Graduate

Matt McNulty, Ph.D. ’22 is this year’s recipient of the UC Davis Graduate Studies Allen G. Marr Prize for dissertation excellence. McNulty is a cutting-edge researcher in plant molecular farming and a founder of the emerging field of space systems bioengineering with a passion for helping others.

The UC Davis Department of Biomedical Engineering recently received a $3 million, five-year grant from the National Science Foundation to create a new graduate-level training program that stands to transform the field of neuroengineering.

Materials Science and Engineering Ph.D. candidate Pallavi Sambre is taking the first steps toward engineering lifelike artificial materials that reconstitute a cell’s ability to change their membrane shape to move from one part of the body to another.

In five years in the chemical engineering graduate program at UC Davis, Dr. Jovana Veselinović conducted groundbreaking interdisciplinary work on using nanoporous gold to detect biomarkers of disease while falling in love with Davis. She is this year’s recipient of the College of Engineering’s Zuhair A. Munir Award for best doctoral dissertation.

Meghna Srivastava is this year’s recipient of the of the College of Engineering’s Jeffery C. Gibeling Master’s Thesis Excellence Award, which recognizes the M.S. student who has submitted the best master's thesis. Srivastava earned her M.S. in materials science and engineering under the mentorship of Associate Professor Marina Leite.

Davis-based Storx Technologies has developed a noninvasive device that accurately determines a baby’s well-being in the womb — and helps doctors decide whether the baby can be delivered naturally, avoiding an unnecessary cesarian section. The innovation was developed in electrical and computer engineering professor Soheil Ghiasi’s UC Davis lab after Ghiasi’s wife experienced a C-section.

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.

Computer scientists at UC Davis are designing jewelry technology that can use signals from a person’s facial muscles to send wireless commands to at-home devices like Alexa and Google Home.

Janine Moses ’19, M.S. ’23 has wanted to be an astronaut since she was three years old. “There was never a why. It just was,” Janine says. She recalls a report she did on Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, as a significant source of inspiration. Today, Janine continues to seek inspiration from women in her field—both the women astronauts she met while interning with NASA and the classmates-turned-friends at UC Davis.

The second annual awards recognize the outstanding achievements of the College of Engineering’s master’s and Ph.D. students in research, service, safety and diversity, equity and inclusion. Recipients receive a $500 award and will have their name added to a permanent display in the Kemper Hall lobby.