ENGINEERING progress - College of Engineering

Transcription

ENGINEERING
progress
WINTER 2016
Welcome
Jennifer Sinclair Curtis
Dean, UC Davis College of Engineering
UC Davis College of Engineering
AWARDS DINNER
Saturday, February 20, 2016 • 5 p.m. • Exploratorium, San Francisco
Register online at: http://conferences.ucdavis.edu/engineering
Plan now to attend the UC Davis College of Engineering’s annual gala awards dinner in San Francisco. Each year the
college recognizes several of its notable graduates with the Distinguished Engineering Alumni Medal (DEAM), and also
recognizes the achievements of the college’s outstanding faculty.
OUTSTANDING FACULTY TEACHING AWARD
n
Matt Bishop
Department of Computer Science
OUTSTANDING SENIOR FACULTY AWARD
n Dan Gusfield
Department of Computer Science
OUTSTANDING MID-CAREER FACULTY
AWARD
n
Laura Marcu
Department of Biomedical Engineering
OUTSTANDING JUNIOR FACULTY AWARD
n
Jane Gu
Department of Electrical and Computer
Engineering
2015 Distinguished Engineering Alumni Medal
(DEAM) Recipients
BUSINESS
n Scott Maxwell (B.S. ’84, MS ’86, mechanical engineering)
Senior Managing Director, OpenView Venture Partners
n Babak Taheri (Ph.D. ’94, electrical engineering)
Advisory Board, Novasentis Inc.
n
Brian Underwood (M.S. ’91, materials science engineering)
Co-founder, California Gold Almonds
EDUCATION
n Richard Corsi (M.S. ’85, Ph.D. ’89, civil engineering)
Chair, Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, University of Texas at Austin (UT)
PUBLIC SERVICE
n Carolyn Pura (B.S. ’77, M.S. ’79, mechanical engineering)
Former Engineering Manager, Sandia National Laboratories
For more information, contact Oliver Ramsey at
[email protected] or 530-752-7412.
2 U C D AV I S C O L L E G E O F E N G I N E E R I N G
CONTENTS
Engineering Progress is published twice a year
by the College of Engineering at UC Davis.
Jennifer Curtis
Dean, College of Engineering
Jessie Catacutan
Executive Assistant Dean for Administration
and Finance
Jeannie Darby
Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies
Jim Schaaf
Assistant Dean of Undergraduate Programs
and Advising
Jean VanderGheynst
Associate Dean for Research and Graduate
Studies
Felix Wu
Associate Dean, Academic Personnel and
Planning
DEPARTMENT CHAIRS
Bryan Jenkins
Biological and Agricultural Engineering
Jinyi Qi
Biomedical Engineering
Roland Faller, Co-Chair
Subash Risbud, Co-Chair
Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
6UC Davis Centrifuge
8 COVER: Welcome Dean
Jennifer Sinclair Curtis
12 A Safe and Sturdy
UC Davis Engineering Progress • Winter 2016
6
Infrastructure
14 Breakthrough PET
Scanner
15 Helping Growers
Optimize Irrigation
16 Nanoporous Gold
Sponge Makes Pathogen
Detector
17 Faculty & College News
31 Innovators Exhibit &
8
Reception
Amit Kanvinde
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Nina Amenta
Computer Science
Kent Wilken
Electrical and Computer Engineering
C.P. van Dam
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
ENGINEERING PROGRESS
Oliver Ramsey
Assistant Dean, Development and External
Relations
Paul Dorn
Director, Marketing & Communications
Derrick Bang
Writer/Editor
Sean Michael Ayres, Scott Chernis, Karin
Higgins, Katie Lin, Watson Lu, Brian Nguyen,
Kevin Tong, Michelle Tran, Gregory Urquiaga
Photographers
Academic Technology Services
Design
College of Engineering
University of California, Davis
1 Shields Ave, Kemper Hall 1042
Davis, CA 95616
http://engineering.ucdavis.edu
31
12
14
Alumni Establish Matching Fund for
K-12 STEM Teachers
THE FUND WILL SUPPORT
SCHOLARSHIPS FOR
UC DAVIS TEACHING
CREDENTIAL STUDENTS
WHO HAVE THE INTEREST,
PASSION, AND APTITUDE
TO TEACH STEM-RELATED
SUBJECTS...
IN CALIFORNIA, the predicted demand for professionals in science, technology, engineering,
and math (STEM) fields will grow nearly 20 percent by 2018. Yet too few students are choosing
STEM fields.
UC Davis alumni Nancy (’74, Cred ’75) and Tom Patten (Civil Engineering ’74, MS ’76) believe
enthusiastic and well-prepared teachers are the key to unlocking the state’s potential for innovation
and prosperity.
To help train the next generation of STEM teachers, the Pattens have pledged $100,000 to
establish a new matching fund for the Next Generation STEM Teaching Award. The fund will
support scholarships for UC Davis teaching credential students who have the interest, passion, and
aptitude to teach STEM-related subjects in K-12 public schools.
By preparing educators to inspire the next generation of students to pursue STEM majors and
careers, UC Davis strengthens California’s and the nation’s ability to tap the true potential of its
future innovators.
MAKE YOUR GIFT TODAY
Every gift is matched dollar for dollar, doubling your impact on a future teacher. For more
information, contact Oliver Ramsey at [email protected] or 530-752-7412.
NANCY AND
TOM PATTEN
A SHOP FOR
DREAMERS
Nuts and Bolts Come Together in the
College of Engineering’s Fabrication Lab
UC DAVIS STUDENTS were
pleasantly surprised, when
returning to the Engineering
Fabrication Lab (EFL) for the
fall quarter. This popular
“engineering workshop,”
located in 1220 Bainer Hall,
was upgraded with all sorts
of cool new equipment
during the summer.
The lab has been
augmented with three DMG
Mori machining centers; an
OMAX 5-axis waterjet; a
Trotec Speedy 400 laser
engraver and cutter, for
plastic and wood; a ShopBot
Buddy with 12-inch Z-axis;
three Miller MIG/TIG welders and two precision welding layout
tables; upgraded fume extraction for the welding area; four
Bridgeport knee mills; three Harrison lathes; two Ultimaker
Extended 3D printers; a PCB prototyping area with mill, semi-auto
pick-and-place, and reflow oven; a Baileigh powered tubing
bender and notcher; 10 CAD/CAM workstations; and four
electronics workstations with a full complement of pro-grade
soldering and rework tools. The new equipment was acquired
thanks to a a generous educational discount from DMG Mori, and
financial support from the College of Engineering.
The equipment upgrades are the first visible step in an
ambitious, multi-phase renovation, expansion and reconfiguration
of Bainer Hall’s north wing, ultimately leading to the creation of a
new Engineering Student Design Center (ESDC).
College leadership
evaluated the future needs of
engineering students to
develop a list of desired
equipment. “We knew what’s
currently available in industry,
and we knew some of the
trends,” explains Mike
Akahori, manager of the EFL.
“We asked students and grad
students what they needed or
wanted; we also visited other
universities, to see what they
were buying and using.”
The EFL currently runs eight
labs at a time: four mechanical
and four biomedical. “We also
support a series of small
ancillary labs for various departments,” Akahori notes, “like our
engine lab, where students disassemble a gasoline engine, and
then put it back together so that it runs again. We also have
short-course labs for civil engineers and chemical engineers.”
“The best part, as we’re able to accommodate increased
demand for hands-on opportunities is the improved collaborative
atmosphere. Students from different majors will be able to work
together on a single project. It’ll be a great think tank.”
Nurturing that innovative spirit is what makes Akahori’s “play
space” so important.
“Students get into engineering to embrace the creative part of
their career path,” he smiles, “and this is where they can get their
first taste of such experience. A lot of today’s students are
dreamers, and the EFL is a vehicle for achieving those dreams.”
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5 5
Grant for natural hazards research at
UC DAVIS CENTRIFUGE
THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION will award almost $5 million over five years to
UC Davis to include the large earthquake-simulating centrifuge at the Center for Geotechnical
Modeling as part of the new Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure program.
The center operates a nine-meter (30-foot) radius centrifuge with a shake table, the largest of
its kind in the world. Researchers can build complex models of soils and structures on the shake
table, fit them with instruments and sensors, and shake them while they rotate on this massive
machine. This allows accurate scale-model studies of soils and soil-structure systems such as
buildings and foundations, near-shore and off-shore energy infrastructure foundations,
underground structures, pipelines, ground improvement technologies, wharves, embankment
dams, and levee systems.
The grant will support research operations at the center over the next five years, making it
available to NSF-funded researchers nationwide as well as at UC Davis. The research performed
will enable major advances in the ability of engineers to predict and improve the performance of
soil and soil-structure systems affected by earthquake, wave, wind, and storm surge loadings.
The Center for Geotechnical Modeling, housed in the UC Davis Department of Civil and
Environmental Engineering, has operated the large centrifuge as a unique, shared national
resource for more than 30 years. The facilities have been used by researchers from the Universities
of California (Davis, Berkeley, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Irvine), Colorado, Texas, and
Washington; Oklahoma State; Arizona State; Oregon State; Virginia Tech; and Tokyo Institute of
Technology, among others.
New technology will help define the
environmental triggers of childhood asthma
UC Davis researchers receive funding to develop a wearable sensor device
UC DAVIS RESEARCHERS have received a four-year, $1.5 million grant from the National Institutes of
Health (NIH) to develop a small, wearable sensor that can measure the relationship between environmental
exposures and pediatric asthma.
The hope is that the device will lead to new treatment options for the more than 5 million children in the U.S.
who have asthma, a chronic, inflammatory lung disease that restricts breathing and is a significant cause of
hospital visits and missed school days.
“Asthma is more common and harder to control in regions with high pollution levels, but we don’t know the
specific chemicals that trigger it,” said co-principal investigator Nicholas Kenyon, chief of pulmonary, critical
care and sleep medicine at UC Davis and a specialist in difficult-to-treat asthma. “The new device helps by
providing detailed, real-time data on the occurrence of bronchospasms in relation to environmental exposures.”
