The Center for Animal Locomotion and Innovation hosted a grand opening ceremony at its UC Davis location in May. The afternoon event featured interactive research displays, technology demonstrations and meet-and-greets with experts (and their birds).
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.
Birds have an ability to fly through obstacles by shifting their shape in flight, which is difficult to reproduce in uncrewed aerial vehicles, commonly known as UAVs or drones. A new study from researchers at the University of Oxford and the University of California, Davis, published March 4 in Journal of the Royal Society Interface, shows how researchers can begin to approach this challenge, leading to insights into how birds fly and to improved UAV designs.
A collaboration between engineering and veterinary medicine, the new Center for Animal Locomotion and Innovation at UC Davis will use cutting-edge technology to understand birds of prey in flight, advancing the design of uncrewed aerial vehicles and the treatment and rehabilitation of birds.
Flying taxis may have once seemed like science fiction, but UC Davis researcher Seongkyu Lee is helping make them a real-life commute option, from designing quieter vehicles to championing air mobility education.
Dean Richard L. Corsi sits down with Chancellor Gary S. May to reflect on the imagination, principles and lifelong curiosity required to build what’s possible — and to ensure all next-level solutions of tomorrow serve the planet and the public good.
Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Seongkyu Lee will contribute to the $9 million South Korea-based center with his expertise in high-fidelity computational fluid dynamics. His group will be the first to investigate and predict mid- and high-frequency tonal and broadband noise emitted from UAM vehicles.
The UC Davis team was the top award winner at the 2024-25 CITRIS Aviation Prize competition, earning $12,000 for their innovative design of an intercampus air transportation system for UC students, faculty and staff.
Alan Jenn, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at UC Davis, discusses the Environmental Protection Agency’s plan to rescind its landmark 2009 decision affirming greenhouse gases as a threat to public health and welfare, and its impact on electric vehicles.
