Alumni

by Tim Dyer

I thoroughly enjoyed my experience becoming a materials engineer at UC Davis. Currently, I am president of Elcon Precision in San Jose, CA. Elcon Precision is a materials science manufacturing company that makes space, medical and radio frequency technology products. As a team of materials scientists, we ensure success in critical applications that directly contribute to the preservation and betterment of human life. I have many fond memories of the UC Davis campus, culture and the fantastic people I met while getting my education.

When NASA's Perseverence rover approached Mars on February 18, 2021, UC Davis mechanical and aerospace engineering (MAE) alumna Jessica Samuels ’99 and Sara Langberg ’16 watched particularly closely to see their hard work pay off. Perseverance, the largest and most advanced Mars rover to date, will explore the existence of water, launch history’s first extraterrestrial helicopter and serve as the first leg of a mission to collect Martian rock and soil samples and bring them to Earth.

UC Davis engineering alumna Kim Budil, M.S. ’88, Ph.D. ’94 was named the 13th director of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the first woman director in the lab’s 69-year history.