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UC Davis AI Center in Engineering

The UC Davis College of Engineering is leading the way in foundational AI research as well as translational applications and AI education efforts. 

The mission of the UC Davis AI Center in Engineering is to build transformative collaboration on AI efforts within the college, across the UC Davis campus, and with industry partners, policymakers and the community to leverage AI for the betterment of humanity and the planet.

Research Areas

Events

Education

Research Resources

Entrepreneurship

News

Leadership

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Research Areas

Our faculty experts are working to explore and enhance AI in 10 key research areas. 
Click the research area titles below to meet our experts in these areas.

Foundations of AI

Foundations of AI   |   AI and Agriculture   |   AI and Climate   |   AI and Education   |   AI and Energy   |   AI and Health

AI and Mobility   |   AI and Robotics, Sensors & HCI   |   AI and Society   |   Hardware & Software Engineering for AI

Events

A man wearing a button-up shirt smiles while seated

Race Matters: When AI Learns Our Bias featuring Professor of Computer Science Ian Davidson

Aug 6, 2026
AI Innovation Showcase and Prem Jain Symposium

AI Innovation Showcase and Prem Jain Symposium

Oct 16, 2025
The UC Davis College of Engineering Logo and the words "UC Davis Center in Engineering" on a navy blue background of strings of code

#TeamHuman: Community Rooted AI Research with Dr. Timnit Gebru — Co-Sponsored by CILS and UC Davis AI Center in Engineering

Oct 14, 2025

View calendar & watch recorded talks

Education

The UC Davis College of Engineering has a vast list 
of courses that explore artificial intelligence.

AI

Featured: ECS 011 — Artificial Intelligence for All

Comprehensive introduction to artificial intelligence (AI) and its multifaceted applications. Foundational understanding of modern AI to enable effective communication about its functions, recognition of its applications, and awareness of its core principles. Ethical and societal implications of AI.

Learn More

See more AI courses in the College of Engineering

Research Resources and Funding Opportunities

  • UC Davis Artificial Intelligence (AI) Council
  • In May 2024, Chancellor Gary May convened a UC Davis AI Council with a charge “to work collaboratively to develop campus-based principles and a proposed governance structure to guide the appropriate use of Artificial Intelligence on our two campuses” consistent with the UC Responsible AI Principles as laid out in the UCOP Presidential Working Group Report, Responsible Artificial Intelligence. 

    Learn more about the UC Davis AI Council

  • NSF Access (compute resources, storage resources, cloud resources, science getaways, etc.)
  • ACCESS is a program established and funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation to help researchers and educators, with or without supporting grants, to utilize the nation’s advanced computing systems and services at no cost to you.

    View information about the ACCESS program
  • NAIRR Pilot
  • The NAIRR Pilot aims to connect U.S. researchers and educators to computational, data, and training resources needed to advance AI research and research that employs AI.

    Learn about the NAIRR Pilot
  • "Data Science and AI" curated funding on Pivot
  • Apply
  • Laude Institute funding opportunities
  • Slingshots: fast, low-friction grants and hands-on support to computer scientists turning new research into startups or open source infrastructure

    Moonshots: seed funding and multi-year labs to proven academic researchers using AI to take on species-level challenges.

    Learn about these funding opportunities


Open calls for funding from Open Philanthropy Foundation

Interested faculty are encouraged to contact Jennifer Prahl ([email protected]) for assistance.

  • Career development and transition funding
  • Individual applications from undergraduate, postdoc and faculty are eligible as well as non-academics in the corporate sector. Applications are assessed on a rolling basis.

    Apply
  • How to apply for funding
  • Funding capacity-building projects aimed at addressing risks from advanced AI. Various deadlines.

    Apply

Entrepreneurship and Innovation

Kunal Mundada, Ty Feng and Sa Liu

CourseAssist AI

A customizable student-developed chatbot that is trained solely on a course's materials. To use, an instructor simply uploads things pertaining to the course, clicks a button to train the AI, and it's ready to use. Students are sent a link to their course's personalized chatbot.

