Engineering Departments Honor Excellence in Teaching, Teaching Assistance and Student Achievement

The University of California, Davis, College of Engineering celebrates faculty members, graduate students and undergraduate students selected by the college's eight academic departments to receive Excellence in Teaching Awards, Outstanding Senior Awards and undergraduate student department citations.

Excellence in Teaching Awards are presented to one faculty member and one graduate student teaching assistant in each department for strong commitment to the educational mission and vision of the college and for consistently performing above and beyond expectations in teaching and mentoring the next generation of engineers and leaders.

The Outstanding Senior Awards recognize one graduating senior per major who has made significant contributions to the learning environment through active academic engagement at UC Davis. This prestigious award is distinct from the departmental citations, which recognize exemplary achievements or service among graduating seniors. 

Biological and Agricultural Engineering

• Excellence in Teaching Award: Vivian Vuong
• Teaching Assistant Excellence Award: Heesup Yun
• Outstanding Senior Award: Nikolas Chupkin (Biological Systems Engineering)
• Department Citations: 
  • Madeleine Baldwin
  • Nikolas Chupkin
  • Jade Lau
  • Kiana Mushock
  • Gento Shimamura

Biomedical Engineering

• Excellence in Teaching Award: Xianglong Wang
• Teaching Assistant Excellence Award: Tiffany Chan
• Outstanding Senior Award: Regina Rajbanshi
• Department Citations: To be announced

Chemical Engineering

• Excellence in Teaching Award: Jennifer Curtis
• Teaching Assistant Excellence Award: Parth Bandivadekar
• Outstanding Senior Award: 
  • Guadalupe Lauro (Biochemical Engineering)
  • Emily Vong (Chemical Engineering)
• Department Citations:
  • Miranda Escobedo
  • Anna McClaren
  • Logan White

Civil and Environmental Engineering

• Excellence in Teaching Award: Jon Herman
• Teaching Assistant Excellence Award: Lei Zhou
• Outstanding Senior Awards: 
  • Natalia Wilson (Civil Engineering)
  • Kiera Folkers (Environmental Engineering)
• Department Citations:
  • Olivia Bell
  • Simran Chawla
  • Hannah Eads
  • Josh Feil
  • Nada Hawarneh
  • Chelsea Le Nguyen
  • Karina Montes
  • Zoe Marie Plateau
  • Xavier Reyes
  • Putri Shabila Idris

Computer Science 

• Excellence in Teaching Award: Hamed Pirsiavash
• Teaching Assistant Excellence Award: Ha Min Son
• Outstanding Senior Awards:
  • Reina Itakura (Computer Science)
  • Ethan Ng (Computer Science and Engineering)
• Department Citations:
  • Nathan Chiu
  • George Berdovskiy
  • Arjun Ashok
  • Avery Li
  • Ria Rajput
  • Alan Buckser
  • Mohnish Gopi
  • Vivian Sun
  • Om Khangaonkar
  • Noah Chang
  • Chunho Li
  • Dhruv Kishnani

Electrical and Computer Engineering

• Excellence in Teaching Award: Weijian Yang
• Teaching Assistant Excellence Award: Basheer Pierre Ammar
• Outstanding Senior Awards:
  • Pranav Rawat (Computer Engineering)
  • Hari Rakul Ambethkar (Electrical Engineering)
• Department Citations:
  • Roderick Brown
  • Travis Daniel Fonte
  • Nathan Leung
  • Lars Erik Lundqvist
  • Lev Oleynik
  • Luna Park
  • Sebastian Najbjerg
  • Grace Sofia Tsiamis
  • Nidhi Vadulas

Materials Science and Engineering

• Excellence in Teaching Award: Erika La Plante
• Teaching Assistant Excellence Award: Makena Andersen  
• Outstanding Senior Award: Aaron Diamond
• Department Citations:
  • Micah Bob
  • Abogado Eric
  • Ian Zabala

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

• Excellence in Teaching Award: Stephen K. Robinson 
• Teaching Assistant Excellence Award: Rachel Pride 
• Outstanding Senior Awards:
  • Max Darling (Aerospace Science and Engineering)
  • Julian Eastman (Mechanical Engineering)
• Department Citations:
  • Kuval Bora
  • Taylor Chin
  • Nix Gandham
  • Adrian Munoz