from her long-time East Coast stomping ground out to UC Santa Barbara, where she began her current teaching position for the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. And more recently, she became director of the California NanoSystems Institute.
1984 年，胡玲面對科學生涯第二度轉折，從她的學術發源地美國東岸，跨到西岸的加州大學聖塔芭芭拉分校，出任電機與電腦工程系教授至今，近年同時身兼加州奈米系統機構 (CNSI) 的科學主任。