2 Engineers Receive Academic Senate and Federation Awards
The University of California, Davis, Academic Senate and Federation have presented two of their top academic honors for 2025 to two exemplary members of the College of Engineering faculty and staff.
These awards recognize and showcase faculty and staff not just for their expertise but also for their impact across campus, mentorship roles, excellence in teaching and overall public service.
Distinguished Teaching Award – Undergraduate Teaching
Susan Gentry, Associate Professor of Teaching, Materials Science and Engineering
Gentry is recognized for her unparalleled dedication to fostering student success and innovation in education. She skillfully integrates innovative pedagogy, such as programming modules and interactive simulations, into her courses.
In her upper-division course “Materials in Engineering Design,” Gentry pioneered the use of Learning Assistants, where trained undergraduate students work as part of the teaching team and earn course credit for providing feedback to other students.
She also worked tirelessly during the pandemic to ensure continuity with the curriculum, and her mentorship has inspired students to achieve excellence in academics and research.
Gentry has been previously honored for her teaching with multiple accolades, including the Best Teaching Award from the UC Davis Department of Materials Science and Engineering in 2021 and 2024, the Bradley Stoughton Award for Young Teachers from ASM International in 2019 and the New Educator Award, Materials Division from the American Society for Engineering Education in 2018.
Excellence in Research Award
Negar Omidvari, Assistant Project Scientist, Department of Biomedical Engineering
Omidvari is recognized for her research in total-positron emission tomography, or PET. Her groundbreaking work to map the distribution of T-cells throughout the human body using dynamic PET imaging has revolutionized the understanding of immune responses, including in COVID-19 patients.
She was also the first to utilize a CD8-targeted radiotracer in this capacity, a major achievement in imaging infectious disease that continues to generate significant attention within the scientific community.
Omidvari first joined UC Davis as a postdoctoral researcher in Distinguished Professor Emeritus Simon Cherry’s lab in 2019. She received her Ph.D. in physics from the Technical University of Munich in 2018 and a master’s degree in biomedical engineering from RWTH Aachen University in 2013.
