2012-13 Annual Report - College of Engineering

UC DAVIS College of Engineering
2012 – 13 Annual Report
College of Engineering, UC Davis
Administration
Enrique J. Lavernia, Dean
Jean VanderGheynst, Associate Dean, Research and Graduate Studies
Jean-Pierre Delplanque, Associate Dean, Undergraduate Studies
Bruce White, Executive Associate Dean
Jeff Lefkoff, Executive Assistant Dean, Administration
Oliver Ramsey, Assistant Dean, Development and External Relations
CREDITS
Design: Academic Technology Services, UC Davis
Photography: Karin Higgins, Watson Lu, Kevin Tong, Michelle Tran
Writing/Editing: Derrick Bang
While every attempt has been made to eliminate errors in this publication,
we realize they may occur. If you note any discrepancies or omissions,
please accept our apologies. Please send corrections to:
Oliver Ramsey, CFRE
Assistant Dean, Development and External Relations
College of Engineering, UC Davis
1 Shields Avenue, Kemper Hall 1027
Davis, CA 95616
530-752-7412 direct
owramsey@ucdavis.edu
More info:
engineering.ucdavis.edu
WELCOME
The UC Davis College of Engineering continued its
yearlong 50th anniversary celebration as the 2012-13
academic year began, starting with a thought-provoking
symposium — “Sustainable Development for the 21st
Century” — that discussed the modern university’s
role in this ongoing challenge. The conference drew
roughly 120 attendees from academia and industry, and
included speakers from the Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratory, General Motors, Carnegie Mellon University
and Stanford, along with Chancellor Linda Katehi and
faculty from several UC campuses.
UC Davis students were delighted by their opportunity
Enrique J. Lavernia, Ph.D.
to meet Silicon Valley icon and philanthropist Steve
Wozniak, whose fall quarter presentation also was part of
our anniversary schedule. We concluded our 50th year
— and welcomed our second half-century — with both an Awards Gala in San Francisco, and a Closing
Reception at UC Davis’ Kemper Hall.
In January the College of Engineering dedicated the new Center for Leadership in Engineering
Advancement Diversity and Retention (LEADR) Student Center, created with the generous support of
Chevron with additional support from Boeing, Cisco, Northrop Grumman, and Union Pacific. This facility,
which blends comfort with state-of-the-art academic resources, is designed to help improve our retention
of a diverse population of undergraduates.
The following month, Kemper Hall’s Bruce and Marie West Lobby unveiled museum-quality displays
designed to honor some of the distinguished personalities associated with the College of Engineering. Our
inaugural exhibit, which opened with an Engineering Inventors Day Reception during e-Week, showcased
the work of electric vehicle pioneer Andrew Frank, former Synaptic CEO Francis Lee, NASA engineer
Adam Steltzner, wind studies expert Bruce White, and bioenvironmental engineer Ruihong Zhang.
The College of Engineering continues to fast-track innovative, high-impact ideas from lab bench to the
marketplace, thanks to the efforts of our Engineering Translational Technology Center (ETTC). After
“graduating” its first tenant in May 2012 — Dysonics, an audio technology start-up — ETTC was named
one of the “Ten College Business Incubators We’re Most Excited About” by bestcollegesonline.com. In
January 2013, ETTC announced its second graduate: Ennetix Inc., a clean tech/networking company that
will dramatically reduce the energy consumed by IT networks and connected systems across the world.
With investment support from federal, state and private sources, we eagerly anticipate the next ambitious
phase of our second half-century, building on the achievements of our past 50 years.
Enrique J. Lavernia
Dean, Distinguished Professor
FACTS AND FIGURES
196214
Undergraduate
majors
Founded in
Academic
departments
Faculty
10
50
Endowed Chairs and Professorships
2 • UC DAVIS COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
9
198
Alumni
Faculty Early Career
Development Awards (NSF)
Graduate
programs
Current and former
faculty elected to
national academies
20
student information
UNDERGRADUATE
GRADUATE
ENROLLMENT
ENROLLMENT
4,025
1,130
degrees awarded:
bachelor’s
master’s
Doctoral
696 218 132
0 4
th
TOP “COOLEST SCHOOL”
(Sierra, 2013)
2012-13 ANNUAL REPORT • 3
rankings
16
18
Among the TOP
Among the TOP
U.S. public university
undergraduate
engineering programs
3
(U.S. News, 2012)
Public research
university in U.S.
9
(U.S. News, 2014)
th
rd
14
Research funding among U.S.
