A digital noticeboard celebrating achievements and highlights in the college, from grant updates to best paper awards.
Take a bite of some byte-sized news.
Alejandro Martinez Receives Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Mentoring Undergraduate Research
The professor of civil and environmental engineering has been recognized for offering undergraduate students opportunities to develop research skills and integrate into his Granular Materials Lab, from performing laboratory tests and conducting physical modeling experiments to participating in the group's social activities and weekly meetings.
Learn more about the Chancellor’s Undergraduate Research Awards
Researchers Win Best Paper Award at MLSys 2026 for Hardware-Efficient LLMs
A collaboration between UC Davis, Rice University, NVIDIA and Meta has produced a new method that accelerates processing speed in LLMs up to 150% by identifying and skipping unnecessary calculations, with no impact on response quality. At MLSys 2026, the top AI systems conference, the researchers received a Best Paper Award for their innovation.
Graduate Student Researcher Award Supports Bio-Inspired Robotics Research
With funding from the competitive UC Davis Graduate Studies award, mechanical and aerospace engineering Ph.D. student Zhongxiao Deng will spend the summer exploring the design and control of a biologically inspired climbing robot and how its systems can better adapt to challenging surfaces and transition between different modes of locomotion.
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
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
Kari Watkins Receives Grant to Advance UN’s Sustainable Development Goals
The professor of civil and environmental engineering has received a grant from UC Davis Global Affairs for research on sustainable transportation in Sub-Saharan Africa, aligning with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals numbers 11 and 17. “Now is the time to create the transportation system of the future,” Watkins said.
Alum Karl Frank Inducted into AISC Inaugural Class of Fellows
Karl Frank, who earned his Bachelor of Science in civil engineering from UC Davis in 1966, has been selected as one of 20 members of the American Institute of Steel Construction’s first-ever class of fellows. Frank is a professor emeritus at the University of Texas at Austin and is known for his impact on structural engineering.
$25 Million Gift Accelerates UC Davis Ag Tech
A bequest from Dan G. Best II establishes three C.L. Best endowed chairs and an innovation fund. “These three chairs will help translate agricultural research and innovation into deployable products and tangible solutions, supporting ag-tech startups and companies as they bring new technologies to the field,” said Fadi Fathallah, chair of the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering.
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.
NIH-Funded Research Advances Life-Saving Medical Imaging
Professor of Biomedical Engineering Laura Marcu researches Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging, a technology that distinguishes harmful tissues, such as cancerous tumors and artery plaques, from healthy tissue in real time. Her research directly improves patient care by helping doctors make faster, safer and more precise decisions in the operating room.
Federally Funded Research Improves Prosthetic Technology
Life-changing innovations depend on federal funding. At UC Davis, Associate Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Jonathon Schofield brings together engineering and medicine to create and test new prosthetic devices that function like a natural part of the body, helping individuals return to work, school and daily life with confidence.
Federal Funding Supports Quantum Technology for State-of-the-Art Research Breakthroughs
Quantum networks promise to speed up drug discovery and improve cybersecurity. Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Marina Radulaski builds devices to realize quantum networks with support from the National Science Foundation. Without their aid, tangible breakthroughs in quantum technology would be impossible, Radulaski said.
