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.
Dr. Sima Asadi is this year’s recipient of the Zuhair A. Munir Award for the best doctoral dissertation in the College of Engineering. She received her Ph.D. in chemical engineering from UC Davis in 2020 and is now a postdoctoral associate in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Asadi’s dissertation, “Airborne Infectious Disease Transmission via Expiratory Aerosol Particles and Aerosolized Fomites,” focuses on airborne infectious disease transmission.
Marissa Gionet-Gonzales is a fifth-year Ph.D. student in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. Her research focuses on engineering biomaterials to enhance mesenchymal cell regeneration for bone and muscle repair. During her Ph.D., she served as a mentor and presenter for the California Alliance for Minority Participation program, founding a diversity, equity and inclusion journal club within her lab and serving on the department’s Health Equity and Wellness Committee.