ranked public universities
2012-13 Research Expenditures
by Department
$86.3 $87.1
$90.4
$87.1
$91.7
$75.7
80
$68.3
$61.6
$58.3 $60.0
$45.7
40
20
Biological and
Agricultural Engineering
$7,128,620
Biomedical Engineering
$18,088,820
Chemical Engineering
and Materials Science
$11,605,889
Civil and Environmental
Engineering
$21,435,277
Computer Science
$10,270,495
Electrical and Computer
Engineering
$12,090,715
Mechanical and
Aeronautical Engineering
$11,068,101
TOTAL
0
3
2-0
4
3-0
0
20
5
4-0
0
20
TH
(NSF 2011)
100
0
20
(U.S. News, 2012)
among top 50 engineering programs
for percentage of female faculty
Trends in Research Expenditures
60
public engineering
graduate schools
6
5-0
0
20
7
6-0
0
20
8
7-0
0
20
4 • UC DAVIS COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
9
8-0
0
20
0
9-1
0
20
1
0-1
1
20
2
1-1
1
20
3
2-1
1
20
$91,687,917
Research awards
Top Research Grants and Contracts 2012 –13
n Joan Lindberg
Department of Biological and Agricultural
Engineering, Delta Smelt Research and Refugial
Population Development, USDI Bureau of Reclamation
$3,365,790
n Bryan Jenkins
Department of Biological and Agricultural
Engineering, Renewable Energy Resource, Technology
and Economic Assessments, California Energy
Resources and Conservation Development
Commission
$2,000,000
n Mark Modera
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
WCC, RTU Retrofit And Maintenance Behavior
Southern California Edison Company
$1,939,682
n Kyriacos A. Athanasiou
Department of Biomedical Engineering
Tissue Engineered Cartilage from Autologous,
Demis-Isolated Adult Stem Cells, California Institute
for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM)
$1,735,703
n Julie Sutcliffe
Department of Biomedical Engineering,
Radiochemistry Research and Training, UC Davis (R2@
UC Davis), DOE/Miscellaneous Offices and Programs
$1,460,000
n M. Levent Kavvas
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Upper Middle Fork Project, Plumas County
$1,358,000
n Ross Boulanger
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
NSF-NEES, Purdue University
$1,181,626
n Jean VanderGheynst
Department of Biological and Agricultural
Engineering, Renewable Energy Systems Opportunity
for Unified Research Collaboration and Education
(RESOURCE), National Science Foundation (NSF)
$1,130,421
n Frank Loge
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Delivery Order #11 Lower Granite Dam Juvenile Fish
Collection Channel Prototype Overflow Weir and Enlarged
Orifice Biological Evaluation, US Army Corps of Engineers/
Walla Walla District
$1,052,875
n Matt Bishop
Department of Computer Science, CC-NIE Integration:
Improved Infrastructure for Data Movement and Monitoring,
National Science Foundation (NSF)
$992,746
n François Gygi
Department of Computer Science, High Performance
First-Principles Molecular Dynamics for Predictive Theory
and Modeling, DOE/Miscellaneous Offices and Programs
$991,884
n M. Levent Kavvas
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Ongoing Study of Cache Creek Settling Basin Trap Efficiency
Study, Hydrodynamics and Sediment Patterns, Department
of California Water Resources (DWR)
$961,328
2012-13 ANNUAL REPORT • 5
departments
Facts, Figures and Leadership
Biological and Agricultural Engineering:
Civil and Environmental Engineering
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
Faculty: 18
Undergraduates: 142
Graduate Students: 42
Research Expenditures: $7,128,620
Undergraduate Majors: Biological Systems
Engineering
n Graduate Programs: M.S., Ph.D., Master of
Engineering, Doctor of Engineering
Chair: Raul Piedrahita
Biomedical Engineering:
n
n
n
n
n
Faculty: 25
Undergraduates: 528
Graduate Students: 135
Research Expenditures: $18,088,820
Undergraduate Majors: Biomedical
Engineering
n Graduate Programs: M.S., Ph.D.
Chair: Kyriacos A. Athanasiou
Chemical Engineering
and Materials Science:
n
n
n
n
n
Faculty: 30
Undergraduates: 572
Graduate Students: 122
Research Expenditures: $11,605,889
Undergraduate Majors: Biochemical
Engineering, Chemical Engineering,
Materials Science and Engineering,
Chemical Engineering/Materials Science
and Engineering, Electronic Materials
Engineering.
n Graduate Programs: M.S., Ph.D. – Chemical
Engineering, Materials Science and
Engineering. Designated emphases in
Biotechnology, Biophotonics.
Chair: Ahmet Palazoglu
Faculty: 33
Undergraduates: 621
Graduate Students: 239 + 48 *(TTP)
Research Expenditures: $22,785,074
Undergraduate Majors: Civil Engineering
Graduate Programs: M.S., Ph.D.; Areas of
Specialization: Environmental Engineering,
Geotechnical Engineering, Structural
Engineering and Structural Mechanics,
Transportation Planning and Design, Water
Resources Engineering.
Chair: Sashi Kunnath
Computer Science
n
n
n
n
n
Faculty: 30
Undergraduates: 682
Graduate Students: 212
Research Expenditures: $10,270,495
Undergraduate Majors: Computer Science and
Engineering, Computer Science (in College of
Letters and Science)
n Graduate Programs: M.S., Ph.D.
Chair: Nina Amenta
Electrical and Computer Engineering
n
n
n
n
n
Faculty: 34
Undergraduates: 513.5
Graduate Students: 171
Research Expenditures: $12,090,715
Undergraduate Majors: Electrical Engineering,
Computer Engineering
n Graduate programs: M.S., Ph.D.
Chair: Kent Wilken
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
n
n
n
n
n
Faculty: 32
Undergraduates: 786.5
Graduate Students: 167
Research Expenditures: $11,068,101
Undergraduate Majors: Mechanical Engineering,
Aerospace Science and Engineering, Mechanical
Engineering/Materials Science Engineering
n Graduate programs: M.S., M.E., D. Eng., Ph.D.
Chair: C.P. “Case” van Dam
6 • UC DAVIS COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
*Transportation, Technology and Policy Students
Philanthropic support
2012-13 Gift Source
Alumni
$3,154,439
Total = $12,501,304
Foundations
$119,434
Individuals
$3,082,866
Corporations
$4,795,117
Other Nonprofit
$1,349,448
2012-13 Purpose of Gifts
Total = $12,501,304
Other Purposes
$168,600
Department Support
$5,831,175
Research
Campus Improvement
$4,455,147
$1,034,877
Instruction
$25,729
Student Support
$985,776
2012-13 ANNUAL REPORT • 7
Dean’s Executive Committee
The continuing success of the College of Engineering is fueled by the involvement of influential friends and alumni who
promote its visibility and help secure philanthropic support to advance its goals in education, research and public service.
The Dean’s Executive Committee is composed of 17 executive-level leaders, including venture capitalists and successful
entrepreneurs. They work closely with the Dean to assist the College of Engineering through advocacy, prospective donor
identification and cultivation, and personal philanthropy.
■■ Enrique Lavernia
Dean and Distinguished
Professor
■■ Diane Bryant
Vice President and GM,
Datacenter and Connected
Systems Group
Intel Corporation
■■ Alfred Chuang
■■ Richard Chuang
CEO, Cloudpic
■■ Jeff Child
Financial Advisor,
Oshman Family Office
■■ Mike Child
Portfolio Manager – University
Affairs, Chevron Corporation
■■ Jim Olson
Founder, Westshore
Management Group
■■ Dick Dorf
Professor Emeritus, UC Davis
■■ Earl Rennison
■■ Layton Han
CEO, Adara Media
■■ Tim Bucher
President and Founder,
Lyve Minds
■■ Cynthia Murphy
Founder and CEO, Magnet Systems
CTO and Founder, Trovix
■■ Jerry Suran
Professor Emeritus, UC Davis
Vice President (Ret), General
Electric
■■ Adam Hansel
COO, DTL Mori Seiki Co.
■■ Francis Lee
Chairman (Ret), Synaptics
■■ Brian Underwood
President/CEO, California Gold
Almonds LLC
■■ Steven Montoya
Vice President for Product
Engineering, Topanga
Technologies (Ret)
Senior Advisor,
TA Associates, Inc.
