Alumni

Robert Caligiuri ’73 Builds a Legacy of Support

Robert Caligiuri '73, who has been named a 2023 Distinguished Engineering Alumni Medal winner, would not be where he is today without the late Distinguished Professor of the University of California, Davis, Department of Materials Science and Engineering Amiya Mukherjee.

UC Davis Alumna Pays it Forward as Pioneer in Electron Microscopy

Miaofang Chi, Ph.D. '08 is a distinguished scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and electron microscopy pioneer. In many ways, her experiences, training and mentorship at UC Davis set her on this path and continue to help her as she develops new methods to apply materials science concepts to new fields ranging from energy to planetary science.

Jack Yao '96: From Robotics Gameshow Contestant to CEO

In 1995, Jack Yao ’96 was part of a team of UC Davis students that competed in Robocon — short for robot contest — in Osaka, Japan. The competition, which was nationally televised in Japan, challenged teams to design and build rugby-playing robots to autonomously navigate an obstacle course, place a rugby ball on a tee and kick the ball between goal posts.

Alumni Robert and Carolyn Caligiuri Establish Professor Amiya Mukherjee Memorial Fellowship in Materials Science

Alumni Robert ’73 and Carolyn Caligiuri ’74 have given a $1.27 million endowment to the MSE department at UC Davis to establish the Amiya Mukherjee Memorial Fellowship in honor of Robert Caligiuri’s first mentor. The gift, the largest ever to MSE, will support competitive doctoral students and boost the department's stature.

Alumni Spotlight: Mingwei Zhang, Ph.D. ’21

Mingwei Zhang, Ph.D. ’21 used his time at UC Davis to grow his research career and plans to pay forward the generosity and mentorship he received from the materials science and engineering department. 

Alumni Spotlight: Valerie Gibson ’86, ‘00

Valerie Gibson ’86, ‘00 has forged a successful career in the aerospace industry through her passion and experience with materials science and engineering she acquired at UC Davis.

Gibson is a principal propulsion engineer in the engine group at Blue Origin, a private aerospace manufacturing company founded by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. The company is a leader in the private spaceflight industry and made headlines in summer 2021 with its first crewed suborbital flight.

Alumni Rewind: 1990 UC Davis Egg Drop Contest

Materials science and engineering alumnus Tim Dyer '90, '93, now the president of Elcon Precision, remembers the UC Davis Egg Drop contest, hosted by The Minerals, Metals and Materials Society (TMS) during National Engineer's Week 1990.

Alumni Spotlight: Emily Beeman ‘17

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.