Research

jiandi wan uc davis chemical engineering microfluidics brain research lab on a chip

A Microfluidic Approach to the Brain

  • by Noah Pflueger-Peters
  • May 23, 2022
Blood and cerebrospinal fluid flow are important transport processes in the brain that occur mostly in capillaries with a diameter of 5-8 micrometers, the smallest blood vessel in the brain. To microfluidic researchers like Chemical Engineering Associate Professor Jiandi Wan, this is an opportunity to play a significant role in discovering how the brain works.
close up of romaine lettuce

Lettuce Could Protect Astronauts’ Bones on Mars Trip

  • by Andy Fell
  • March 22, 2022
Astronauts might one day grow and eat genetically modified plants to ward off disease associated with long spaceflights. Researchers at the College of Engineering have developed a transgenic, or genetically modified, lettuce producing a drug to protect against bone density loss in microgravity. Kevin Yates, a graduate student working with Professor Karen McDonald and Adjunct Professor Somen Nandi at the UC Davis Department of Chemical Engineering, developed the lettuce that expresses a fusion protein combining PTH with part of a human antibody protein. The fusion protein is designed to be stable in the bloodstream and to allow astronauts to potentially purify the drug from plant extracts, Nandi said.
Lab grown meat

Lab-Grown Meat: Future Climate Solution or Icky Science Experiment?

  • by The Sweaty Penguin
  • March 21, 2022
Dr. David Block, Ernest Gallo Endowed Chair of Viticulture and Enology and Professor of Chemical Engineering at University of California, Davis, speaks with The Sweaty Penguin, a PBS-sponsored podcast about climate change. The episode, titled "Lab-Grown Meat: Future Climate Solution or Icky Science Experiment?" explores how lab-grown meat is made, what the barriers are, and how the industry could overcome them.
cultivated meat lab grown david block uc davis nsf chemical engineering

Is Cultivated Meat a Viable Prospect to Feed the World?

  • by Andy Fell
  • January 10, 2022
Alternatives to meat have recently become a hot area in food research, with major fast-food brands marketing burgers made from plant proteins that attempt to reproduce the texture and flavor of ground beef patties. But beyond these “impossible” products is another prospect: actual flesh grown under lab conditions instead of being harvested from an animal or fish.
Central Plant Operator David Waller

Saving cool cash on hot days

  • by Sienna Mata
  • January 05, 2022

Can we optimize how we cool our buildings without compromising campus comfort?

This question, the focus of a long-standing partnership between UC Davis Facilities Management and UC Davis Chemical Engineering (Process Systems Engineering), has resulted in savings, greener energy use and published research. 

Dr. Bill Ristenpart presents on UC Davis’ coffee research

Coffee Needs Research: UC Davis’ New Coffee Center Dedicated June 25th

  • by Cristina Deptula
  • November 15, 2021
Inside the New UC Davis Coffee Center

The UC Davis Coffee Center is the world's first academic research center focused on coffee, aiming to do for coffee what UC Davis has done for beer and wine. Through its research, teaching and mentorship, the center plans to train the next generation of coffee professionals while improving the entire industry and making it more sustainable.

uc davis zeolite catalysis synthesis nsf center chemical engineering

New NSF center aims to transform catalyst synthesis

  • by Noah Pflueger-Peters
  • October 06, 2021

With the launch of the new National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded UC Davis/Berkeley Center for Rational Catalysis Synthesis, or CeRCaS, UC Davis is poised to become a leader in the field of catalysis. CeRCaS will bring together the resources and expertise of academia, industry and national laboratories to transform the way catalysts are designed and produced and to train students as the next generation of leaders in the field.

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