■■ Bruce G. West
Principal, West Yost &
Associates Inc
Strategic Leadership Board
The College of Engineering’s Strategic Leadership Board is a distinguished group of thought-leaders whose
expertise and industry leadership represent, inspire and honor the College’s vision.
n Curtis Carlson, Ph.D.
Chairman, SRI International
n John Maroney
nIrwin Jacobs, Ph.D.
Co-Founder, Qualcomm
n David Kappos
Partner, Cravath, Swaine &
Moore LLP
President/CEO, ForSight VISION
5 Venture Partner, Delphi Ventures
n William “Bill” Sullivan
President, Agilent Technologies
nAlan Taub, Ph.D.
nMasahiko Mori, Ph.D.
nIndira Samarasekera, Ph.D.
n Woong-Chul Yang, Ph.D.
President, DMG Mori Seiki
Company
President, University of Alberta
nStratton Sclavos
Partner, Radar Partners
8 • UC DAVIS COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
Professor, University of Michigan
Vice-President, Global Research &
Development, General Motors (Ret)
Vice Chairman, Hyundai Kia
Motors
John owens
John Owens, left
john owens joined the UC Davis Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
in 2003, shortly after obtaining his Ph.D. in the Computer Systems Laboratory at Stanford’s
Department of Electrical Engineering. His research interests cover broad topics in the field of
computer systems, notably those that use innovative hardware and software that work together to
solve challenging engineering problems. He’s particularly captivated by
parallel computing and projects in graphics hardware/GPGPU computing
(general-purpose computing on graphics processing units).
In the spring of 2012, Owens’ efforts were recognized when Nvidia
named him a CUDA (Compute Unified Device Architecture) Fellow,
joining the ranks of those who have demonstrated the benefits of GPU
computing to advance their fields of research, and have been instrumental
in introducing GPU computing to their peers. He is one of only 11 CUDA
Fellows in the entire world. A few months later, he began a sabbatical
at Twitter, where he has broadened his research work to include investigations into cloud-based
computing, real-time issues, functional programming and the nature of the Web itself.
Although kept quite busy by his research and academic responsibilities, Owens makes time each
year to participate in weekend-long, puzzle-solving-scavenger-hunting-road-rally events, known
simply as “The Game.” This geeked-out challenge dates back to the 1980s, and Owens became
a regular contender — and, eventually, planner and designer — shortly before he joined the UC
Davis College of Engineering.
Solving conceptual puzzles, after all, is very much like research: One always must think outside
the box.
“...one always
must think
outside the box.”
2012-13 ANNUAL REPORT • 9
“...even Rube Goldberg would have
rejected as too far-fetched.”
When the robotic explorer Curiosity successfully touched down inside Mars’ massive Gale Crater at 10:32 p.m. PDT Aug.
5, 2012, the jubilant scientists and technicians trading enthusiastic high-fives included Adam Steltzner, whose 1990
undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering at UC Davis eventually led to his becoming team leader of Curiosity’s
Entry, Descent and Landing (EDL) System.
Earlier NASA projects included Galileo, Cassini, the Mars Pathfinder and Mars Exploration Rovers. An episode of the
PBS series Nova — “Mars: Dead or Alive,” which aired Jan. 4, 2004 — profiled several scientists and engineers who
worked on the successful Martian rovers Spirit and Opportunity; Steltzner was prominent among their number, in part
because his rock ‘n’ roll background, pierced ears, snakeskin boots and duckbill haircut made him such a colorful figure.
He has done nothing to discourage this hipster-turned-rocket scientist image. In fact, the stage presence cultivated during
his early rock club career has served him well, as he has become one of our space program’s most visible and media-
savvy advocates. NASA’s Seven Minutes
of Terror — a five-minute video that has
become a YouTube sensation, with more
than two million views — gets much of
its gravitas from Steltzner’s on-camera
narration.
For Curiosity, Steltzner and his
colleagues spent a decade designing,
building and testing a crazy-quilt landing
system — a rocket-powered “platform”
that hovered over the planet’s surface
and lowered Curiosity down on a cable
— that even Rube Goldberg would have
rejected as too far-fetched.
Steltzner had the last laugh; Curiosity’s
successful landing represents a triumph
of ingenious design for the former high
school near-dropout who earned his own
chapter in the 2004 book, Going to
Mars: The Stories of the People Behind
NASA’s Mars Missions. The chapter
title? “Elvis,” of course, after the rock
‘n’ roll god whom many say Steltzner
resembles.
