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.
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.
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.
Designated Emphasis in Biotechnology (DEB) Program Celebrates 20 Years of Preparing Ph.D. Students like Amanda Dang
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.
