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A team of UC Davis students is one of six university teams that has been selected as finalists to advance to the next phase of NASA’s Formulate, Lift, Observe, And Testing; Data Recovery And Guided On-board Node (FLOATing DRAGON) Balloon Challenge. The UC Davis team, which is comprised of undergraduate students from the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, is called HERMES, or High-altitude Experimental Rogallo Mission to Escort Safely. 

Meet Isabella Loureiro Muller Costa. Costa is a third year Ph.D. candidate in materials science and engineering at the University of California, Davis. Isabella is in the Ceramic and Glass Industry Foundation, or CGIF, President's Council of Student Advisors and brought CGIF Mini Kits to Brazil last year to expose students to materials science.

Computer Science Professor Matt Bishop was named a Distinguished Member of the Association for Computer Machinery, or ACM, for his outstanding scientific contributions to computing. 

Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering Alissa Kendall is at the forefront of new research that explores the increasing need to reduce the size of batteries in new electric vehicles, or EVs. The first-of-its-kind research has been covered by Wired, Forbes, The Hill, and The Guardian. 

Before aircraft, birds ruled the skies and Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Assistant Professor Christina Harvey thinks there’s still a lot to be learned from them. Harvey’s Biologically-Informed Research and Design (BIRD) Lab sits at the intersection of aerospace engineering and biology and looks to combine disciplines to make an impact in both fields. 

California is embarking on an audacious new climate plan that aims to eliminate the state’s greenhouse gas footprint by 2045, and in the process, slash emissions far beyond its borders. The blueprint calls for massive transformations in industry, energy and transportation, as well as changes in institutions and human behaviors.

In 1994, Jack Yao ’95 was part of a team of 10 UC Davis students that competed in a “techno-soccer challenge” in Osaka, Japan. The competition, which was nationally televised in Japan, challenged teams to build robots to autonomously navigate an obstacle course while dribbling, and eventually shooting, a soccer ball towards a goal. 

Strawberry season may be getting streamlined thanks to new robot coworkers developed at UC Davis.   Using an innovative prediction and scheduling system, Fragile cRop hArvest-aIding mobiLe robots, or FRAIL-bots, track the picking process of each worker so when they’re finished filling a tray with strawberries, a FRAIL-bot is already nearby to take it back to the collection station for them. 

Two teams of researchers led by Marina Radulaski, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, recently won University of California grants that promise to give scientists a better understanding of quantum information sciences—a rapidly-emerging technology that stands to transform the way society interacts with computers and technology.

“I have gained so much support from AvenueE, and I would not be in the academic and professional position that I am in today without them,” Arroyo Donjuan said. “AvenueE has facilitated my access to multiple resources such as tutoring, success coaching, counseling, guest speakers, internship, and, scholarship opportunities.”

Jay Lund, Distinguished Professor of civil and environmental engineering and vice director of the UC Davis Center for Watershed Science, joined NPR's A Martinez on Morning Edition on January 17, 2023. During the episode, Lund shed light on California's levees and if they can hold up against the pressures of climate change.

Biomedical engineers at the University of California, Davis, have created semi-living “cyborg cells.” Retaining the capabilities of living cells, but unable to replicate, the cyborg cells could have a wide range of applications, from producing therapeutic drugs to cleaning up pollution.

Naturally occurring microbes could help stabilize the ground under buildings during earthquakes due to the way they reduce the water content in soils, according to new research. One existing approach to stabilizing liquefaction-prone soils known as grouting is to inject concrete into the soil under vulnerable structures to cement the ground together.

Materials Science and Engineering Ph.D. candidate Cassondra Brayfield was named a recipient of the Cadence Diversity in Technology Scholarship under its Women in Technology program. Brayfield was selected based on leadership skills, recognition of accomplishments, endorsement from professors, and drive to shape the world of technology. 

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.