Adam Steltzner
10 • UC DAVIS COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
Student Scholarships and Awards
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
Alan Jackman Scholarship Fund
Amorocho Memorial Scholarship
Anil K. Jain Memorial Prize
Arthur and Julia Suran Endowed Scholarship
Astronaut Alumni Scholarship
The Beaver’s Charitable Trust
Ben L. Hagglund Scholarship
Boeing Scholar Award
Brian and Louanne Horsfield Fund
Bud and Lorraine Gerdes and Walt and Paula Rohrich
Grants in Engineering and Veterinary Medicine
n Chemical Engineering Alumni Fellowship
n Chevron Scholar Award
n College of Engineering SFC Graduate Fellowship Fund
n Dean Karnopp Endowed Fellowship
n Diane Bryant Scholarship for Diversity
nFarrer/Patten Award Fund
nFred Fuchslin Memorial Scholarship
nGenCorp/Aerojet Scholar Award
nGeorge and Rosemary Tchobanoglous Graduate
Fellowship
n Howard R. Murphy Scholarship
n Jane C. Elliott Scholarship Fund
n Jeff and Dianne Child/Steve Whitaker
Undergraduate Scholarship
n John C. Harper Memorial Scholarship Fund
n John W. and Ernestine L. Heinrich Scholarship
n Joseph L. Steger Memorial Fellowship
n Kind Family Scholarship
n Maury L. Hull Endowed Fellowship
n M.S. Ghausi College of Engineering Medals
n Montoya CALESS Scholarship Fund
nN&M Sarigul-Klijn Space Engineering/
Flight Research Award
nNorthrop Grumman’s Graduate Fellowship
n Pamela J. Fair ’80 Undergraduate Scholarship
for
Leadership in Engineering
nRamey & Romstad Endowed Scholarship I
nRamey & Romstad Endowed Scholarship II
nRichard C. and Joy Dorf Graduate Student
Award in Electrical and Computer Engineering
nRichard C. and Joy Dorf Fund for Academic
Excellence and Leadership
nRichard Snavely Memorial Award
nRisken Environmental Engineering Fund
nRobert A. and Denzil M. Kepner Endowment Fund
nRobert L. Huddleston Award
nRobert Murdoch Memorial Scholarship
nRobert Roy Owen Scholarship in Engineering
nRobert Wiley Ross Award
nRocky Han Scholarship
nRose C. and David B. McCallen Endowed Award
nRoy Bainer Engineering Scholarship
nRussell L. Perry Scholarship
n Sander Wilson Memorial Award
n SFC – Engineering Undergraduate Scholarship
n Soohoo-Lee Endowed Fellowship
n Teichert Foundation
n UC Davis Prize for Excellence in Geotechnical
Engineering
n Walter D. Buehler Scholarship
n Wasson Family Scholarship
n Wasson Family Scholarship for Education Abroad
n Won Family Scholarship
n Wu Family Foundation Endowed Fund
n Zuhair A. Munir Award for the Best Doctoral Dissertation
n Zuhair A. Munir Mentorships and Opportunities for
Research in Engineering (MORE) Fund
Endowed Chairs and Professorships
n
n
Blacutt-Underwood Professorship in Materials Science
Child Family Professorship of Engineering and
Entrepreneurship
n Child Family Professorship in the College of
Engineering
nEdward Teller Chair
nGerald T. and Lillian P. Orlob Professorship in Water
Resources Engineering
n
Jeff and Dianne Child-Steve Whitaker Professorship in
Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
n Joe and Essie Smith Endowed Chair in Chemical
Engineering
nRay B. Krone Professorship in Environmental
Engineering
n Tim Bucher Family Chair of Computer Science
n Warren and Leta Giedt Endowed Professorship in the
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Department Support
n Maroney-Bryan Fund
nEd and Mary Schroeder
Scholarship Fund
2012-13 ANNUAL REPORT • 11
Honor Roll of Donors
July 1, 2012 – June 30, 2013
Thanks to the generosity of many College of Engineering supporters, this year the College raised $12.5 million in gifts and
grants from businesses, foundations, alumni and friends. We gratefully thank you for your support.
Gifts targeted faculty research and teaching, undergraduate scholarships, graduate student awards, and equipment needs.
Contributions to the College of Engineering Annual Fund furnished unrestricted funds for College priorities, including
student design teams and graduate student recruitment activities.
The College of Engineering acknowledges the following donors:
$500,000 and above
Chevron Products Co.
Glaucoma Research Foundation
Hyundai Motor Co.
DMG Mori Seiki Co. Ltd.
$100,000-499,000
Agilent Technologies
American Chemical Society
Anonymous
Cisco Systems Inc.
Ericsson Inc.
Massachusetts General Hospital
Scott M. Maxwell, ’86
Northrop Grumman
Orthopaedic Research &
Education Foundation
Pine Tree Technology Inc.
Texas Instruments Inc.
John M. Wasson, ’84, and
Gina G. Wasson
Bruce G. West, ’73, and
Marie West
$50,000-99,000
Advanced Micro Devices Inc.
American Heart Association
National Center
Anonymous
Broadcom Foundation
California Dairy Research Fdtn.
California Tomato Board
DP Technology Corp.
Ford Motor Co.
Fujitsu Laboratories of
America Inc.
Futurewei Technologies Inc.
Google Inc.
Hoeganaes Corp.
Howard Hughes Medical
Institute
Korea Institute of Energy
Research
L3 Communications
Rose C. McCallen, ’93, and
David B. McCallen, ’86
National Physical Science
Consortium
Peter S. Higgins & Associates
Samsung Telecommunications
America
SanDisk Corp.
Shimizu Corp.
$25,000-49,000
Dean’s Blue and
Gold Circle
Analog Devices Inc.
Furukawa Electric Co. Ltd.
IBM Corp.
Linear Technology Corp.
LSI Logic Corp.
National Tsing Hua University
Shinil Chemical Industry Co.
Ltd.
Space Telescope Science
Institute
George Tchobanoglous and
Rosemary Tchobanoglous
King L. Won, ’71, and
Linda Won
Yahoo Inc.
Woong-Chul Yang, ’86
$10,000-24,999
Dean’s Gold Circle
Anonymous
ASHRAE
Boeing Co.
Cal Poly Foundation
Efficient Drivetrains Inc.
GenCorp Foundation Inc.
General Motors Corp.
George & Ruth Bradford
Foundation
GHD Inc.
Inphi Corp.
12 • UC DAVIS COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
Intelligent Fiber Optic
Systems Corp.
William H. Kind, ’85
LogicBlox Inc.
National GEM Consortium
Recology Environmental
Solutions Inc.
Stephen K. Robinson, ’78
Sandia National Laboratories
Texas Southern University –
College of Education
Brian Underwood, ’91
Union Pacific Railroad
$5,000-9,999
Dean’s Blue Circle
aero-dap Therapeutics
Jeffrey B. Child, ’82, and
Dianne D. Child
Michael C. Child, ’76, and
Renee Z. Child
Bill W. Colston, ’97
Robert C. Doss, ’75
Electric Power Research Inst
Andrew A. Frank and
Wendy Frank
Layton S. Han, ’88, and
Melinda I. Han
Instant Water Technologies
Joseph Beggs Fdtn for
Kinematics
John F. Maroney, ’75, and
Sarah M. Bryan Maroney
Micromidas Inc.
National Center For Women &
Information Technology
PepsiCo
Jo Ann Silverstein, ’82
Scott A. Stedman, ’66, and
Virginia L. Stedman
Jerome J. Suran and
Helen Suran
Darrell L. Wilburn
World Health Alliance
International Inc.
$1,000-4,999
Dean’s Circle
Keith E. Abey, ’89
Aerojet
Peter W. Allen and
Patricia J. Allen
American Society of
Civil Engineers
Anonymous (4)
Jon B. Archer, ’82, and
Andrea C. Archer
Atkins Foundation Inc.