Co-principal investigator Cristina Davis, professor of mechanical and aeronautical engineering, worked with
Kenyon to develop and test initial components of the device, which combines lung-function with breathmeasurement and chemical-sensing technologies. Their initial work was funded by The Hartwell Foundation,
UC Davis Clinical and Translational Science Center (CTSC) and the National Science Foundation.
The new grant — part of the NIH’s Pediatric Research using Integrated Senor Monitoring Systems, or PRISMS,
Program — allows the team to integrate the technology into a form no larger than a pen that can be easily worn
in the pockets of children. Once developed, the device will be pilot tested to determine its clinical potential.
“We are creating a critical tool in finding the ‘missing links’ in our understanding of asthma,” said Davis. “If
we can identify the source and components of chemicals that lead to pulmonary exacerbations, we are well on
our way to policy changes and treatments that protect children.”
In addition to Kenyon and Davis, researchers on the UC Davis grant are Robin Steinhorn, senior vice president
of hospital-based specialties at Children’s National Health System; and Michael Schivo, assistant professor of
pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine at UC Davis.
“WE ARE
CREATING A
CRITICAL TOOL
IN FINDING
THE ‘MISSING
LINKS’ IN OUR
UNDERSTANDING
OF ASTHMA.”
– CRISTINA DAVIS
E N G I N E E R I N G P R O G R E S S / Summer 2015 7
Ready for Her Close-up
JENNIFER SINCLAIR CURTIS EMBRACES HER ROLE AS NEW DEAN
By Derrick Bang
“WE NEED TO BE
BETTER ABOUT
SPREADING THE
NEWS THAT UC DAVIS
IS LADEN WITH
GREAT TALENT AND
ACHIEVEMENT!”
– JENNIFER CURTIS
JENNIFER CURTIS HIT THE GROUND RUNNING, when she arrived at UC Davis in late
October.
“I thrive on being busy,” she smiles, “and I have lots of plans.”
Curtis, who became Dean of the College of Engineering that month, is quite impressed by what
she’s found at her new academic home. “The raw power of the college’s faculty, and their level of
creativity, are unbelievable. People are warm and collaborative, and they’re passionate about their
work. They’ve also been recognized to an impressive degree: We have more national academy
members, as a percentage of total faculty, than a number of the Top 10 schools.
“We need to be better about spreading the news that UC Davis is laden with great talent and
achievement!”
Curtis comes to UC Davis following an 11-year tenure at the University of Florida’s College of
Engineering, where she rose to Associate Dean for Research and Facilities after serving as Chair of
the Department of Chemical Engineering. Her numerous executive responsibilities in the Sunshine
State included a role as Director of the Florida Energy Systems Consortium, an energy research
collaboration involving all 12 of Florida’s state universities.
Curtis completed her undergraduate work in chemical engineering at Purdue University, and
earned her PhD in the same field at Princeton. An initial academic position at Carnegie Mellon
University was followed by a return to Purdue, where — as Associate Dean of the College of
Engineering — she helped launch a new Department of Engineering Education: the first in the U.S.
As a researcher, she is recognized for her pioneering work in the development of numerical models
for the prediction of particle flow phenomena. The importance of her research has been validated,
over time, via multi-year funding from major corporations such as Alcoa, Chevron, Dow, DuPont
and Pfizer.
At UC Davis, she’s ready to embrace structure, organization and strategic planning. “I want to get
all the pieces aligned, so we’re all moving in the same direction: toward large initiatives that will
bring us even more national visibility.”
Curtis has devoted her career to enhancing the reputation and diversity of the next-gen
engineering pool, and she’s eager to channel that energy toward UC Davis.
Continued on page 10
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Dean Curtis
Continued from page 8
“Consider industry internships,” she suggests. “There’s a sense that
we don’t have enough students participating, possibly because they’re
not aware of the wide range of internships and jobs that are available.
We need to get that message across from the moment students arrive
on campus, so I’d love to see a seminar course that brings in working
professionals every week, to share their views on getting connected,
and the mechanics of seeking out internships.
“On a similar note, industry frequently tells academia that students
who embrace study abroad programs, who are willing to climb out of
their comfort zones, are destined to be future leaders. And yet, right
now, too few of our engineering students participate in study abroad
programs. We need to develop methods that will further encourage
student participation.
“We know that our students are outstanding technically, but I want
to make sure that they gain leadership skills, and see themselves as
global citizens.
“I’d also like to develop a certificate program in leadership and
expand the existing technology management minor program so
students can obtain this type of knowledge to supplement their
VIDEO: Meet Dean Jennifer Sinclair Curtis:
http://engineering.ucdavis.edu/engineering-news/magazine/
engineering degrees. I look forward to partnering with the Graduate
School of Management to help develop and improve these skills in
our students and faculty.”
Curtis points with enthusiasm to the College of Engineering’s
recent entrepreneurial initiatives, such as the Engineering Student
Startup Center (ESSC), the Dorf Design and Communications
Classroom, and expansion plans for the college’s Engineering
Fabrication Lab.
“Our entrepreneurial training is terrific, and the participating
students love it just as much as our corporate advisory board
members,” Curtis acknowledges. “However, the number of students
served remains a small fraction of our undergraduate base. All these
things are successful, but we need to scale them up, and to engage all
of our freshmen.”
She understands that these goals would require a greater time
commitment by faculty, since such interactive courses will be more
like hands-on lab research.
“The size of the College is important, and we’re hiring 15 new
faculty this academic year alone. Five years from now, I’d like to see
a 15- to 20-percent growth, to bring our faculty to between 230 and
240. That’ll also achieve our goal of improving the faculty/
undergraduate ratio, to decrease the number of students per
professor, so we become commensurate with our peers.
“That also means adding to the infrastructure and facilities for
education and research, so I plan to be very involved with our
development efforts.”
Curtis also recognizes the crucial importance of high-profile
research work.
“We’ve had several big wins during the past few months,” says
Curtis, citing the $15.5 million National Institutes of Health
Transformative Research Award to build the world’s first total-body
PET scanner; the collaborative $18.5 million National Science
Foundation Engineering Research Center grant, which will partner
UC Davis in a new Center for Bio-inspired and Bio-mediated
Geotechnics; and a $5 million National Science Foundation award to
the UC Davis Center for Geotechnical Modeling as part of the
National Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure (NHERI)
program.
Bringing the world to the UC Davis College of Engineering clearly
is a top priority for Curtis.
“I want to hire proposal consultants, who will work alongside
faculty from the very beginning of a research pitch: to help with teambuilding and visioning, through the entire process. I had great
success with this at the University of Florida, and there’s no question
that we’ll get many more submissions if our UC Davis faculty know
that the college will support them during such large-scale proposal
initiatives.
“When we win, it’s huge research dollars, and it’s also an
outstanding educational opportunity for our students.
“And, best of all, research awards validate our talented faculty,
bringing great credibility and prestige, which gains huge visibility for
our College of Engineering.”
UC DAVIS COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
APPAREL AND MORE!
All UC Davis Stores
profits go back to student
programs and services.
Shop UC Davis Stores for all
your College of Engineering
gear, from T-shirts and sweaters
to caps and messenger bags.
Visit our co-branded online store with Promoversity, where
you can get specialized gear at competitive prices.
costore.com/UCDavisRetail
E N G I N E E R I N G P R O G R E S S / S u m m e r 2 0 1 5 11
JASON DeJONG
A SAFE AND STURDY
INFRASTRUCTURE
GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEER JASON DEJONG EXPLORES “BIO-SOIL”
AS A MEANS OF STABILIZING FUTURE DAMS, BRIDGES AND BUILDINGS
By Derrick Bang
JASON DEJONG, a professor in the UC Davis Department of Civil
and Environmental Engineering, operates in a field — geotechnical
engineering — that is (in)famous for its elusiveness.
“Geotechnical engineers don’t make cars or computers,” he laughs.
“We don’t even work with known materials such as steel. I go to a site
where a dam must be built, and I examine the material beneath. Do I
need to improve it? Replace it? Or can I live with it, and build on top
of it? Then what will it do?
“I like the uncertainly and ambiguity of soils and geotechnical
engineering. I like the fact that after we do all the calculations, and
believe we understand everything, uncertainties still exist. So we have
to step back and consider the likelihood of possible outcomes, and
balance that against a responsibility to build civil structures that will
be safe for society.”
DeJong earned his bachelor of science in civil engineering, with high
honors, from UC Davis. He earned both his master’s degree and
doctorate at the Georgia Institute of Technology. After research
assignments in the oil and gas industries in Western Australia and
Norway, he joined UC Davis in 2005.
Since then, DeJong has become a mover and shaker in two distinct
areas of his field: dam analysis, to determine structural integrity; and
the development of an innovative, biologically enhanced method of
improving a construction site’s pre-existing ground conditions.
Between the two, he has secured five National Science Foundation
grants.
Most recently, he embraced a leadership role in the creation of a
new U.S. geotechnical engineering center. UC Davis, Arizona State
University, New Mexico State University and the Georgia Institute of
Technology have joined forces to create the Center for Bio-inspired
and Bio-mediated Geotechnics (CBBG), to expand the rapidly
emerging field of biogeotechnical engineering. The National Science
Foundation (NSF) will support this new center with a five-year, $18.5
million grant: the nation’s largest single investment in geotechnical
research. DeJong will head the UC Davis team.
Back in 2006, his lab published the first peer-reviewed journal
article that demonstrated how bio-mediated processes could improve
the solidification of loose sands: one of the key geotechnologies
within this new ERC. “In many respects,” he notes, “the technical
content of the Center proposal built heavily on the work performed
by our UC Davis research group.”
The basis for the CBBG also derived heavily from “white papers”
that emerged from international workshops co-led in 2007 and 2011
by DeJong and Kenichi Soga, a professor of civil engineering at the
UK’s University of Cambridge.
