Biological and agricultural engineering

UC Davis Receives Accolades as Top 10 Public University

The University of California, Davis, continues to stand among the nation’s top 10 public universities and now claims the No. 1 spot in biological and agricultural engineering in rankings by U.S. News & World Report.

The 2022-23 edition of “Best Colleges,” released today (Sept. 11), has UC Davis tied with the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Wisconsin-Madison for No. 10 among public universities and No. 38 overall among national universities.

Improving Agricultural Production by Slowing Down the Speed of Light

An interdisciplinary team of researchers led by Professor Saif Islam from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering will be forging a new partnership with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories to create innovative, fluorescence lifetime imaging—a process currently used in the medical field—for improving agricultural practices. 

Proof-of-Concept Grants Awarded to Advance Innovations to Commercial Opportunities

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Professor Vinod Narayanan and Assistant Professor Jonathon Schofield and Biological and Agricultural Engineering Adjunct Professor Zhongli Pan are among nine groups of UC Davis faculty to receive a proof-of-concept grant this year, which helps scientists advance compelling research and innovations toward commercial applications.

Hot and Cold

UC Davis engineers are innovating at high and low temperatures to enable travel at hypersonic speeds and sustainably keep food safe and fresh, respectively.

Alice Dien Hits it Out of the Park, Advances to UC Grad Slam Finals with Revolutionary Drying Research

Biological Systems Engineering Ph.D. student Alice Dien is the first engineer and first non-native English speaker to win UC Davis Grad Slam with her award-winning presentation "Cooling Down with the New Hot Air: The Future of Drying in Agriculture." She will compete for the top prize against winners from the other nine UC campuses on May 6.

“Fungi to save the world”

Mycelium, the white filament-like root structure of mushrooms, might be an important building block of a more sustainable world. By growing mycelium with a biomass—anything from coffee grounds to leftover agricultural waste—researchers at UC Davis are creating sustainable structures that can be turned into everything from biodegradable plastics and circuit boards to filters that remove harmful antibiotic and pesticide residues from water.

Agriculture Goes Digital

Irrigating an entire orchard or vineyard with the same level of water and nutrients may make some plants excel at producing nuts or fruit, while others might be getting more than they need. Not knowing this can lead to disappointing crop yields, wasted water, high costs and long-term damage to both the plants and the environment—all of which can devastate a grower.

UC Davis to Lead Groundwater and Irrigated Agriculture Sustainability Study

Researchers from the University of California, Davis, have been awarded a $10 million grant by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture to find ways to sustain irrigated agriculture while improving groundwater quantity and quality in the Southwest under a changing climate.