Bruce A. Bailey, ’75
Charles W. Beadle
Arthur T. Bliss, ’06
Don O. Brush
Kenneth J. Bryden, ’92, and
Michelle B. Bryden, ’92
Howard J. Bush, ’79
Chih-Kang Chen, ’89
Linker Cheng, ’97
Henry S. Chu, ’96
Randall L. Cobb, ’78
Michael P. Coffey, ’84, and
Jody A. Coffey
Thomas W. Collins, ’73 and
Susan J. Collins
Richard A. Coombs, ’76
Michael D. Cousins, ’66
Kenneth E. Culver, ’79
Robert H. Davis, ’78, and
Shirley G. Davis
Kenton S. Day, ’67
Richard C. Dorf and Joy Dorf
DTL Corp.
Thomas G. Elam, ’89
Susan A. Ellis, ’78, and
Mark A. Linton
Energy Absorption Systems Inc.
Ford Family Foundation
Fugro Consultants Inc.
GEI Consultants
Geopentech Inc.
Geosyntec Consultants
Bruce R. Gilbert, ’69, and
Noretta F. Gilbert
William Ristenpart/Tonya Kuhl
William Ristenpart has appointments in both
the UC Davis Department of Chemical Engineering
and Materials Science, and the Department of Food
Science & Technology Science. His research
team investigates the physical, chemical and
biological phenomena of fluids, including
fluid motion caused by electrical fields,
how different food metabolites affect red
blood cells, and the behavior of fluids at
the microminiaturized scale. He is, as
well, the Joe and Essie Smith Endowed
Chair of Chemical Engineering.
Like many engineering professors
across the country, Ristenpart believes that
universities must become much more aggressive with
outreach, in order to reach students who otherwise
might not contemplate careers in various engineering
fields. Part of the solution, he feels, involves crafting
lower-division courses that will grant students earlier
opportunities for engaging, hands-on lab work.
His answer: ECM 1, “The Design of Coffee,” a
new spring quarter course that Ristenpart co-taught
with Tonya Kuhl, a professor in the UC Davis
Department of Biomedical Engineering. They designed
their 10-week course quite shrewdly, by matching
successive laboratory goals with the various steps
involved in brewing. The segment on chemical
reactions, for example, focused on roasting
coffee beans to perfection; mass transfer
demonstrated how extraction is the heart of
coffee; and thermodynamics was introduced
by talking about espresso, decaf and
“the beauty of phase diagrams.”
The class concluded, during its final
lab session, with a competition. Each
student was challenged to make as
perfect a cup of coffee as possible, with the results
evaluated during a blind tasting. Because this was
an engineering course, Ristenpart and Kuhl added a
quantitative twist: Each student was tasked with making
the best-tasting cup of coffee while using the least
amount of energy.
Ristenpart and Kuhl cheerfully acknowledge an
ulterior motive: While their students spent 10 weeks
learning how to design the perfect cup of coffee, they
were being molded into perfect chemical engineers.
2012-13 ANNUAL REPORT • 13
“...developing new thin-film technologies...”
Ken loh
It was a big year for Ken Loh in 2012, an assistant
professor in the UC Davis Department of Civil and
Environmental Engineering.
In February, he received a $400,000 National
Science Foundation CAREER Award; in April, he was
named a Fulbright Scholar by the U.S. Department of
State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
The CAREER Award validates research that dates back
to his post-graduate work at the University of Michigan,
where he obtained twin master’s degrees — in civil
engineering, and materials science and engineering
— and a doctorate, while developing new thin-film
technologies based on carbon nanotubes.
One of his many research goals is to create very
thin coatings that could be applied to various types
of structures — buildings, bridges, wind turbines,
spacecraft — with the objective of monitoring how
these structures perform, and pinpointing any types of
14 • UC DAVIS COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
Ken Loh, right
damage that might occur over their operational lifetime.
The idea is to paint such materials onto the structures,
in order to improve upon existing structural analysis
techniques that are cumbersome, impractical and often
unreliable.
In the near future, thanks to the Fulbright Scholarship,
Loh will spend some time at National Taiwan University
in Taipei City, Taiwan. The scholarship will support his
collaboration with colleagues there, in a project designed
to better understand “bridge scour” — the erosion of
earth at bridge foundations, by flowing water — with the
goal of preventing collapses. The study hopes to validate
a new sensing system that can measure 3D “scour hole
evolution” in space and time, and the model results and
assessments of current design practices will be used to
improve future design codes in the United States and
Taiwan.
Honor Roll of Donors
Glen A. Gomes, ’86
John R. Goss, ’56, and
Patty Goss
Gary E. Hackney, ’81, and
Natalie A. Poole
Frederick H. Hoffman, ’87 and
Stella A. Hoffman
Intel Corp.
Ionex SG Ltd.
Timothy G. Jellison, ’84
James J. Jones, ’89, and
Sarah Jones
Masakazu Kanematsu, ’11
Kevin W. Keck, ’70, and
R. Gail Way Keck
John D. Kemper and Bobbie
Kemper
Valeria La Saponara
Laura L. Liptai, ’96, and
Sheridan Young
Patrick C. Lucia and Sally Lucia
Massachusetts Institute of
Technology
Earl W. Mc Cune, ’98
Karen A. McDonald and
Steven W. McDonald
Medtronic Vascular
Raymond Merala, ’87, and
Laura A. Perani
Micron Technology Foundation
Richard K. Miller, ’71, and
Elizabeth A. Miller
Steven C. Montoya, ’77, and
Sheri Stonier-Montoya
Adam Moule
Kenneth B. Nittler, ’80, and
Nancy M. Nittler
NMC Corp.
Richard D. Noble, ’76
Ted M. Odell, ’78, and
Jeanine L. Odell
James D. Olson, ’72
PALM Associates Inc.
William J. Porter, ’68
Ravindra S. Potharlanka, ’91,
and Vibhooti S. Gupta
Qualcomm Inc.
Melvin R. Ramey and
Felicenne H. Ramey
Ronald A. Ramos, ’79, and
Shellie C. Ramos
Earl F. Rennison, ’88, and
Suzette Rennison
Angela A. Rodriguez, ’94
Holly Runyon, ’89
continued
William F. Schaff, ’95, and
Cynthia Schaff
Stephan V. Schell, ’90
Schlumberger Technology Corp.