DeJong also remains heavily involved in a massive endeavor to
analyze dams throughout the state of California, a project that gained
even more urgency following the Richter-6.0 earthquake that struck
South Napa in August 2014.
As it happens, many of California’s large dams were built on old
river channels composed of gravel and sand, which can liquefy
the bacteria, the ‘bugs,’ in the ground naturally, or by injecting
because of earthquake loading; state officials are increasingly
bacteria and nutrients. If I could do that, I could help prevent
concerned that many of these dams may not be safe. DeJong and his
buildings from settling, from the weight of a structure; I also could
team spent much of 2015 observing two dams, in a research project
prevent liquefaction.
funded by the California Department of Water Resources and the Los
“So we researched and found the biogeochemical process of calcite
Angeles Department of Water and Power.
precipitation by microbes. I worked with a microbiology colleague at
The two sites are the Stone Canyon Dam, directly above Bel Air,
UMass Amherst, and learned how to grow bacteria, get it to multiply,
which supplies Los Angeles’ Westside water subsystem; and the
and then harvest it. Then I figured out how to
Bouquet Canyon Dam, northeast of Santa
put it in a lab testing device, with soil and loose
Clarita, which is the primary fresh water source
sand, and learned how to inject the stuff. After
west of the San Andreas fault, for the northern
“I GO TO A SITE WHERE A
getting it to cement up, the result was freepart of Los Angeles.
DAM MUST BE BUILT, AND
standing, like a brick. It worked!”
“The question, simply, is will the dams hold,
Scaling up that lab success to full field
or must we do something? And it’s a $50 million
I EXAMINE THE MATERIAL
deployment, however, would be impractical on
to $300 million question!”
many levels. DeJong therefore fine-tuned his
Unfortunately, existing equipment couldn’t
BENEATH. DO I NEED TO
approach: With the help of Doug Nelson, a UC
survive the punishing environment necessary
Davis professor of microbiology and molecular
for analysis.
IMPROVE IT? REPLACE IT?
genetics, the research shifted to the growth and
“There wasn’t any known method available
stimulation of native bacteria. The results have
to industry, to characterize those gravel-laced
OR CAN I LIVE WITH IT,
been equally promising.
soils beneath the dams, because they destroyed
“We can take sand — naturally, from the
equipment and sampling methods. The sensors
AND BUILD ON TOP OF IT?”
ground, or from a quarry — and feed it this
are at the bottom of a drill hole, being pounded
combination of nutrients, which stimulate the
by a pile-driving hammer, through a dam, and
– JASON DeJONG
type of existing bacteria that we want to grow.
then through gravel; we need to take strain and
Then we can pump through the calcium, which
acceleration measurements at 15,000 samples
precipitates and binds the sand particles.”
per second, while the computer and everything else are subjected to
The result can be called bio-mediated improved soil, or bio-soil, or
a thousand G’s of force every 0.6 seconds, with data streaming up to
bio-cement. “The tactical name would be microbial-induced calcite
us the entire time.
precipitation: MICP. So, we call it MICP-improved sand. Point being,
“We spent 18 months trying to build a piece of equipment that
I can give you sandstone in five days.”
could survive all those conditions, and that was after five earlier years
of models that failed. And we finally succeeded.”
The result, dubbed an Instrumented Becker Penetration Test, could
become an industry standard.
But analysis is only part of the equation. If a dam is deemed unsafe,
can it be made stable by means that are less expensive and cumbersome
than starting over, at some geologically superior location?
DeJong began exploring this aspect of his field back in 2003, as a
result of his interest in ground improvement: the need to
enhance pre-existing soil conditions that are insufficient to
provide the desired performance at a construction site.
“Either the soil will settle, or it’ll slip and fail,” he
explains. “We go in and improve the ground.
Historically, this has been driven by people in
industry and construction; they’ll inject
g rout, cement, silic ate s, epox y or
something else. Or they’ll vibrate the
heck out of it, to densify it. Either way,
it’s a high-energy, high-carbonfootprint, brute-force tactic.
“I wondered if there might be
a subtler, more optimized
alternative. That led to the
notion that perhaps we
could ‘grow’ a binding
calcite — the most stable
polymorph of calcium
carbonate — by finding
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51 61313
UC Davis Receives $15.5 Million for
Breakthrough PET Scanner
A RESEARCH TEAM AT UC DAVIS is set to build the world’s
first total-body positron emission tomography (PET) scanner: a
device that could fundamentally change the way cancers and other
diseases are diagnosed and treated.
Thanks to a five-year, $15.5 million Transformative Research
Award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the team will
be able to build a full-size prototype, which could put the university
on the nation’s leading edge of molecular imaging.
The EXPLORER project — led by Simon Cherry, a distinguished
professor of biomedical engineering; and Ramsey Badawi, a
professor of radiology — has been in the works for 10 years. The NIH
award arrives at a time when technology has caught up with the
vision, making it possible to efficiently process all the data generated
from the half a million detectors needed for a total-body scanner.
“This could be a total game-changer,” said Ralph de Vere White,
director of the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center. “If this
works, it will change medicine. It will change cancer detection, and
how we evaluate therapies.”
“The vision is to solve two fundamental limitations of PET, as
currently practiced,” said Cherry. “The first is to allow us to see the
entire body all at once. The second huge advantage is that we’re
collecting almost all of the available signal, which means we can
acquire the images much faster, or at a much lower radiation dose.
That’ll have some profound implications on how we use PET
scanning in medicine and medical science.”
Cherry and Badawi predict that by seeing the entire body
simultaneously, their scanner could drop the radiation dose by a
SIMON CHERRY
factor of 40, or decrease scanning time from 20 minutes to just 30
seconds. A quicker scan also could reduce the incidence of images
blurred by patient movement, resulting in images with more detail.
The technology would have implications in diagnostics, treatment
and also drug development. With whole-body PET, physicians could
diagnose a disease and then follow its trajectory in a way never before
possible, and which could affect how patients are treated. This approach
reflects the current trend in medicine: to develop systems-based
treatments and more individualized care.
Cherry and Badawi are joint principal investigators. The team also
includes Jinyi Qi, a professor of biomedical engineering, who leads the
computational aspects of the project; and Terry Jones, a volunteer
clinical faculty in diagnostic radiology, who has developed some of the
key potential biomedical applications for the scanner, and will be
directly involved in planning the early uses of the EXPLORER
technology for human imaging studies.
The project is a consortium led by UC Davis, which also involves
researchers at the University of Pennsylvania (led by Joel Karp) and
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (led by William Moses).
Down the road, the team hopes to see the technology commercialized,
ultimately making it available to hospitals and researchers worldwide.
“This is the project of my career, no question,” Cherry said. “It’s an
amazing privilege and responsibility to work on something of this scale,
which has the potential to have so much impact in biomedical research
and health.”
RAMSEY BADAWI
Helping Growers Optimize Irrigation
Technology developed at UC Davis is giving
growers tools to help irrigate more effectively
UC DAVIS biology and agricultural engineering
professor Shrini Upadhyaya and his team designed a
sensor that attaches to a single leaf to measure
temperature, light, wind, and humidity to help
optimize plant irrigation.
The key to effective irrigation is giving crops the
right amount of water in the right place at the right
time. Easier said than done, but new technology
developed at UC Davis is giving growers a convenient
way to find that sweet spot.
“Now growers don’t even have to go to the field to
decide when, where, and how much to irrigate,” said
Shrinivasa Upadhyaya, a UC Davis professor of
biological and agricultural engineering. “We developed
a suite of sensors that delivers real-time plant-stress
data to your computer or mobile device.”
The technology is now available from Cermetek
Microelectronics in a device called LeafMon, designed
for vineyards and almond and walnut orchards. As the
research expands, more crops may come online. Frank
Stempski, sales manager for the Milpitas-based
company, says LeafMon will help growers save water
Shrini Upadhyaya (R) and Gallo Winery research scientist Luis Sanchez (L) in a vineyard
and improve crop quality and yield.
where a research team is conducting tests with the sensor.
“The goal is to keep crops in near ideal conditions,
at all times,” Stempski said.
Traditionally, growers have irrigated on a schedule
tied to weather conditions. More recently, soil sensors have helped growers water only when their
soil is dry. But that can be misleading.
“Just because soil is dry near the surface, doesn’t mean plants are suffering,” Upadhyaya explained.
“And just because soil is moist, doesn’t mean plants are happy. Orchard and vineyard crops have
“NOW GROWERS DON’T
extensive root zones, so sensing moisture at a certain depth doesn’t guarantee the plant can access
that water.”
EVEN HAVE TO GO
UC Davis researchers helped develop pressure chambers to provide a more accurate read by
gauging how hard a plant is working to pull moisture from the soil. Upadhyaya and his team have
TO THE FIELD TO
taken it one step further by designing a suite of sensors that attaches to a single, shaded leaf and
measures leaf temperature, light, wind speed, relative humidity, and air temperature — all which
DECIDE WHEN, WHERE,
affect a plant’s water needs.
AND HOW MUCH TO
“And the sensors interface with a wireless network to feed you this information 24/7,” Upadhyaya
said. “It’s essentially effortless compared to pressure chambers, which you have to bring to the field
IRRIGATE.”
at midday to directly measure water stress.”
Since the system provides a continual read of plant-water stress, growers can customize irrigation
accordingly. Some crops, like grapes, benefit from a certain level of stress at various points during
– SHRINIVASA UPADHYAYA
the growing season.
Luis Sanchez, senior research scientist with E&J Gallo Winery, says the sensor could also work
well in tandem with other high-tech irrigation scheduling methods based on remote sensing.
“It could be a very useful tool for verifying our satellite-based irrigation schedules,” Sanchez said.
“The plant-stress sensor system could help us fine-tune our irrigation to improve crop quality
and yield.”
