The Department of Materials Science and Engineering is deeply saddened to announce the passing of Professor Emeritus Sangtae Kim. He is remembered as a wonderful colleague, an expert in defect chemistry and electrochemistry, an inspiring instructor and an amazing goalie in the department’s student/faculty soccer games.
Fourth-year materials science and engineering (MSE) major Miranda Bell’s experience at UC Davis was defined by a little of everything as she narrowed down her broad interests while learning how the world works.
Fourth-year materials science and engineering (MSE) major Nicole Shuman found materials science as a returning college student and is determined to use her knowledge to inspire others through outreach, teaching and mentorship.
Shuman started her career managing a multimillion-dollar big box retail company in the Los Angeles area. After 15 years, she moved to the Sacramento area for a job, but it fell through, and she found herself missing the connections she had and looking for a new opportunity.
PROFESSOR YAYOI TAKAMURA is chair of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at UC Davis. She joined UC Davis in 2006 and became vice chair of the department in 2017 before becoming chair in July 2020. She is the first woman to lead the department.
Materials science and engineering (MSE) professor Ricardo Castro may not be as much of a “mad scientist” as Tony Stark and Bruce Banner in Avengers: Age of Ultron, but he does dare to ask intriguing questions like, “why must Thor’s hammer (Mjölnir) be thought of as a fictional item, unachievable in the real world?”
Materials science and engineering alumna Emily Beeman ’17 draws on her UC Davis experience every day as she helps keep UC Berkeley’s Marvell Nanofabrication Lab running.
Materials science and engineering (MSE) Ph.D. student Yiqing Xia has been chosen as a presenter for the 2021 North American Materials Colloquium Series, a competitive virtual materials science seminar series involving over 35 MSE programs from around the country. He will present his recent research on the thermodynamic and kinetic behavior of nano-confined liquids on April 8-9, representing UC Davis, the MSE department and his research on confined liquids and glassy materials.
Third-year materials science and engineering Ph.D. student Luis Sotelo is always working to make things stronger. Whether it’s ceramic materials in the lab or the graduate student communities he’s part of in the UC Davis Chicanx and Latinx Engineers and Scientists Society (CALESS) and the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE), he aims to make a difference in his community.
Recent materials science and engineering (MSE) Ph.D. graduate Weidi Zhu had never worked with glasses before coming to UC Davis, but through research projects with Blacutt-Underwood Professor Sabyasachi Sen, he developed an interest in the material that turned into a career with Apple. As the world becomes “smart,” Zhu hopes to use what he learned at UC Davis to contribute to the science behind the glassy materials that will become increasingly important to the world.
For fourth-year materials science and engineering major Raegan Taylor, engineering is a means to understand and contribute to the world around her. Driven by a desire to help people, she has used her curiosity about the world and her research experience to build a strong foundation in engineering as she pursues a career in optical engineering.
“I see engineering as an avenue to learn about the world and round out my interests in a way that’s beneficial to other people,” she said.
Fourth-year materials science and engineering major Louie Zhong looks to the ultra-small and ultrafast to make a big impact on the world. Though he has always liked math, engineering and chemistry, Zhong explains his interest in materials science with the James Joyce quote, “In the particular is contained the universal.” Ever since a high school teacher introduced him to the quote, it’s become a way for him to think about his interest in materials, and in science in general.
Becoming an engineer was a natural choice for fourth-year materials science and engineering major Ian Phillips. He grew up working on cars with his dad, giving him a love of hands-on work and problem solving he’s taken with him throughout his time at UC Davis, from studying semiconductors and ceramics at UC Davis and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to teaching shop tools at the UC Davis D-Lab.
From her interest in textiles and sustainability to her advocacy for public health and social justice, fourth-year materials science and engineering major Annie Wang’s interests cross paths and drive her to make a difference at UC Davis and in the world.
From quantum computers to sustainable energy, the world needs to access new materials and material properties that will power the world’s next generation of technology. New assistant professor Seung Sae Hong pushes materials to their limits to find out what they’re truly capable of and unlock these new properties using the nanoscale and two dimensions.
Connections matter for Leyla Hashemi '10. As a master’s student at UC Davis, in her job at Keysight Technologies and as an adjunct lecturer, she strives to form connections between people, teams and institutions.
As the world pushes for renewable energy, materials are going to play a key role in making sure it’s both possible and sustainable. New materials science and engineering professor Marina Leite works towards this by studying materials that can both generate and store energy reliably to create the devices that will power the renewable energy revolution.
Outer space is an incredibly hazardous environment, as conditions range from extreme heat and cold, high levels of radiation and an abundance of plasma. To new materials science and engineering assistant professor Scott J. McCormack, this is a challenge in designing, discovering and developing new materials that can withstand these extreme conditions and keep people safe as they explore the solar system.
Third-year Ph.D. student Kimiko Nakajima has been named a 2019-20 Mistletoe Research Fellow by the Mistletoe Foundation. Over the 2019-20 academic year, she will receive $10,000 towards her research and collaborate with a hardware-based startup company on science and technology problems.
Justin Mulvey is a fourth-year undergraduate student in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. In his time at UC Davis, he has been heavily involved on campus, in the MSE department and as a researcher in professor Adam Moule's research group.
Since studying engineering in college, Assistant Professor Roopali Kukreja has been fascinated with how and why people choose different materials for different applications. Learning about various materials gave her a greater appreciation for the field of materials science and engineering and she has stuck with it since. Now a faculty member at UC Davis, she works to understand the dynamics in magnetic materials.