Edward D. Schroeder and
Mary C. Schroeder
Mary E. Serra, ’89
Clay S. Serrahn, ’74
James M. Silva, ’95
Anthony J. Silveira, ’94
Specialized Bicycle Components
Benjamin F. Stetson, ’68, and
Elinor H. Stetson
Leah M. Stroup, ’89
Wilson K. Talley and Helen
Talley
David L. Tarke, ’85, and
Gina M. Burke Tarke, ’84
Brett A. Tiano and Kiki N. Tiano
Lynn E. Walter, ’79
Richard F. Walters and
Shipley N. Walters
Steven H. Weinberg, ’67
$500-999
Daniel S. Adams, ’72
AISC Education Foundation
American Institute of Steel
Construction Inc.
Anonymous
Greg Banks and Susan Banks
Ruth A. Bingle and Michael G.
Bingle, ’84
Richard A. Bradley, ’69
Keith B. Brown, ’78
Michael J. Brunolli, ’80
Stanley C. Chu, ’70, and
Nancy I. Chu
Cornerstone Earth Group
Cotton, Shires & Associates Inc.
Sasha D. Dansky, ’96
Earth Mechanics Inc.
David S. Edwards, ’99
Uri Eliahu and Cindy Eliahu
Engeo Inc.
Pamela J. Fair, ’80
Justine A. Faisst, ’73
April A. Fallon, ’89
Isaac E. Fox, ’98
Fudo Construction Inc.
Julie Gallardo
GeoEngineers
Golder Associates Ltd.
Dean E. Groce, ’83
John J. Guzman, ’77
James D. Hallenbeck, ’75
Rochelle M. Handy and
William E. Handy, Jr.
Hayward Baker
Donna M. Hom, ’88
Scott W. Hunter, ’87
Cris Jespersen, ’82
Ronald D. Joost, ’78
Maxim D. Jovanovich, ’95
William Lai, ’84
Steve Lee, ’05
Moon P. Lew, ’72
John A. Lilygren, ’77
Richard D. Matthews, ’64
David S. Mize, ’89
Steven S. Nakashima, ’91
Robert A. Parsons, ’62
Russell A. Peery, ’80
Dale W. Ploeger and Maria K.
Kleczewska
Jinyi Qi
Karl M. Romstad and
Connie Romstad
Sanders & Assoc. Geostructural
Engineering Inc.
Scott T. Scaramastro
Pamela J. Schrader and
Mark L. Schrader, ’77
Shannon & Wilson Inc.
Lawrence M. Sokolsky, ’82
David L. Stringfield, ’72
Pieter Stroeve
Jeffrey S. Thompson, ’78
Robert P. Tobias, ’86
Spyros Tseregounis and
Linda P.B. Katehi
Union Bank of California, N.A.
Vital Link
Dennis W. Walden, ’70
Elizabeth Wells
Michael G. Whatley, ’95
Harold E. Wheaton, ’95
Jerry M. Woodall and
Nancy A. Bulger
Kevin Woolf, ’98
Charles R. Wright, ’71
$100-499
Warren Abey, ’82
Carole L. Achramowicz, ’82
Erik T. Acks, ’08
Victor M. Alaniz, ’96
Scott L. Alberts, ’79
Michael J. Alfors, ’97
Galen R. Alldrin, ’78
Ronald K. Allen, ’76
Stephanie A. Allison, ’80
Monica M. Anderson, ’88
Anonymous
Art T. Avlonitis, ’97
Edward N. Bachand, ’76
Mark A. Backman, ’96
David A. Baer, ’86
Barbara Y. Bailey, ’84
Brian R. Bailey, ’01
Steven R. Bandel, ’81
R. Scott Barlow, ’77
Rebecca F. Barron, ’97, and
Hector Barron, ’86
Todd T. Becker, ’84
Arthur Beresford, ’66
Julie K. Berry and John J. Berry
Robert E. Berthold, ’76
Robert J. Beste, ’89
William K. Bischel, ’75
Cecelia D. Bolster
Marc J. Bommersbach, ’76
Gerard J. Borkovich, ’88
Donald M. Boyd, ’89
BP Foundation Inc.
Scott J. Brandenberg, ’05
Charles R. Bray, ’98
Dana J. Brock, ’78
Paul J. Bruinsma, ’94
Gwendolyn M. Buchholz, ’76
Richard M. Buck, ’87
Buehler & Buehler Associates
Robert Carter
Paul E. Cassanego, ’95
Jim D. Chaconas, ’80
David A. Chargin, ’97
Jesse Chavez and Susan C.
Chavez
Alland Chee, ’91
Janette Cheung
Michael Paul F. Cheung, ’06
Russell M. Childers, ’81
Robert N. Chittenden, ’76
Harold F. Christensen, ’78
Joann E. Christensen, ’85
Daniel J. Chu, ’92
Micah S. Chu, ’95
Thomas H. Chunat, ’86
Byron A. Clark, ’01
Jeffrey E. Clark, ’85
Thomas E. Clark, ’98
William L. Clarke, ’63
Paul W. Coates and Kate Coates
David W. Coats, ’82
Michael J. Coen, ’81
2012-13 ANNUAL REPORT • 15
Tanya Whitlow
Honor Roll of Donors
continued
In a parallel universe,
Tanya Whitlow
might have been a
professional dancer,
rather than a valued
Student Affairs
Officer in the UC
Davis College of
Engineering.
“It’s true,” she
laughs. “I was a
member of the Black
Repertory Dance
Company as a UC
Tanya Whitlow
Davis undergrad, and
after graduating in
1987 I studied dance in New York.”
But Whitlow’s desire to put her psychology degree
to good use — coupled with “people person” instincts,
and a fondness for helping others — brought the
Sacramento native back to Northern California.
She spent some time working with UC Berkeley’s
Upward Bound Program, and then in 1993 accepted
a position with the Sacramento branch of Success
Through Collaboration (STC), a program established
by Mathematics Engineering Science Achievement
(MESA) in partnership with the California Department
of Education, to target under-served American Indian
pre-college students.
Whitlow had no particular plans to return to her
alma mater, but she was encouraged by her STC
director to apply for an opening in the UC Davis
Minority Engineering Program. Whitlow returned to
UC Davis in 1994.
Recently named Retention Officer of the new
Leadership in Engineering Advancement Diversity and
Retention (LEADR) Student Center, Whitlow received
the Martin Luther King Jr. Social Justice Award in
January 2013, presented by the UC Davis AfricanAmerican Faculty and Staff Association. The award
recognized her longtime support of under-represented
UC Davis students.
