Women in STEM | Chemical Engineering

Karen McDonald receives TRISH grant to study just-in-time medications for space exploration

Chemical engineering professor Karen McDonald and her team have received funding to develop plant-based methods for producing FDA-approved drugs in under 24 hours for use in deep space. The proposal, “A Plant-Based Platform for ‘Just in Time’ Medications” is one of six to receive of a two year, $800,000 Translational Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH) grant from the Baylor College of Medicine.

Research

Talking loudly may be a factor in airborne disease transmission

A new study from UC Davis found that the louder people talk, the more airborne particles they emit, making loudness a potential factor in spreading airborne diseases. The study, led by chemical engineering Ph.D. student Sima Asadi in professor William Ristenpart’s group, looked at particle emission during speech as a function of loudness, among other factors.

Research

College of Engineering Dean Jennifer Curtis receives 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award from American Institute of Chemical Engineers

Jennifer Sinclair Curtis, Dean of the College of Engineering, has received the 2019 Particle Technology Forum’s Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE). She is being recognized as an outstanding contributor to the field of particle technology as well as for her leadership in promoting scholarship, research, development, service and education in this field.

Faculty

Graduate Student Spotlight: Leah Filardi

"Graduate school is highly cooperative."

Students

Tonya Kuhl Named Chair of the Department of Chemical Engineering

Professor Tonya Kuhl will be the next chair of the Department of Chemical Engineering, starting July 1. Former chair Roland Faller is taking his talents to a new role as Associate Dean of Facilities and Capital Planning for the College of Engineering.

Faculty

Graduate Student Spotlight: Maggie Riley

Maggie is a member of Professor Adam Moulé's lab, which focuses on organic electronics.

Students

Graduate Alumni Spotlight: Jasmine Corbin

My favorite part of Davis was the sense of community: The whole university, and even the whole city, really feels like one team working together, trying to make the world a better place.

Alumni

CHE Ph.D. Candidate Jennifer Nill Wins SIMB Student Poster Competition

Chemical and Biological Engineering Ph.D. candidate Jennifer Nill won the 2019 student poster competition at the Society for Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology (SIMB)’s Symposium on Biotechnology for Fuels and Chemicals (SBFC) for her poster, “A multi-scale study to elucidate the role of cellulose physiochemical properties in productive binding of cellulases.”

Students

CHE Professor Marjorie Longo’s PRF Annual Research Report Highlighted by ACS

Professor Marjorie Longo received the American Chemical Society (ACS) Petroleum Research Fund (PRF) New Directions (ND) Grant for her research involving surfactants and lipids.

Faculty

CHE Professor Karen McDonald a NASA Space Technology Research Institute Grant Recipient

CHE Professor Karen McDonald and colleagues from UC Berkeley, Utah State, Stanford, Autodesk and Physical Sciences, Inc., were awarded up to $15 million over five years for their Center for the Utilization of Biological Engineering in Space (CUBES).

Faculty