Ph.D. student Toby Mea wins Best TA Award

Toby Mea, a rising fourth year Ph.D. candidate at UC Davis, has been recognized for his teaching efforts with a Best Teaching Assistant Award in chemical engineering from the UC Davis College of Engineering.

Each year, the UC Davis College of Engineering recognizes one teaching assistant (TA) from each of our eight departments with the Best TA awards. These awards recognize graduate students who show a strong commitment to the mission and vision of the college and consistently perform above and beyond to train and create the next generation of engineers and leaders. These award recipients were nominated and selected by their respective departments.

These students have received awards for their contributions to the college and will be honored at the Graduate Student Awards Celebration in 2022.

Mea is in his fourth year at UC Davis, but technically entering into his sixth year, having completed two years of his Ph.D. at his previous institution in Rochester, New York, before transferring with his then and current advisor, assistant professor Jiandi Wan.

He received his B.S. in engineering in 2016 from Messiah College in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. His research focuses on engineering a microfluidic intestinal epithelium model system to facilitate the study of host-bacteria interactions. His other research interests include stem cell biology, biomaterials and rapid prototyping/3D printing. In his spare time he enjoys birdwatching, honing his musical skills and serving in his local church community.