Erika La Plante Honored with Inaugural UC Regents Innovation Award
Erika La Plante, an associate professor of materials science and engineering at the University of California, Davis, is one of two UC Davis faculty members who have been recognized among the inaugural recipients of the UC Regents Innovation Awards. The awards honor researchers and innovators whose work is translating University of California research into technologies, companies and solutions with broad impact.
La Plante received the Best Startup Award for her work as co-founder and head of monitoring, reporting and verification and environmental strategy at Equatic. The company, which was previously recognized in Time’s “Best Innovations” list, is developing an industrial process that uses seawater electrolysis and direct air capture to remove and store carbon while producing clean hydrogen. La Plante’s research helped form the foundation for the technology, which Equatic is working to scale toward gigatonne-scale carbon removal.
The recognition follows a competitive inaugural awards process that included five UC Davis nominees across several categories. UC Davis College of Engineering faculty who were also nominated for awards included:
- Sam King, professor of computer science, for outstanding achievement in inventing and commercializing a groundbreaking product, transforming research into immediate market impact.
- Iman Soltani, assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and electrical and computer engineering, for pioneering revolutionary scientific discoveries and inventing high-impact technologies that redefine industry standards.
The nominations and awards highlight the breadth of innovation emerging from UC Davis and recognize the role of university research in creating new technologies and ventures that play an important role in improving people’s lives.
