News | UC Davis College of Engineering

Rich Whittle and others wear flight suits and float in gravity chamber, hooked up to cardio monitors

Testing Astronaut Health in 30 Seconds of Weightlessness

Revolutionizing Energy Systems

We make significant contributions to climate mitigation through innovations in energy efficiency, generation and storage.

Strengthening Climate Resilience

We advance human, infrastructure and ecosystem resilience in the face of potentially devastating climate impacts by developing and implementing leading-edge technologies and engineering approaches.

Transforming Mobility

We lead the development of future transportation systems for movement across land, water, air and extraterrestrial environments.

Advancing Human Health

We improve population health and healthcare through the development of advanced technologies, devices for personalized health monitoring and health informatics.

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State Grants Support UC Davis Students’ Research in Precision Medicine and Health Equity

by Edwin Garcia, UC Davis Health
August 24, 2026

Two M.D./Ph.D. students with a biomedical engineering focus have been awarded grants from the California Initiative to Advance Precision Medicine. The grants support leading-edge research aimed at improving patient care and advancing health equity.

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Beyond Silicon: Modeling the Materials Behind the Future of Electronics

by Jessica Heath
August 19, 2026

Through a collaboration with Germany’s Max Planck Institute, UC Davis Ph.D. student Toulik Maitra is developing computational tools to accelerate the design of organic semiconductors that could help advance flexible electronics and more efficient OLED displays.

Microscope view of illuminated microchip showing rectangular grid

UC Davis Infrared Sensor Opens New Possibilities for Medicine and Industry

by Matt Marcure
August 18, 2026

In a new study published in Nature Communications, UC Davis researchers detail an infrared sensor that excels above freezing temperatures. The sensor combines a membrane-based design and radio frequencies to increase performance, detecting signals as low as 740 picowatts in room temperature environments.

Five young adults standing together on a sunlit campus plaza. One holds a prototype of a biomedical device.

From Sketch to Prototype

by Matt Marcure
August 17, 2026

When biomedical engineering students walked into a room full of clinicians at UC Davis Health, they carried two medical device prototypes. One was an alum’s late-night sketch, while the other was theirs. What unfolded in that room over several hours became the basis for First Bite, a medical device designed to safely secure breathing tubes for infants.

Man wearing head-mounted sensors and backpack rig, holding a railing in a hallway

UC Davis Engineers Collaborate on Rare Epilepsy Study

by College of Engineering Communications
August 14, 2026

Development engineers and a biomedical engineering graduate student from the University of California, Davis, were part of a study granting scientists a rare glimpse into how the human brain navigates space. This research could be the foundation of future treatments for debilitating conditions like dementia.

Research in Action

Engineering For All

Carlos Daniel Sanchez Espinoza holding a UC Davis pennant on sunlit campus path

Giving It His All: Meet Incoming Aggie Engineer Carlos Daniel Sanchez Espinoza

Intelligent Systems and Automation

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

New AI for Health Initiative Connects Computer Science and Medicine

Tools at the Nano- and Micro-Scales

UC Davis Infrared Sensor Opens New Possibilities for Medicine and Industry

From Labs to Lives

How Research Funding Solves Real-World Problems

Below, our engineering researchers describe the impact of their work, and the consequences if federal support for this cutting-edge research were reduced or eliminated.

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Without Federal Support, Fewer Solutions Move from the Lab to Real-World Use

Investments from agencies like NSF, USDA and NASA enable Associate Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Zhaodan Kong to develop technologies that work with humans, such as wildfire-detection drones that support firefighters. Without funding, testing and getting technologies into the hands of people who need them becomes much harder.

See Kong discuss the benefits of human-centered technologies

A professor speaking passionately on a purple backdrop

Lack of Federal Funding Shortchanges Long-Term Breakthroughs in Health Monitoring

In one of her research projects, Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Cristina Davis and her team are developing wearable sensors to monitor increasing exposures that could harm our health, such as chemicals released by wildfires. Without federal support, the nation risks decades of stalling scientific progress on such projects.

Watch Professor Davis speak on why federal funding is needed

Md Shamim Ahamed against a blue background for a video shoot

USDA-Funded Research Advances Sustainable Food Systems

Assistant Professor of Biological and Agricultural Engineering Md Shamim Ahamed develops solutions to help grow food more efficiently in greenhouses and indoor farms. His team has developed systems that can cut energy and water use by up to 50 percent, helping to lower food costs and help farmers produce food year-round in changing climates.

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In the News

Hawk landing on green perch, wings spread wide inside enclosure

How the way red-tailed hawks adapt could change rehab efforts and aircraft design

NPR

New study says toxic carcinogen from 2025 Los Angeles wildfires may have spread to 3.3 million people

CBS News

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9 Everyday Things That Are Quietly Polluting the Air Inside Your Home

Real Simple

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Alum’s Millimeter-Wave Technology Takes Major Step Toward Spaceflight

Three-time engineering alum Diana Gamzina’s company, Elve, has qualified its 100-watt millimeter-wave tube amplifier platform for spaceflight. The technology, which grew from Gamzina’s research in the College of Engineering, could enable high-data-rate communications for satellite networks and is expected to be demonstrated in orbit within a year.

Smiling person with glasses and dark jacket standing on a tree-lined campus walkway

UC Davis Researcher Takes Leadership Role in Soft Robotics

Assistant Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Wenzhong Yan has joined Soft Robotics, the leading journal in the field, as an associate editor. The appointment recognizes Yan's growing contributions to soft robotics, an emerging area of research focused on robots that safely interact with people and adapt to complex environments.

Five smiling adults standing indoors; two hold certificates and a poster, banner behind them.

UC Davis Researchers Receive 2026 Geometry Processing Software Award

Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering John D. Owens, alum Ahmed H. Mahmoud, Ph.D. ’24, and project scientist Serban Porumbescu received the 2026 SGP Software Award from the Eurographics Symposium on Geometry Processing for RXMesh, an open-source library that simplifies GPU-based processing of 3D triangle meshes.

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