2017 Distinguished Engineering Alumni Medal (DEAM) ceremony

Alumni Spotlights

Since its founding in 1962, over 28,000 students — and counting! — have graduated from the UC Davis College of Engineering. Our alumni have pursued careers in a wide variety of technical fields in industry, public service and academia, occupying positions of leadership and making a global difference.

Alumni Spotlights

Our alumni have become pioneers in their respective fields with achievements that have been far-reaching. Here are some outstanding examples of how our graduates are changing the world:

Jack Yao '96: From Robotics Gameshow Contestant to CEO

In 1995, Jack Yao ’96 was part of a team of UC Davis students that competed in Robocon — short for robot contest — in Osaka, Japan. The competition, which was nationally televised in Japan, challenged teams to design and build rugby-playing robots to autonomously navigate an obstacle course, place a rugby ball on a tee and kick the ball between goal posts.

Three Questions for Dean Richard Corsi

As part of a sit down with UC Davis Magazine, Dean Richard Corsi and UC Davis' new deans in the College of Letters and Science and School of Veterinary Medicine discussed their plans and visions for the respective departments. Dean Corsi's answers are excerpted below.

Tech Titan

For most, building a successful startup is a once-in-a-lifetime venture. For Prem Jain, M.S. ’77, it’s become a familiar routine. Pensando Systems, which he built with three other partners, was acquired in May by AMD, a firm that designs microprocessors for the computer and consumer electronics industries — for $1.9 billion.

Alumni Robert and Carolyn Caligiuri Establish Professor Amiya Mukherjee Memorial Fellowship in Materials Science

Alumni Robert ’73 and Carolyn Caligiuri ’74 have given a $1.27 million endowment to the University of California, Davis, Department of Materials Science and Engineering at UC Davis to establish the Amiya Mukherjee Memorial Fellowship in honor of Robert Caligiuri’s first mentor. The gift will support competitive doctoral students and boost the department's stature.