Photo by Diane Nelson
By Diane Nelson
ERKIN ŞEKER
Nanoporous gold sponge makes
PATHOGEN DETECTOR
By Jocelyn Anderson
SPONGE - LIKE NANOPOROUS GOLD could be key to new
devices to detect disease-causing agents in humans and plants,
according to UC Davis researchers.
In two recent papers in Analytical Chemistry, a group from the UC
Davis Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
demonstrated that they could detect nucleic acids using nanoporous
gold, a novel sensor coating material, in mixtures of other
biomolecules that would gum up most detectors. This
method enables sensitive detection of DNA in
complex biological samples, such as serum from
whole blood.
“Nanoporous gold can be imagined as a
porous metal sponge with pore sizes that are
a thousand times smaller than the diameter
of a human hair,” said Erkin Şeker, assistant
profe s sor of elect r ic al and computer
engineering at UC Davis and the senior author
on the papers. “What happens is the debris in
biological samples, such as proteins, is too large
to go through those pores, but the fiber-like
nucleic acids that we want to detect can actually fit
through them. It’s almost like a natural sieve.”
Rapid and sensitive detection of nucleic acids plays a
crucial role in early identification of pathogenic microbes and disease
biomarkers. Current sensor approaches usually require nucleic acid
purification that relies on multiple steps and specialized laboratory
equipment, which limit the sensors’ use in the field. The researchers’
method reduces the need for purification.
“So now we hope to have largely eliminated the need for extensive
sample clean-up, which makes the process conducive to use in the
field,” Şeker said.
The result is a faster and more efficient process that can be applied
in many settings.
The researchers hope the technology can be translated into the
development of miniature point-of-care diagnostic
platforms for agricultural and clinical applications.
“The applications of the sensor are quite broad
ranging from detection of plant pathogens to
disease biomarkers,” said Şeker.
For example, in agriculture, scientists
could detect whether a certain pathogen
exists on a plant without seeing any
symptoms. And in sepsis cases in humans,
do ct or s m ig ht det e r m i ne b act e r i a l
contamination much more quickly than at
pre sent, prevent ing any un nece s sar y
treatments.
Other authors of the studies were Pallavi
Daggumati, Zimple Matharu, and Ling Wang in the
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
at UC Davis.
This work is funded by the UC Davis Research Investments in the
Sciences and Engineering (RISE) program, which encourages
interdisciplinary work to solve problems facing the world today, as
well as the UC Lab Fees Research Program and the National Science
Foundation.
WINTER 2016
FACULTY & COLLEGE NEWS
UC DAVIS COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
JOINS EDUCATION INITIATIVE
RICARDO CASTRO EARNS
CALORIMETRY AWARD
The UC Davis College of Engineering has partnered with 121 other U.S.
engineering schools, in an effort to spearhead a transformative movement
in engineering education.
In a Letter of Commitment presented to President Obama on March
23, 2015, during the fifth annual White House Science Fair, the UC Davis
College of Engineering and its peer institutions promised to establish
and enhance special education programs designed to better prepare
undergraduates for solving the world’s so-called “Grand Challenges”: the
complex, yet achievable goals necessary to improve health, security,
sustainability and quality-of-life issues in the 21st century.
“We at UC Davis have recognized the need for a design-centric
educational program that engages engineering students in learning
leadership, social, entrepreneurship and global skills, and how these
skills are applied in solving grand challenges,” noted Enrique J. Lavernia,
former dean of the College of Engineering, in his own letter to President
Obama.
Each of the 122 signatory schools has pledged to graduate a minimum
of 20 students per year, who have been specially prepared to lead the way
in solving such large-scale problems, with the goal of training more than
20,000 formally recognized “grand challenge engineers” during the
upcoming decade.
“Our Grand Challenges for Engineering already have inspired more
and more of our brightest young people to pursue careers that will have
direct impacts on improving the quality of life for people across the
globe,” said NAE President C.D. Mote Jr. “Imagine the impact of tens of
thousands of additional creative minds, all focused on tackling society’s
most vexing challenges. ‘Changing the world’ is not hyperbole, in this
case. They’ll do it ... and they’ll inspire others, as well!”
The North American
Calorimetry Conference
(CALCON) has presented its
2015 James J. Christensen
Award to RICARDO CASTRO,
an associate professor in the
UC Davis Department of
Chemical Engineering and
Materials Science. The award
includes an honorarium of
$1,000.
Castro delivered a keynote
lecture at the 70th
Ricardo Castro
International CALCON, which
took place July 12-16, 2015, in
Baltimore, Maryland.
Since its inception in 1945, the North American
Calorimetry Conference has served as the premier collegial
forum for the dissemination of current research and stateof-the-art technological developments in calorimetry and
thermodynamics. The Christensen Award was established
in 1988, to honor Brigham Young University’s Prof. James J.
Christensen (1931-87). The award is presented to a scientist
who has made outstanding innovative contributions to the
development and use of calorimetric instrumentation: the
science of measuring the heat developed during a
mechanical, electrical or chemical reaction, and of
calculating the heat capacity of materials.
DEBBIE NIEMEIER RECEIVES GUGGENHEIM FELLOWSHIP
The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation has awarded one of its prestigious
Guggenheim Fellowships to DEBBIE NIEMEIER , a professor in the UC Davis Department
of Civil and Environmental Engineering. The Fellowships, sometimes regarded as “midcareer awards,” are presented to individuals who’ve demonstrated an exceptional
capacity for productive scholarship.
Roughly 200 Fellowships are awarded each year, from a field of between 3,500 and
4,000 applications. Recipients are encouraged to spend the cash portion of their award
as they see fit, since the goal is to provide Fellows with “blocks of time in which they can
work with as much creative freedom as possible.”
Niemeier’s research interests span transportation, vehicle emissions and air quality
monitoring; energy consumption and land use interactions; and public sector
infrastructure programming and budgeting. She was a member of the independent
review teams assigned to assess the cost increases in the construction of the new San
Francisco Bay Bridge, and to review the cost methods employed for the proposed third
locks of the Panama Canal. As part of a company formed with three former students, she
also works with legal advocacy groups around the world, on social justice issues
associated with access to transportation and related air quality.
Debbie Niemeier
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JAE WAN PARK AWARDED FUNDING FOR
‘CLEAN ENERGY’ PROJECT
THE CALIFORNIA ENERGY COMMISSION has funded a “clean energy” proposal made
BAHRAM RAVANI RECEIVES
MAJOR ASME AWARD
The American Society of Mechanical
Engineers (ASME) presented a
prestigious award to BAHRAM RAVANI ,
a professor in the UC Davis Department
of Mechanical and Aerospace
Engineering. The honor comes from the
ASME Design Engineering Division’s
Mechatronics and Embedded System
and Applications (MESA) Technical
Committee, which has acknowledged
Ravani for “a cumulative contribution to
the field of Mechatronic and Embedded
Systems and Applications.”
Ravani joined UC Davis in 1987, where
he rose to chair the Department of
Mechanical and Aeronautical
Engineering from 1996–2001. He also is
a member of the graduate programs in
Biomedical Engineering and Forensic
Science and Engineering, and briefly
served as interim chair of the
Department of Electrical and Computer
Engineering. Additionally, he is
co-director of UC Davis’ Advanced
Highway Maintenance & Construction
Technology Research Center.
His research interests include
kinematics and dynamics; advanced
stress analysis and design; computeraided design and computations;
collision mechanics and biomechanics;
the forensic evaluation of accidents and
trauma; and mechatronics and intelligent
transportation systems.
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by Jae Wan Park, an associate professor in the UC Davis Department of Mechanical and
Aerospace Engineering. The project, titled “Demonstration of Community-Scale, LowCost, Highly Efficient PV and Energy Management System,” received a grant of $1.24
million.
The project addresses the major challenges faced as our nation attempts to increase its
reliance on solar power: the intermittent nature of solar generation, and resulting grid
instability; the imbalance between energy demand and production; and the expense of
existing energy storage models. Park and his team plan to develop a smart electrical energy
storage (EES) and management system that could reduce a community’s daily average
energy demand, during peak times, by up to 87 percent.
The system will be tested at UC Davis’ Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food
Science, which already employs 120 kW of photovoltaic (PV) panels and an 800 kW diesel
generator, and plans to add an additional 100 kW of PV panels and 250 kWh of EES units
that will utilize second-life lithium ion batteries.
Park joined the UC Davis College of Engineering in September 2008. He is director of
the UC Davis Green Transportation Laboratory, the U.S.-South Korea Transportation
Study Program at the campus’ Institute of Transportation Studies, and the UC Davis
Formula Hybrid Racing Team. His research interests include green energy systems with
batteries and proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells.
Jae Wan Park (center), associate professor in the UC Davis Department of Mechanical and
Aerospace Engineering, with lab researchers (left-right) Kenny Fung (Ph. D student), Antonio
Tong (post doc), Matthew Klein (Ph. D student), and Nathaniel Cooper (Ph. D student). Photo by
Katherine Lim/UC Davis College of Engineering
CHEEMENG TAN EARNS LIFE SCIENCES
FUNDING AWARD
The International Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP) has
presented one of its 2015 Young Investigator Grants to CHEEMENG
TAN , an assistant professor in the UC Davis Department of
Biomedical Engineering. The project, a collaboration between Tan
and Michael Nash — a professor in the Department of Biophysics and
Molecular Materials at Ludwig-Maximilians University, in Munich,
Germany — is titled “Unraveling Dynamical Coupling Between Gene
Expression and Cellulosome Assembly.”
Tan and Nash will share $250,000 per year for the three-year
project, which integrates synthetic biology, microfluidics and singlemolecule imaging for the study of cellulosome assembly.
Cellulosomes are protein networks used by anaerobic bacteria to
digest cellulosic biomass. The protein networks consist of subunits
that are held together by receptor-ligand pairs, some of which have
similar affinities to the same binding sites. It currently remains
unclear how cells modulate the assembly of cellulosomes, because
studies are hampered by a lack of tools to manipulate genetic
compounds of native cellulosome-producing bacteria. In order to
resolve these issues, studies of cellulosome assembly require
nanoscale measurement methods.