Learn about this chatbot

Rainbow strips weave into a square

Aizip

Based in Silicon Valley, Aizip is a leader in model design of AI for IoT (AIoT). With its breakthrough neural network architecture and proprietary automated design tools, Aizip has demonstrated a wide range of deep neural networks (DNN) with superior performance. 

Learn about Aizip

News

Someone working on tablet, pills, laptop and clipboard on desk

New AI for Health Initiative Connects Computer Science and Medicine

Led by the UC Davis Department of Computer Science, the AI for Health Initiative will connect researchers and clinicians across disciplines to advance responsible AI use in medicine, support student training and strengthen partnerships with UC Davis Health.
Two portraits: Kim and Zhang

UC Davis Engineers Selected for Landmark DOE Genesis Mission Awards

UC Davis engineers Isaac Kim and Mingwei Zhang were among the recipients of the inaugural awards granted through the U.S. Department of Energy’s Genesis Mission — a national program leveraging artificial intelligence to accelerate breakthroughs in energy, discovery science and national security.
Glossy rounded panes with code on a dark background

New Method Significantly Boosts AI Speed, Energy Efficiency on Existing Hardware

Research led by a UC Davis Ph.D. student shows that AI models can maintain response quality while using far less energy on existing hardware. The work received the Best Paper Award at MLSys 2026, a leading machine learning and AI systems conference.
Large group standing and smiling in front of a blue branded backdrop

Three UC Davis Teams Win Top Awards at CITRIS Aviation Prize

UC Davis undergraduate teams captured three of four major awards in the 2025-26 CITRIS Aviation Prize, developing innovative software and simulation tools to support California’s future advanced air mobility network and electric air taxi transportation systems.
Data Pigeon co-founders Suhani Shokeen, Sina Vaghefi and Senara Millawabandara pose indoors

From Student to Startup Founder: Senara Millawabandara’s Path at UC Davis

Through leadership roles, entrepreneurship and direct experience in artificial intelligence, computer science and engineering major Senara Millawabandara found a strong sense of community and purpose at UC Davis — and a commitment to building solutions that improve people’s everyday lives.
Two smiling women stand close together in a bright lobby with a staircase

Decoding Dementia

Clinicians and engineers at the University of California, Davis, are collaborating on AI-driven tools to analyze vast digital archives of brain tissue scans — work that cannot be done at scale by humans alone — to better understand dementia and improve diagnosis and treatment.

Read More AI News

Leadership

Are you doing unique or collaborative research in AI? Do you want to connect with one of our experts? Email us at [email protected].

A portrait of Raissa D'Souza

Raissa M. D'Souza, Acting Director

Associate Dean, Research
Professor of Computer Science and Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

 

Portrait of Chen-Nee Chuah

Chen-Nee Chuah, Acting Co-Director

Child Family Professor in Engineering
Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Department Chair Dipak Ghosal

Dipak Ghosal, Acting Co-Director

Bucher Family Chair and Professor of Computer Science
Prem Chand Jain Family Presidential Chair for Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Faculty Advisory Board

  • Shirley Ahn, Chemical Engineering
  • Sharon Aviran, Biomedical Engineering
  • Yubei Chen, Electrical and Computer Engineering
  • Ian Davidson, Computer Science
  • Mason Earles, Biological and Agricultural Engineering
  • Vladimir Filkov, Computer Science
  • Sanjay Joshi, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
  • Marina Leite, Materials Science and Engineering
  • Natarajan Sukumar (Suku), Civil and Enviornmental Engineering
  • Junshan Zhang, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Meet All Faculty

Engineering a better world calls for solutions of a different caliber, demanding innovation 
across disciplines using a design-centric approach.

We employ and develop intelligent systems and automation, tools at the nano-and-micro- scales and engineering for all that will revolutionize energy systems, strengthen climate resilience, advance human health and transform mobility to bring a sustainable, healthier and more resilient world within reach.

 

Revolutionizing Energy Systems

Windfill with a field in background

Strengthening Climate Resilience

Burnt trees in a red skyline

Transforming Mobility

Rendering of a futuristic car

Advancing Human Health

Two doctors in an operating room
UC Davis College of Engineering