UC Davis students Aidan Guerra and Andres Mino Cortes discuss advancing to the final phase of the 2026 NASA Human Lander Challenge, the lessons they learned from NASA engineers and how the experience is shaping the future of the Aggie Space Initiative.
At the 2026 Engineering Design Showcase, three teams were recognized with Sandia Engineering Design Awards for advances in aerospace, clean energy and biomedical engineering.
UC Davis researchers found that red-tailed hawks adjust their wing and tail movements during molt to maintain flight performance despite missing feathers. The findings could improve wildlife rehabilitation practices and inspire more resilient drones and uncrewed aerial vehicles.
UC Davis undergraduate teams captured three of four major awards in the 2025-26 CITRIS Aviation Prize, developing innovative software and simulation tools to support California’s future advanced air mobility network and electric air taxi transportation systems.
The National Science Foundation’s Faculty Early Career Development will fund the assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering’s work investigating the wing movements hawks use to conduct lateral flight maneuvers.
Inspired by her father's life-changing spinal cord injury, student athlete Lillie Vehling is pursuing mechanical and aerospace engineering to help others. Whether she's designing solutions at the Engineering Student Design Center or competing in Division I water polo, community remains at the center of her world.
The National Science Foundation has selected five students associated with the UC Davis College of Engineering for its Graduate Research Fellowship Program, which will fund their research for several years.
UC Davis and Oxford researchers are the first to document live birds actively shifting flight stability mid-maneuver, a discovery that could reshape how engineers design drones that adapt to their environments.
Mechanical and aerospace engineering students Esther Kung and Huy Tran were selected to receive scholarships from the Vertical Flight Society’s Vertical Flight Foundation, which recognizes and supports outstanding students pursuing careers in vertical flight.
The fourth-year aerospace science and mechanical engineering double major has been selected for the first-ever Solastra Fellowship, which recognizes Latin American student leaders in aerospace.