Tan joined the UC Davis College of Engineering in August 2013.
His research interests include the engineering of artificial cellular
systems, novel strategies of antibiotic treatment, and the underlying
mechanisms of cellular heterogeneity. His Artificial Cellular Systems
Group focuses on the engineering of synthetic biological systems for
therapeutic treatment.
CHEEMENG TAN
AAES AWARD PRESENTED
TO DIRAN APELIAN
DIRAN APELIAN, a visiting professor in the Department of Chemical
Engineering and Materials Science, has received the American Association
of Engineering Societies’ (AAES) Joan Hodges Queneau Palladium Medal.
Apelian was honored at the annual AAES awards banquet, held April 20,
2015, in Washington, D.C.
The award recognizes Apelian for “articulating an inspiring vision of
sustainable stewardship of our earth’s resources, and then rallying varied
disciplines and constituencies within the science and engineering
community, to collaborate meaningfully toward outcomes that satisfy the
interests of industries and conservationists alike.”
Apelian is the Alcoa-Howmet Professor of Engineering at Worcester
Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in Worcester, Massachusetts; he also directs
the WPI Metal Processing Institute. He is known for his pioneering work
in solidification processing, including molten-metal processing, filtration
of metals and aluminum foundry engineering, which contributed to an
improved process for the manufacturing of aluminum foil.
Diran Apelian
WINTER 2016
BIOSYSTEMS ENGINEERS
CELEBRATED AT DESIGN EXPO
JOSH CLAYPOOL and
SARA PACE , UC Davis
PhD students in
biological systems
engineering, and
Morgan Rease, an
undergraduate student
in the UC Davis
Department of Food
Science and
Josh Claypool
Technology, attended
the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency’s
11th annual National
Sustainable Design
Expo, held April 11-12,
2015, at Oronoco Bay
Park in Alexandria, Va.
Their project,
“Biorenewable
Methane Production,”
Sara Pace
garnered an
Honorable Mention
amid stiff competition from the event’s other 41
participating student research teams.
The Expo is part of the EPA’s People,
Prosperity and the Planet (P3) Student Design
Competition for Sustainability. Claypool and
Pace earned their spot at the Expo after their
project secured a Phase I funding grant of
$14,473 from the EPA in October 2014.
Claypool and Pace developed their project
from a shared interest in anaerobic digestion,
with the goal of simplifying and improving the
production of biomethane, while minimizing
related water usage, installation costs and
energy costs. They continue to seek the ideal
“colony” of microorganisms to enhance the
efficiency of anaerobic digestion.
Claypool earned his undergraduate degree
in biological systems engineering in 2011, at
UC Davis; he expects to complete his
doctorate in 2017. Pace earned her
undergraduate degree in biological/
biosystems engineering in 2011, at Penn State
University, simultaneously completing a
master’s degree in architectural engineering.
She expects to complete her PhD in biological
systems engineering in 2017.
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YOUNG ROBOTICS CHAMPS
READY FOR COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
INTERNSHIP PROGRAMS
MEMBERS OF THE DAVIS-BASED ROBOTICS TEAM CITRUS CIRCUITS, still
celebrating their first-place victory on April 25, 2015, during the 2015 FIRST (For
Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics World
Championships, have ample reason to be proud.
The Citrus Circuits members — comprising students from Davis High School,
Da Vinci Charter Academy, and Harper and Emerson junior high schools — also
earned awards and accolades for their generous willingness to offer technical
assistance to rival teams during those earlier matches.
Such collaboration also includes mentoring and financial support from the UC
Davis College of Engineering: a level of assistance that has just expanded to further
encourage these young engineers. Two engineering professors — Boris Jeremic, in
the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering; and Stavros G.
Vougioukas, in the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering — have
developed internship projects for members of the robotics team.
“This is a perfect example of our college’s dedication to inspiring the next
generation of engineers,” notes Jeff Lefkoff, the College of Engineering’s Executive
Assistant Dean for Administration and Finance. “We’re an important part of the
culture that has helped produce a champion grade-school team. We not only excel
at our own undergraduate and graduate engineering education; we also serve
society by enhancing the K-12 pipeline.”
CITRIS LAUNCHES ‘PEOPLE
AND ROBOTS’ INITIATIVE
The new program will support efforts by
faculty and students working on robotics
at the four CITRIS campuses: UC Berkeley,
UC Davis, UC Merced and UC Santa
Barbara. By building on four decades’
worth of robotics research, a network of
alumni, and numerous active labs and
project s, t he “People and Robot s
Initiative” will focus on four research
themes: cloud robotics, deep learning,
human-centric automation and bio-inspired
robotics. These themes will draw on rapidly
advancing innovations in sensors, devices,
unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), networks,
optimization and machine learning, with the goal
Stavros G. Vougioukas with harvesting robot
of improving the human experience in healthcare,
manufacturing, transportation, safety and a
broad range of other applications.
The UC Davis branch of this initiative’s core faculty committee is
The UC Davis wing of this initiative’s faculty executive committee
headed by Jay Lund, a professor in the Department of Civil and
is headed by STAVROS G. VOUGIOUKAS, an assistant professor in the
Environmental Engineering; and Mark Modera, a professor in the
Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering. He works in
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.
the area of mechanization and automation of specialty crops, focusing
Finally, CITRIS’ “Health Initiative” has expanded in response to
on the design, development and testing of agricultural robots, sensors
three major trends: the impact of the aging U.S. and world population
and control systems.
on the existing healthcare infrastructure; the maturation of precision
In addition to launching this new “People and Robots” program,
and preventive medicine, with new possibilities for advanced data
CITRIS has recalibrated its other major research initiatives in response
analytics and applications; and the proliferation of versatile sensors,
to both the shifting technological landscape, and evolving societal
mobile and digital devices, which can bring health care directly into
trends and challenges. Two of these initiatives also involve the UC
the home. Core UC Davis faculty involved with this initiative include
Davis College of Engineering.
Rajeevan Amirtharajah, Soheil Ghiasi and S.J. Ben Yoo, in the
The new “Sustainable Infrastructures Initiative,” expanded from
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering; David Horsley,
previous efforts in energy and intelligent infrastructure, will pursue
in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering; Michael
IT research in energy, water and transportation, as crucial elements of
Neff, in the Department of Computer Science; and Tingrui Pan and
the cyber-infrastructure for a sustainable society.
Scott Simon, in the Department of Biomedical Engineering.
ROBERT L. POWELL APPOINTED TO AWIS BOARD OF GOVERNORS
the national organization, its chapters and affiliates. The board
members, each providing unique experience and expertise,
reflect the broad range of scientific disciplines and work sectors
represented by AWIS.
Powell joined UC Davis in 1984, eventually serving as chair of
the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
from 2002-11. He also was Special Assistant to the Provost from
1996 to ‘99, and served as Chair of the Planning Committee and
Executive Committee of the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine
and Food Science.
ROBERT L. POWELL , a professor with
dual appointments in the UC Davis
Departments of Chemical Engineering
and Materials Science, and Food Science
and Technology, has been named a
councilor on the national governing
board of the Association for Women in
Science (AWIS).
The board sets the strategic direction
and provides insight and leadership to
Robert L. Powell
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COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING STARTUP
EARNS DOE PHASE II FUNDING
IEEE HONORS SIMON CHERRY
FOR MOLECULAR IMAGING
RESEARCH
SIMON CHERRY, a professor in the
UC Davis Department of Biomedical
Engineering, received the 2016 Institute of
Electrical and Electronics Engineers’ (IEEE)
Marie Sklodowska-Curie Award, for
outstanding contributions to the field of
nuclear and plasma sciences and
engineering. He was recognized for his
“contributions to the development and
application of in vivo molecular imaging
systems.”
The Marie Sklodowska-Curie Award,
established in 2008, is administered by the
IEEE Awards Board’s Technical Field
Awards Council. Recipients are chosen on
the basis of the following criteria: the
importance of individual scientific
contribution; the importance of scientific
contributions made by teams led by the
candidate; the seminal nature of the
contribution; innovation/originality, societal
benefit and impact on the profession; and
the quality of the nomination.
Cherry directs the UC Davis Center for
Molecular and Genomic Imaging, where his
research focuses on positron emission
tomography; multi-modality imaging
systems; gamma and x-ray detector
technology; 3-D image reconstruction; the
use of imaging techniques in phenotyping
and drug development; and the design of
novel contrast agents and imaging probes,
and their application in molecular
diagnostics and therapeutics.
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The Advanced Scientific Computing Research branch of
the U.S. Department of Energy’s Small Business Innovation
Research (SBIR) program has granted Phase II funding to
Ennetix, a software start-up founded by UC Davis computer
science professor B ISWANATH MUKHE RJE E and
colleague PULAK CHOWDHURY. The $1 million, twoyear award will fund product development of the Ennetix
proposal titled “Cloud-Based Network Performance
Modeling for Contingency and Long-Term Planning.”
This Phase II award follows last year’s SBIR Phase I grant
of $150,000, which funded the successful completion of
Biswanath Mukherjee
Mukherjee and Chowdhury’s proof-of-concept work on
their product: XNet, a scalable, secure and multi-tenanted
“Software-as-a-Service” platform tool designed for storing, analyzing and serving large
datasets in a responsive and cost-effective manner. The next step, with this Phase II
grant, will help Ennetix commercialize XNet and establish a business model to offer
cloud-based network management services.
Mukherjee joined the College of Engineering in 1987, quickly establishing a strong
reputation for his work with optical networks and security protocols, and soon became
a popular speaker at optical networking conferences throughout the world. He chaired
the Department of Computer Science from 1997 through 2000, and in ’05 was appointed
to the College of Engineering’s Child Family Professorship.
Chowdhury earned his PhD in computer science at UC Davis in 2011, where his
research focused on green networking technologies and the development of a prototype
hybrid wireless-optical broadband access network (WOBAN).