That, in turn, has made her reflect on the goals that
motivate her every day: “That I make the effort to put
students first, that I care about people as a whole, and
that I treat people with kindness and respect.
“And that I recognize the potential in everyone.”
16 • UC DAVIS COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
Timothy T. Conant, ’79
Gregory M. Corsetto, ’78
Justin A. Creel, ’08
Richard H. Cuenca, ’78
Dennis F. Dal Porto, ’71
Jane M. Daniel, ’86
George W. Davis, ’78
Michael A. Davis
Michael J. Dean, ’76
Michael L. Deas, ’00
Andrea N. Demich, ’02
Wayne M. Denesik, ’72
Bihe Deng, ’99, and
Huijuan Lu, ’01
Michael P. Dentinger, ’84, and
Nanette S. Dentinger, ’82
Anthony J. Derpich, ’91
Yolanda M. DeVore, ’79
Johannes J. DeVries, ’78
Edmund L. Dickson, ’83
Patricia H. Dillon, ’96
Alison Z. Dimick, ’93
Joseph L. Disharoon, ’95
Richard A. Dixon, ’88
David M. Domyancic, ’09
Patrick D. Donovan, ’70
Richard C. Dow, ’69
Andrew L. Dul, ’98
Dennis G. Edwards, ’68
James T. Elliott
Laura L. Elmore and
David F. Elmore, ’79
Richard A. Enos, ’75
Sarina J. Ergas, ’93
David W. Erickson, ’88
Mark A. Erickson, ’02
Rickey J. Faehl, ’77
Diane M. Fairley, ’83
Deborah A. Faryniarz, ’85
Valentino S. Felipe, ’96
Herman J. Fink
Linda N. Finley, ’81
David N. Fittinghoff, ’93
Matthew C. Fleming, ’81
Patricia A. Francis-Lyon, ’11
Jeffrey C. Franke, ’96
Robert J. Frankenberg
Jerrold E. Franklin, ’87
Francis H. Frederick, ’67
Alexander A. Friedman, ’70
Katheryn A. Friend, ’84
Alexander M. Friz, ’95
Wilton B. Fryer, ’83
Pengcheng Fu, ’09
Peter M. Gathungu, ’95
Janet D. Gee, ’78
David J. Geisler, ’12
Edward W. Gennetten, ’72
Bruce M. Gentry, ’84
Karl F. Gerdes, ’84
Gregory L. Gibbs
Allan J. Giesbrecht, ’78
Erica L. Gjersing, ’10
Carl E. Glahn and
Heather M. Glahn
Robert J. Gluss, ’95
Ken Goto, ’69
Carl A. Gowan, ’74
William N. Gracely, ’77
Jeffrey S. Gragg, ’97
J. Brian Grant, ’91
William R. Gray, ’71
James S. Gruneisen, ’71
Edwin F. Guay, ’81
Rashi Gupta, ’99
Richard T. Ha, ’99
Don S. Hamaguchi, ’71
Douglas C. Hamilton, ’86
Lynn M. Hammon, ’79
Robert L. Hammond, ’76
Gregg E. Harkness, ’75
Craig N. Harrington, ’88
Kenneth R. Harris, ’98
Chuanhu He, ’89
Anthony E. Hechanova, ’88
Martin C. Hegedus, ’90
Vincent J. Hernandez, ’07
Tina M. Herrera, ’94
Leonard R. Herrmann and
Marilyn J. Herrmann
Robert T. Hickman, ’83
John R. Hines, ’74
John D. Hirsch, ’66
Frank R. Hislop, ’99
Katherine A. Hon, ’80
Jeffrey B. Horner, ’89
Brian C. Horsfield, ’71
Zhenling Hou, ’08
Roger W. Howard, ’98
Robert L. Howe, ’68
Amy L. Hubbard, ’85
William M. Hughes, ’80
Syed H. Husaini, ’83
David E. Ichikawa, ’79
Michael H. Ikeda, ’79
Intel Foundation
David P. Isaac, ’82
Anthony T. Iwamiya, ’85
Jessie A. Jackson, ’77
Sherman Jang, ’80
Rosanna V. Jenks and
Robert R. Jenks
Mark C. Jensen, ’93
Van D. Jepson, ’76
Anna Scaglione, a professor
in the UC Davis Department
of Electrical and Computer
Engineering, wants us to utilize
power more efficiently and
sustainably. Her research focuses
on communication networks and
information systems, with an
emphasis on wireless networks and
sensor networks. She’s fascinated
by the potential that waits to be
exploited by smart grids.
She also recognizes that people
need to stop thinking of power as
a commodity that must come to
us on demand, like water into a
sink. In fact, we often need power
to perform a certain service that
could be scheduled optimally. If one
wishes to use a dishwasher, for example, the work need not be done until the next time one requires clean dishes.
This concept of “scheduling” power tasks will become a much larger issue once electric vehicles become more
common. Drivers will need their vehicles to be charged between trips, possibly at a competitive rate, and certainly at a
convenient time.
As Scaglione envisions our future, all sorts of applications could incorporate an improved flexibility, by better sensing
and describing the objective of the work the appliance will perform. This, in turn, would help utilize renewable “green
electrons” — from, say, solar panels or wind farms — instead of the electrons being dispatched by coal.
Her research builds upon the ubiquity of smart phones that are charged via something with a USB port. Scaglione
proposes the same sort of power line for two-way communication: We’d therefore use the USB port to charge the device
and communicate data about the type of work the appliance needs.
Her research acumen has been acknowledged on several occasions, most recently when the Institute of Electrical
and Electronics Engineers selected her to receive the 2013 Donald G. Fink Award, which pays tribute to “researchers,
inventors, innovators and practitioners whose exceptional achievements and outstanding contributions have made a
lasting impact on technology, society and the engineering profession.”
