What happens when a Davis-based chemical engineering student trades nanoscale research for manufacturing facilities in Iowa? Roanna Pham spent her summer learning predictive maintenance, building a machine-learning tool and embracing the unexpected.
Through a collaboration with Germany’s Max Planck Institute, UC Davis Ph.D. student Toulik Maitra is developing computational tools to accelerate the design of organic semiconductors that could help advance flexible electronics and more efficient OLED displays.
Carlos Daniel Sanchez Espinoza has gone viral for his inspiring work ethic and dedication to his education, earning a 4.6 GPA while working 40 hours a week as a McDonald’s manager. He was accepted to 29 colleges before choosing UC Davis.
UC Davis students in Cyclone RoboSub are taking their autonomous underwater vehicle beyond the pool, using it to support environmental research in open waters and to educate the next generation of robotics engineers.
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 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.
Through leadership roles, entrepreneurship and direct experience in artificial intelligence, computer science and engineering major Senara Millawabandara found a strong sense of community and purpose at UC Davis — and a commitment to building solutions that improve people’s everyday lives.
Meet the engineering undergraduate students working at UC Davis Tech Foundry. In this Q&A, Allen Cooke, David Kou and Haelie Tweet share how they are gaining technical skills while helping transform ideas into real-world solutions. Together, their experiences reflect a new chapter for a space that is actively growing.
At an upcoming UC Davis commencement ceremony, biological systems engineering major Atmaja Patil will speak on what she takes away from her education: “The confidence to question the status quo. To look at a problem and ask, ‘Why does it have to be this way?’”