R. PAUL SINGH WINS PRESTIGIOUS AGRICULTURE PRIZE
R. PAUL SINGH , a distinguished professor with dual
appointments in the UC Davis Department of Biological
and Agricultural Engineering, and the Department of Food
Science and Technology, was named the 2015 Global
Confederation for Higher Education Associations for
Agriculture & Life Sciences (GCHERA) World Agriculture
Prize Laureate.
The award was announced at the annual GCHERA
Conference, which took place June 24-26, 2015, at the Holy
Spirit University of Kaslik, Jounieh, Lebanon. Formal
presentation of the award took place September 20, during
a ceremony at Nanjing Agricultural University, Jiangsu R. Paul Singh
Province, China.
Singh earned a bachelor’s degree in agricultural engineering at India’s Punjab
Agricultural University, then a master’s degree and PhD — in the same field — at the
University of Wisconsin-Madison and Michigan State University, respectively. He joined
the UC Davis faculty one year later, in 1975.
He quickly became recognized for a body of research in areas such as energy
conservation, freezing preservation, post-harvest technology and mass transfer in food
processing. He has helped establish and evaluate food engineering programs at
institutions throughout the world, including Brazil, India, Peru, Portugal and Thailand.
ENGINEERING UNDERGRAD HAILED AS
A FUTURE MANUFACTURING LEADER
FARHAD GHADAMLI , who recently obtained his
undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering at
UC Davis, has been named one of this year’s “30 Under 30”
future leaders by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers
(SME). Ghadamli and the other honorees are pictured on the
cover of the July 2015 issue of Manufacturing Engineering,
which highlights the young men and women who have
demonstrated leadership and excellence in manufacturing.
Ghadamli’s undergraduate work focused on additive
manufacturing technology, with research projects related to
the advancement and sustainability of 3D printing
technology. He worked as an undergraduate research
assistant at the UC Davis Manufacturing and Sustainable
Technologies Research Lab (MASTeR), directed by Barbara S.
Linke, an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical
and Aerospace Engineering.
In 2014, Ghadamli helped jump-start Solarri, the UC Davis
Solar Car Team, and was actively involved in its goal to build
— from scratch — the campus’ first solar-powered vehicle. He
also was a member of the campus’ Additive Manufacturing
Technical Team, which came together in October 2014 in
order to design and manufacture a 3D sugar printer.
PHD COMPUTER SCIENTIST PRESENTS PAPER AT PRESTIGIOUS CONFERENCE
LEYUAN WANG, a PhD student in the UC Davis Department of Computer
Science, presented one of only two “Distinguished Papers” of the 51 accepted at
Euro-Par 2015, which took place Aug. 24-28, 2015, at Austria’s Vienna University
of Technology. Her paper, Fast Parallel Suffix Array on the GPU, is co-authored
with her advisor, John Owens, a professor in the UC Davis Department of
Computer and Electrical Engineering; and Sean Baxter, a research scientist at
New York’s DE Shaw Research.
The paper details Wang’s efforts to implement a linear time-suffix array
construction algorithm — skew — on graphics processor units (GPUs), resulting
in algorithmic improvements to existing state-of-the-art efforts, with a speed-up
of 35 percent. This work has been added as a new “primitive” in CUDPP 2.2,
and has been used in the BWT-based lossless data compression tool.
Wang completed her master’s degree in electrical and computer engineering
at UC Davis in October 2014, after having earned her undergraduate degree in
electronics science and technology at China’s Zhejiang University. Her research
spans general-purpose computing on graphics units — GPGPU, also known as
GPU computing — along with computer graphics, parallel algorithms
programming, and data compression. Most recently, she has been implementing
classic algorithms on GPU and large-scale GPU computing.
Leyuan Wang
WINTER 2016
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING PROPOSALS WIN
The UC System’s Center for Information
Technology Research in the Interest of
Society (CITRIS) has announced the
recipients of its 2015 Seed Fund Awards,
presented each year to spur
multidisciplinary collaborations among
its four campuses: UC Berkeley, UC Davis,
UC Merced and UC Santa Cruz.
Twenty-four proposals were submitted
after the 2015 parameters — a focus on
Mark Modera
data analytics to optimize health care,
energy and agriculture applications —
were announced earlier this year. Eleven proposals were selected for
research grants averaging $55,000. UC Davis and the UC Davis
Medical Center are taking the collaborative lead on seven of those
proposals, three of which involve College of Engineering faculty.
The first, “Development and Prototyping of a Hardware-Agnostic,
Self-Configurable, Integrated, Optimal Building Automation System
for Small and Medium Commercial Buildings,” will be supervised
by co-PIs Mark Modera, a professor in the UC Davis Department of
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering; and David A. Auslander, a
professor in the UC Berkeley Department of Mechanical Engineering.
The second, “Rapid, Portable and Structural Integrity Assessment
CITRIS FUNDING
Sy s t e m f o r P r e - a n d Po s t- D i s a s t e r
Infrastructure Monitoring,” will be supervised
by co-PIs Kenneth Loh, an associate professor
in the UC Davis Department of Civil and
Environmental Engineering; and Steve
Glaser, a professor in the UC Berkeley
Department of Civil and Environmental
Engineering.
Finally, “On-Chip Light Sources for
Multiplexed Molecular Biosensing” will be
Kenneth Loh
supervised by co-PIs Holger Schmidt, a
professor in the UC Santa Cruz Department
of Electrical Engineering; and Subhash Risbud, the Blacutt-Underwood
Distinguished Professor in the UC Davis Department of Chemical
Engineering and Materials Science.
CITRIS was established in 2001, when UC system researchers
realized that key opportunities lay not merely in developing new and
innovative technologies, but in applying them. The Center addresses
the most pressing social and environmental issues facing California,
with a research focus on four core initiatives: energy, health care,
intelligent infrastructure, and data and democracy. The seed grant
program began in 2007, as a means of further encouraging mutual
research projects among the four CITRIS campuses.
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING STUDENTS TAKE TOP PRIZE
A TEAM OF STUDENTS from the UC Davis Department of
Chemical Engineering and Materials Science won first place in
the Chem-E-Car competition, one of several contests held at
the American Institute of Chemical Engineers’ (AlChE) 2015
Western Student Regional Conference, held April 24-25, 2015,
at Cal Poly Pomona. This first-place victory qualified the Aggie
engineering team to move forward and compete at the
upcoming AlChE Annual Meeting, which will take place
Nov. 8-13 in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Chem-E-Car is an AlChE competition that challenges
university students to design and construct a shoebox-sized
car powered solely by a chemical energy source; the vehicle
must safely carry a specified load over a given distance, and
then stop as close to the assigned range as possible. The
UC Davis team was led by Chris O’Connor, Nick DiPressi, Amy
Ly and Jordan Provost. More than 40 student engineers
participated in the design and construction of their team
vehicle, dubbed “Leadfoot.” When the dust had settled,
Leadfoot’s run of 19.54 meters came closer to the goal — by
roughly 2 meters — than any other competitor.
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The Aggie engineers were even more delighted by their
subsequent “victory run,” when Leadfoot stopped after 23.66
meters: a mere 66 centimeters from the goal line.
Chem-E-Car, Chem-E-Jeopardy, a Student Paper Competition and
numerous other activities, begin each year with multiple regional
heats, all climaxing at the AlChE Annual Meeting. Aside from their
mission to engage young engineers, these events are designed to
increase awareness of the chemical engineering discipline among
the public, educators, industry leaders and other students.
RAISSA D’SOUZA
EARNS COVER STORY IN
PRESTIGIOUS JOURNAL
RESEARCH CONDUCTE D BY R A I S S A M .
D’SOUZA, a professor
ECE STUDENTS WIN MODEL
CAR COMPETITION
A TRIO OF UNDERGRADUATES in the UC Davis Department of Electrical and
Computer Engineering (ECE) — Andrew Chung, Sam Dawson and Justin
Laguardia — became the North American champions at the National Freescale
Cup Autonomous Model Car Competition.
The annual event, sponsored by Freescale Semiconductor, challenges students
to design and build an autonomous model car that relies on optical sensors, a small
computer and student-developed software, in order to navigate a complex racetrack.
The UC Davis engineers — calling themselves “Team Dinky” — qualified for this
national cup after defeating 17 other teams during the Western Regional
competition, which took place April 18, 2015, as part of UC Davis’ Picnic Day
activities.
Team Dinky then became one of the three U.S. teams to compete at the North
America Freescale Cup Championship, which took place May 2 at New York’s
Rochester Institute of Technology. The Aggie engineers’ vehicle sped aggressively
through the racetrack and secured a decisive victory.
Team Dinky developed their car as part of ECE’s Autonomous Vehicle Senior
Design project course, under the direction of instructor and development engineer
Lance Halsted.
The Freescale Cup, formerly known as the Smart Car Race, began in 2003 when
Korea’s Hanyang University hosted 80 teams of students. Since that modest origin,
the annual event has expanded throughout North America, Europe, China, India,
Malaysia and Latin America, impacting more than 15,000 students at more than
500 schools. The global competition requires student teams to build, program and
race a model car around a track for speed, with victory going to the fastest car that
completes the course without derailing.
with dual appointments
in the UC Davis Departments of Computer Science, and Mechanical
and Aerospace Engineering, has been honored with a cover story
Raissa M. D’Souza
in the July 2015 issue of
Nature Physics. The
report, “Anomalous Critical and Supercritical
Phenomena in Explosive Percolation,” is coauthored by Jan Nagler, a professor in the
Department of Nonlinear Dynamics & Network
Dynamics Group, at Germany’s Max Planck
Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization.
