Students

Jonathan Thomas is a passionate undergraduate student in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE). He works with carbon fiber composites in the ACERS laboratory on campus and is an active member of the Formula SAE car team at UC Davis. The department sat down with him to chat about his life and undergraduate career.

MSE: What activities (clubs, jobs, research, internship, etc.) have you been involved in during your time at UC Davis? 

Doctoral student Tucker Murrey earned his bachelor’s degree in Material Science and Engineering-Nanoscience and Molecular Engineering in fall 2014 from the University of Washington before joining UC Davis in 2015.

As a member of Professor Adam Moulé’s lab, Tucker works on two projects: characterizing the structural properties of semiconducting polymer thin films with elastic neuron scattering techniques and upscaling a novel photo-thermal patterning process for organic photovoltaic applications.

Jose Hernandez is a second-year master’s student in the Department of Materials Science and an Engineering Business Development Fellow for the Mike and Renee Child Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. He earned his bachelor of science in bio-engineering from the University of California, Merced. His research focuses on reducing the amount of greenhouse gas allowed to reach the upper atmosphere.

About 70 doctoral students from different departments — Integrative Genetics and Genomics, Food Science, Microbiology, Materials Science and Engineering — fill room 1022 in the UC Davis Life Sciences building for course MCB 294, “Current Progress in Biotechnology.”

Arseniy Bokov is an international doctoral student researching the design of nanocrystalline ceramic materials. Specifically, he is looking at how to improve their mechanical properties.

Christine Smudde is a Materials Science and Engineering graduate student at UC Davis. She conducts research in a material characterization lab with Professor Jeff Gibeling, where she analyzes fatigue, fracture and creep behavior in materials. She hopes to eventually collaborate with companies to find and supply materials to the growing materials industry.

Congratulations to Morris Yang for being honored by Undergraduate Education as Materials Science and Engineering’s Outstanding Senior!

Julie Soderlind – a graduate student in Material Science and Engineering with Professor Subhash Risbud’s research group – was selected among a highly competitive pool of applicants as the inaugural recipient of the UC-National Lab In-Residence Graduate Fellowship. Julie will have the unique opportunity to conduct research and receive training on additive manufacturing in Yong Han’s group at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Her Ph.D. project is on Magnesium Alloy Scaffolds for Biomedical Implant Applications.

Congratulations to materials science and engineering graduate student, Alex Kane, and chemical engineering graduate student, Jennifer Nill, who were both selected to receive the U.S. Department of Energy‘s Science Graduate Student Research Award. Alex and Jennifer are among 52 SCGSR recipients who will conduct part of their doctoral dissertation research in one the DOE’s 12 national laboratories.

During this year’s annual UC Davis open house (Picnic Day 2017), MSE students from the Materials Advantage Student Chapter, organized and created a spectacular show on how awesome Materials Science & Engineering is and to inspire a new generation.  The students presented a theatrical show where superheroes, such as Spiderman, Wonder Woman, and even the Green Lantern, required Materials Engineering to recover their superpowers.

Congratulations to Alex Kane for being awarded the Elizabeth P. Wood Fellowship from the Office of Graduate Studies at UC Davis for the 2016-2017 academic year! The fellowship acknowledges students who have demonstrated strong academic achievement during their studies at UC Davis and are residents of Placer County.

Ever wondered whether Iron Man could really power a flying suit of armor with an “arc reactor” the size of a soup can, or whether the Winter Soldier’s metal arm could really act just like his flesh-and-blood arm?  Consider these and other superhero questions with EMS 2: The Science of Superheroes this spring quarter, and join materials scientists finding out what it would take to make comic book fantasy into reality.  Also check out Prof.

The Chemical Engineering and Materials Science (CHMS) Department has received a new three-year Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need (GAANN) Award for the years 2015-2018.  This prestigious award enables support of CHMS graduate students with excellent records who demonstrate financial need and plan to pursue a Ph.D in Chemical Engineering or Materials Science and Engineering.

Please join the MSE department in congratulating Lauren Hughes! Lauren Hughes, a Ph.D. student in Materials Science and Engineering, has received a National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) Fellowship.  The fellowship provides three years of research funding in addition to professional development opportunities.

The Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science is pleased to announce that the 2013-2014 Chair’s Distinguished Graduate Student Fellowships were awarded to Derrick Kasemen and Trina Napasindayao. These awards are in recognition of their academic and scientific accomplishments during their graduate student careers at UC Davis. The Graduate Affairs Committee cited Mr.