The study focuses on a mathematical
concept known as the “percolation transition,”
which refers to large-scale connectivity on an
underlying network or lattice. Because of the
impact on such a system’s macroscopic
behavior, it is desirable to control the location
of the percolation transition, in order to either
enhance or delay its onset, and, more generally,
to better understand the consequences of
such control interventions. D’Souza and Nagler
have focused on “explosive percolation” — the
sudden emergence of large-scale connectivity
that results from repeated small interventions
designed to delay the percolation transition
— which could become an emerging paradigm
for modeling real-world systems ranging from
social networks to nanotubes.
D’Souza joined UC Davis as an assistant
professor in 2005, rising to full professor in July
2014. She is a member of the UC Davis
Complexity Sciences Center, and since 2007
also has served as an external professor at the
Santa Fe Institute. Her research focuses on
mathematical models of self-organization,
phase transitions and the structure and
function of networked systems.
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MAE GRAD STUDENTS SHARE RESEARCH AWARD
JOSEPH BARTHEL AND BO FU, both graduate students
in the UC Davis Department of Mechanical and Aerospace
Engineering, are sharing this year’s N&M Sarigul-Klijn
Space Engineering/Flight Research Award. The two
aerospace researchers will split the $1,500 award.
Barthel was honored for his proposal, “Optimization
of Passive Radiation Shielding Onboard a Space Habitat
Equipped with an Active Magnetic Solenoid.” His
research focuses on protecting astronauts from harmful
radiation, via “passive shielding” generated by magnetic
fields: an approach that would greatly reduce the overall Bo Fu
spacecraft mass required to keep its human inhabitants
safe.
Fu was acknowledged for his proposal, “Mechanics of Bounded
Inextensible Membranes Subjected to External Forces,” which derives
from his research into solar sails. Building on his development
of an attitude control technique for large solar sails, Fu now
seeks in-depth understanding of how the shape of sail
membrane structures can be manipulated in order to optimize
control of such crafts, thereby optimizing their potential to
serve as a cost-effective method of space cargo transportation.
The N&M Sarigul-Klijn Space Engineering/Flight Research
Award was established in 2003 by Nesrin Sarigul-Klijn, a
professor in the UC Davis Department of Mechanical and
Aerospace Engineering. That initial award commemorated the
100th anniversary of powered flight, and was designed to
encourage graduate students to conduct research in flightrelated areas. The award is presented biannually, in odd-numbered years,
by a subcommittee of the Space Engineering Research and Graduate
Program (SpaceED), which Sarigul-Klijn directs.
CEE GRAD STUDENTS TAKE FIRST PLACE IN ANNUAL
BIG IDEAS@BERKELEY COMPETITION
UC DAVIS CIVIL & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING (CEE)
GRADUATE STUDENTS Kyle Fuller and Ezequiel Santillan,
along with colleagues Solange Astorga and Lisa Marroquin,
shared two first-place victories in this year’s Big Ideas@
Berkeley competition. Their proposal, “Clean Water for
Crops: As Simple as Sand and Seeds,” took top honors in
the Global Health category, and was selected for the Grand
Prize Pitch Day, where it also won first place in the Global
Impact category. The combined awards include a $13,000
cash prize, which will be used to implement a pilot-scale
system in the region targeted by the proposal.
Fuller, Santillan and their team have focused on Sololá,
Guatemala, one of many communities surrounding Lake
Atitlán. Population growth during the past two decades has
led to increased sewage discharge into the lake, whose
waters have long been used to irrigate local crops.
Wastewater treatment plants mitigate some contamination
issues, but the plants lack a disinfection process, which
poses a health risk to those consuming these foodstuffs.
The winning Big Ideas proposal will employ slow-sand filtration, a tertiary treatment process already widely used to treat drinking
water. Pathogen reduction will be enhanced further by including a filtration step through the seeds of the Moringa oleifera, a tree
common to Guatemala and many other parts of Latin America. The seeds have anti-microbial properties that increase pathogen
reduction by a factor of 10,000.
Such low-cost, gravity-fed technology can be used to treat wastewater to a level satisfactory for crop irrigation in small, developing
communities, particularly those that lack a reliable supply of fresh water.
ALISSA KENDALL PUBLISHES RESULTS OF
ALMOND STUDY
ALISSA KENDALL, an associate professor in the Department of Civil and
Environmental Engineering, has co-authored two related articles just
published in the Journal of Industrial Ecology.
She’s lead author of the first article, “Life Cycle-based Assessment of
Energy Use and Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Almond Production, Part I:
Analytical Framework and Baseline Results.” Her collaborators are Elias
Marvinney, a graduate student in the UC Davis Department of Plant
Sciences; Sonja Brodt, in the UC Davis Agricultural Sustainability Institute;
and Weiyuan Zhu, a UC Davis graduate student in horticulture and
agronomy.
Marvinney is lead author of the second article, in collaboration with
Kendall and Brodt: “Life Cycle-based Assessment of Energy Use and
Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Almond Production, Part II: Uncertainty
Analysis through Sensitivity Analysis and Scenario Testing.”
California-grown almonds dominate the global market and provide more
than 80 percent of the world’s commercial almonds. Both journal articles
examine the environmental impact of this agricultural industry. Kendall and
her colleagues noted that certain practices substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions and energy use, including the strategic utilization of
co-products, and the choice of water source and irrigation technology.
Kendall joined UC Davis in 2007. Her research interests focus on lifecycle modeling as applied to transportation systems, energy systems,
industrial ecology, construction materials and buildings, with the goal of
developing sustainable systems.
BME PROFESSORS ELECTED TO FASEB LEADERSHIP ROLES
DAVID M. ROCKE AND SCOTT I. SIMON,
b ot h profe s s or s i n t he UC D av i s
Department of Biomedical Engineering,
have been elected to leadership positions
by the Federation of American Societies for
Experimental Biology (FASEB).
Rocke, also a distinguished professor in
the Division of Biostatistics in the UC
Davis School of Medicine’s Department of
Public Health Services, has been named
Treasurer-Elect. Simon has been named
David M. Rocke
Vice President-Elect for Science Policy.
Both appointments are effective as of July 1.
Rocke joined the UC Davis College of Engineering in 2000, in the
Department of Applied Science, where in 2007 he was named a
distinguished professor. In 2011, he transitioned to the Department
of Biomedical Engineering. By this time, he had accepted directorships
of the campus’ Center for Biomarker Discovery, and the Clinical and
Translational Science Center. He also is a member of both the UC
Davis Genome Center, and the UC Davis
Comprehensive Cancer Center. His research
interests include the statistical analysis of
gene ex pre ssion, proteomic s and
metabolomics data; radiation biology, and the
effects of low- and moderate-dose radiation
on human skin; and the applications of
statistics in medicine, epidemiology, biology,
environmental science and earth sciences.
Simon was recruited by UC Davis in 1999,
Scott I. Simon
as one of the founding members of the new
Department of Biomedical Engineering,
where he became a full professor in 2002. He
currently serves as department vice chair, and deputy editor of the
journal Annals of Biomedical Engineering. He has a longstanding interest
in the mechanisms that govern leukocyte adhesion and signaling
during inflammatory disease, and his research focuses on white blood
cell recruitment in cardiovascular and infectious diseases.
WINTER 2016
NIELS GRØNBECH-JENSEN
APPOINTED AS COSMOS
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
NIELS GRØNBECHJENSEN, a professor with
dual appointments in the
UC Davis Department of
Chemical Engineering
and Materials Science,
and the Department of
Mathematics, has been
named the Statewide
Faculty Executive
Niels Grønbech-Jensen
Director of the California
State Summer School for
Mathematics and Science (COSMOS).
Grønbech-Jensen has been filling this role in
an interim capacity since late 2014, when
COSMOS’ statewide administrative home was
moved from the UC Office of the President to
UC Davis. He also has been an active
instructional participant, having taught in the
UC Davis COSMOS program since 2004.
“The founders of COSMOS created a unique
interface between high school excellence in
STEM and university education,” GrønbechJensen said, “and I’m dedicated to continue
building on their vision. I’m excited to combine
my instruction of the outstanding COSMOS
students on my campus, with the efforts to
sustain and grow the statewide program by
coordinating administration and advocacy.”
State legislation in 1998 established COSMOS
in order to engage talented and motivated high
school students in an intensive program of
study, experimentation and activities, to further
their interests and skills in STEM fields (science,
technology, engineering and mathematics). The
University of California has administered the
program since it began. Sessions initially took
place at UC Irvine and UC Santa Cruz;
increasing demand prompted an expansion to
UC Davis in 2001, and UC San Diego in ’04.
Grønbech-Jensen’s research interests focus
on computational materials and soft condensed
matter, molecular dynamics, radiation damage,
nonlinear dynamics and complex systems,
numerical analysis and methods, macroscopic
quantum phenomena, and superconducting
device physics.
NSF GRANT AWARDED TO MAE PROFESSORS
The National Science Foundation’s Division of Undergraduate Education has awarded a two-year grant of
$249,965.00 to BARBARA LINKE and MOHAMED
HAFEZ , professors in the UC Davis Department of
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering; and Lee Martin, an assistant professor in the UC Davis School of
Education. Linke is the PI on their project, titled An
Integrated STEM Approach for Studying Aerospace Engineering Design and Manufacturing.
Linke, Hafez and Martin will develop a course to help
undergraduate mechanical and aerospace engineering Barbara Linke
students understand how airplanes fly, by taking the
students through the process of designing, modeling,
manufacturing and testing a prototype wing. This
combination of design, manufacturing and experimental
validation will show students how to integrate key
topics such as the physics of flight, manufacturing
processes and sustainability. Such an active, projectbased approach has been demonstrated by research to
foster the development of deep, conceptual learning
and, in turn, greater problem-solving flexibility in
engineering.
Mohamed Hafez
Linke joined UC Davis in 2012. Her research focuses
on manufacturing technologies; sustainable and
energy-efficient manufacturing processes; home-scale 3D printing; surface
engineering for aesthetic metal parts; food-processing equipment, automotive
and aerospace parts, biomedical components and more.
Hafez came to UC Davis in 1986, to teach theoretical aerodynamics,
aeronautical engineering and computational fluid dynamics. His many awards
include the 1998 UC Davis Prize for Undergraduate Teaching and Scholarly
Achievement, and he’s a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and
Astronautics. His research focuses on transonic aerodynamics and computational
fluid dynamics.
NESRIN SARIGUL-KLIJN NAMED AN ASME FELLOW
The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) has named NESRIN
SARIGUL-KLIJN a Fellow. She and the entire 2015 class of ASME Fellows were
honored at the society’s annual recognition reception.
A professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering,
Sarigul-Klijn was recognized for “significant research contributions in the fields
of mechanical, biomedical and aerospace engineering, especially in the areas of
fluid-structure interactions, acoustics and noise control, vibrations, space vehicle
trajectory optimization, flight testing of scaled aerospace vehicles, human spine
discography, vehicle health monitoring and the dynamic separation of airlaunched, rocket-powered space vehicles.”
Sarigul-Klijn completed her doctorate in 1984 at the University of Arizona, and
then spent five years as a professor of aeronautical and astronautical engineering
at Ohio State University. She was awarded two NASA Faculty Fellowships during
her tenure at Ohio State, and in 1989 she joined the UC Davis College of
Engineering.
UC DAVIS ENGINEERING UNDERGRAD
WINS LAKE TAHOE APP CONTEST
THE UC DAVIS TAHOE ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH
CENTER (TERC) has launched a new smartphone app,
“Citizen Science Tahoe,” that encourages visitors of all
ages to tap in what they see at Lake Tahoe; creating crowdsourced observational data that will be shared with the
scientists to better understand conditions around the lake.
The app, available for download at CitizenScienceTahoe.
org, was programmed by Shahzeb Khan, a UC Davis
sophomore studying computer science who won a
university-wide competition for the best app proposal.
“Working on the app and solving problems has been a
fun challenge,” said Khan. “Collaborating with TERC has
also been a great work experience.”
The Citizen Science Tahoe app, which launched in midAugust 2015, turns Tahoe shoreline visitors into research
partners, by encouraging them to share observational data
about what they see, while walking along the celebrated
lake’s beaches.
This perceptual data will help lake researchers better
understand Tahoe’s fragile nearshore: the lake region most
frequently experienced, but — surprisingly — least
investigated. Funding assistance for this project comes
from the North Lake Tahoe Resort Association, along with a
$150,000 grant from the Institute of Museum and
Library Services.
BME PROFESSOR SHARED INNOVATIVE TEACHING
METHODOLOGY AT ANNUAL NAE SYMPOSIUM
EDUARDO A. SILVA , an assistant professor in the UC Davis
Department of Biomedical Engineering, attended the National
Academy of Engineering’s annual Frontiers of Engineering Education
Symposium, which took place Oct. 25-28, 2015, at the National
Academies’ Beckman Center in Irvine, Calif.
All invited participants were asked to outline their innovative
teaching methods on posters displayed within an expo-style
environment, where attendees circulated and listened to informal
presentations from each speaker. Participants also met during smaller
thematic sessions and panels, in order to collaborate and discuss
different educational tools and strategies.
Silva shared the “peer review” methodology that he has employed
in his interdisciplinary UC Davis course, Physiology for Biomedical
Engineers. This approach shares the responsibility of both teaching
and learning with all students, which results in a highly engaged class
from an early stage. Students identify and learn from the strengths
and weaknesses of their peers, and are taught to provide concise,
constructive criticism while developing
writing and analytical skills. Finally,
the methodology itself teaches the
essential skill of deconstructing a
written idea/report into achievable and
measurable tasks, which transforms
the way students communicate with
their peers and the surrounding
society.
Eduardo A. Silva
Silva joined UC Davis in 2011. His
research focuses on translation stem
cell bioengineering, with the goal of developing new material
platforms that will enable the control of stem/progenitor cell
trafficking in the body. His lab explores chemical and biologically
inspired design principles that will produce new material platforms
to negotiate biological barriers such as the endothelial walls found in
vascular networks.
WINTER 2016
BIOENGINEERING ALUM CITED AS
‘YOUNG LEADER’
M. LEVENT KAVVAS HONORED
WITH INTERNATIONAL AWARD
CASSY GARDNER , who earned
her undergraduate degree in
biosystems engineering at UC
Davis in 2013, has been named
one of Control Engineering
magazine’s “Engineering
Leaders Under 40.” Gardner is
the youngest in this year’s
group of candidates, and one of
only two women.
Gardner has been cited for
the significant impact she has
had — and continues to have —
as a control systems engineer at
Cassy Gardner
the Banks Integration Group, a
Northern California-based
consulting firm that helps large biotech and pharmaceutical
companies automate their manufacturing processes.
She also was a shining star during her undergraduate
years. As a member of a UC Davis Biological Systems
Engineering Senior Design Team dubbed “The Powerpuff
Girls,” she and her colleagues — Kara Johnson and Marie
West — developed an amperometric glucose biosensor that
won the 2013 Sandia National Laboratories Design Award,
for its potential impact in the biofuels industry. Their sensor
enables efficient and rapid investigation into biofuels: a
more secure and environmentally conscious form of
transportation fuel which — as a viable alternative to
petroleum products — has the potential to enhance
national security.
M. LEVENT KAVVAS, a distinguished
professor in the UC Davis Department
of Civil and Environmental Engineering
(CEE), has received the 2015 International Award from the Japan Society of
Hydrology and Water Resources.
The award was presented Sept. 10,
2015, at the Society’s annual meeting,
which took place at Tokyo Metropolitan
University. Kavvas was honored for his
“significant contribution to progress in
the field of hydrolog y and water M. Levent Kavvas
resources, and for valuable participation
in the exchange of information on the international level within
the Society.”
Kavvas is the Gerald and Lillian Orlob Endowed Chair Professor
of Water Resources Engineering. He also directs CEE’s Hydrologic
Research Lab and the J. Amorocho Hydraulics Laboratory. His areas
of specialization include the mathematical modeling of integrated
hydrologic-atmospheric processes at global, continental, country
and watershed scales, for the simulation and prediction of hydrologic
water balances in phenomena such as floods and droughts. He also
investigates contaminant transport by inland surface waters,
unsaturated flow and groundwater flow, and the physical hydraulic
modeling of environmental fluid flows.
Kavvas is a member of the California Climate Change Advisory
Board, the Asia-Pacific Water Forum’s Steering Group on Water and
Climate Change, UNESCO’s Expert Group on Climate Change and
Water, and the editorial board of UNESCO’s International
Hydrology Series.
DAVID HORSLEY’S RESEARCH TEAM SECURES DARPA GRANT
The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)
has presented a $1.8 million grant to a project headed by DAVID
HORSLEY, a professor in the UC Davis Department of
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. The project, “Ultralow
Power Microsystems Via an Integrated Piezoelectric MEMSCMOS Platform,” includes the participation of co-PIs Xiaoguang
“Leo” Liu and Rajeevan Amirtharajah, both professors in the UC
Davis Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
(ECE).
The grant has been made under DARPA’s “Near Zero Power
RF and Sensor Operations (N-ZERO)” program.
Horsley’s group has teamed up with InvenSense, the
company that makes the motion sensors — gyro and
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accelerometer — in everybody’s smart phones. The UC Davis
team and InvenSense are working to develop revolutionary,
ultra-low-power sensors that will allow always-on sensing. The
program goal is to develop an acoustic sensor and an
acceleration sensor that run on near-zero power, producing a
wake-up signal when a particular signature is detected: say, a
car or truck driving by, or a generator being switched on.
Horsley earned his doctorate in mechanical engineering at
UC Berkeley in 1998. He then entered industry and worked for
Dicon Fiberoptics and Hewlett Packard Laboratories, where he
was involved in founding Onix Microsystems and Picosense
LLC. He joined UC Davis in 2003, and received a National
Science Foundation CAREER Award in 2009.
4th Annual
Innovators
Exhibit &
Reception
February 25, 2016 • 5 p.m.
Bruce and Marie West Lobby,
Kemper Hall, UC Davis
Join the UC Davis College of Engineering as we
celebrate the careers of several personalities
associated with the college. This fourth annual
Innovators Exhibit focuses on the ground-breaking
careers of John Cromie, Katherine Ferrara, Ken
Giles, Shu Lin, Ryan Smith and the collaborative
team of Bahram Ravani and Steven A. Velinsky.
Museum-quality exhibits featuring these innovators
will be on display in the Bruce and Marie West Lobby
for the subsequent 12 months.
More information:
http://engineering.ucdavis.edu/events/innovators-exhibit-and-reception/
Oliver Ramsey at [email protected] or 530-752-7412
UC Davis College of Engineering
One Shields Avenue
Davis, CA 95616
engineering.ucdavis.edu
facebook.com/UCDEngineering
twitter.com/UCDavisCoE
Aggie Engineers
Take Top Honors in NASA Aviation Competition
UC DAVIS STUDENT ENGINEERING TEAMS won three of the four possible trophies in the undergraduate
division of this year’s U.S. University Design Challenge: All-Electric General Aviation Vehicle competition sponsored
by NASA. Team Bladessa won first place; second place went to Team Areion; and Honorable Mention went to the
Aggie engineers of Team SCUBA Stingray.
The competition, open to university teams throughout the U.S., challenged participants to design an all-electric,
general aviation (GA) vehicle intended for service by the year 2020. First place winner Team Bladessa designed
a four-seat, twin-engine, low-wing GA aircraft capable of cruising at 135 knots over a range of 520 nautical miles.
Their design made use of lightweight composite structures and high energy density lithium ion batteries.
Ethan Kellogg, Team 151
1st Place – Team 151, UC Davis
The all-electric, General Aviation aircraft
designated Bladessa, designed by Team
151 at UC Davis.
First place team, from left: Ethan Kellogg,
Geoffrey Christensen, Junette Hsin,
Keshavan Kope, Ben Schellenberg and
Michael Starr

ENGINEERING progress - College of Engineering

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