Anna Scaglione
Andrew Q. Ji, ’85
Christopher D. Johnson, ’91
Gary L. Johnson, ’86
Theodore F. Johnson, ’98
Brian D. Johnston, ’04
Eddie A. Jordan, ’12
JustGive
Klyde S. Kanegawa, ’82
Andrew E. Kato, ’02
M. L. Kavvas
Thomas L. Kemp, ’80
Maureen E. Kennedy, ’66
James E. Kennon, ’79
Matthew B. Kerby, ’93
Ralph A. Kerwin, ’86
Jeffrey S. Keyak, ’71
Martin L. Kindel
Thomas E. Kirsch, ’66
Christine F. Klipfel and
Thomas A. Klipfel, ’91
Douglas G. Knarr, ’83
Robert F. Knight, ’67
Ruth L. Knipe, ’82
Elliot E. Koch, ’80
Carolyn T. Koenig, ’84
Jason J. Koh, ’90
Jeffrey R. Kohne, ’92
Marvin K. Kong, ’83
David E. Kotecki, ’88
Demetrious Koutsoftas
William C. Kreamer, ’77
Bruce L. Kutter, ’78
George Kwan, ’93
Demos T. Kyrazis, ’77
Si-Ty Lam, ’79
Richard A. Larder, ’75
Arthur A. Larson, ’82
Enrique J. Lavernia
Andrew J. Lawrence, ’07
Alfred K. Lee and Yvonne Lee
Clifton S. Lee, ’83
Lin-Foong Lee, ’94
Mark R. Leu, ’01, and
Joanna J. Leu, ’00
Christine S. Lew, ’92
Jenny Lin and Benson B. Lin
Tsugin Lin and Heny Lin
Colleen T. Lindsey-Cope, ’99
Gary W. Lohman, ’69
Thomas M. Losordo, ’88
Alexander W. Louie, ’86
Steven E. Louton, ’82
Peter C. Lucic and
Caroline H. Lucic
Jay R. Lund
Mark A. Lunsford, ’79
Andrew E. Lutz, ’88
Darrick Ly, ’10
Penny K. Lyons
Derek K. Man, ’81
Dawn A. Maneval and
James E. Maneval, ’91
Ziqiang Mao, ’95
Mark D. Mathews, ’77
Beth A. May, ’00
Mary E. Mazzei-Koederitz, ’76
John S. Mc Ewan, ’73
Teresa K. Mc Kenna, ’94
Lisa D. McMullen, ’86
Mary S. Mc Pherson, ’79
Dennis J. Metaxas, ’77
Microsoft Corp.
Christopher M. Mikita, ’08
Courtney N. Mizutani, ’87
Adam T. Moerschell, ’07
Bruce C. Montgomery, ’76
2012-13 ANNUAL REPORT • 17
Tina Jeoh
The enthusiastic young students who participated in
STEM for Girls Day, which took place April 6, 2013,
at the UC Davis Student Community Center, can thank
Tina Jeoh for their hands-on exposure to a wide
variety of engineering disciplines.
Jeoh joined the UC Davis Department of Biological
and Agricultural Engineering in July 2008, after
spending three years on a post-doc at the U.S.
Department of Energy’s Renewable Energy Lab.
Her research focus has remained the same: the
study of enzymes that break down the structural
polysaccharides in plant cell walls, thereby releasing
sugars that can be used to make new products —
biofuels and any number of other bio-based products
— from agricultural residue, wood wastes or energy
crops.
Jeoh and the campus Women’s Resources and
Research Center (WRRC) co-sponsored their debut
STEM for Girls Day in the spring of 2012; the 50
participating girls came from four area elementary
and middle schools. Armed with the knowledge of
what had worked — and what hadn’t — Jeoh was
better prepared to inspire the slightly larger group of
60 10- to 13-year-old girls who came to UC Davis
for the 2013 event. With very few exceptions, the
mentors and instructors were women; the goal was to
let the girls see older versions of themselves throughout
the day.
The outreach event was a tremendous success, and
Jeoh already is making plans for the 2014 STEM for
Girls Day ... when she can spare the time from her
biofuel research.
Tina Jeoh, center
18 • UC DAVIS COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
Honor Roll of Donors
continued
Douglas C. Moore, ’85
Diane M. Muller and
William O. Muller, ’89
Cynthia L. Murphy, ’91, and
James P. Murphy, ’88
Erin Y. Mustain, ’05
MWH
David J. Nano and Tina J.
Powell-Nano
Katherine A. Narum, ’78, and
Jeffrey L. Narum, ’76
James C. Nelson, ’75
Lawrence H. Nelson, ’68
New Albion Geotechnical Inc.
Bradley D. Newlin, ’00, and
Jessica T. Newlin, ’01
Dorothy S. Ng, ’85
Michael S. Ng, ’97
Michael N. Nguyen
Eric E. Nichols, ’84
Darin G. Nicholson, ’94
Niels J. Nielsen, ’78
Northrop Grumman Emply.
Charity Org.
Milton A. Northrup, ’91
Stephen L. Nutt
Anne E. O’Neal, ’82
Jennifer Offringa and Peter J.
Offringa, USA Ret., ’67
Alexander E. Okpisz, ’92
Bert R. Onstott, ’80
Terry M. Ota, ’66
Charlene K. Owens, ’86, and
Scott E. Owens, ’86
James J. Pallis and Jani M.
Pallis, ’96
Donald L. Parkison, ’03
John J. Paulson, ’72
Robert J. Pederson, ’73
Jeffrey D. Pelz, ’86
Carrloz Perez, ’99
Umberto Perna
Michael A. Perovich, ’68
Joshua J. Peterman, ’96
PG&E
Kent Phan, ’10
Betty R. Phillips, ’80
Kathryn A. Philpot, ’85
John H. Pitts, ’76
Andrew P. Porter, ’76
Richard Porticos, ’85, and
Karin V. Porticos, ’85
Richard C. Potter, ’94
Charles D. Poulter, ’89
Carolyn M. Primus, ’80
Karyn D. Pulley
Lawrence B. Pulley
Carolyn A. Pura, ’79
Robert Pyke
Walter E. Quincy, ’80
Jay Quiogue, ’99
Elia J. Racah
Oliver W. Ramsey
Mir-Saeed Razavi, ’78
David A. Redford, ’91
Armin C. Reese, ’94
Patrick J. Regan, ’76
Thomas C. Reilly, ’73
Earl F. Rennison, ’88
Cathe Richardson and
Dave Richardson
Stephen D. Ricks, ’75
Felix Riesenberg, ’91
Kerry Robinson
Douglas B. Robison, ’79
Hamid Rousta, ’96
Edward S. Ruben, ’89
Russel P. Rudden, ’72
James T. Saake, ’78
Sacramento Municipal
Utility District
Lloyd E. Sakakihara, ’70
Sheryl G. Salamanca, ’07
Edgar V. Salire and
Teresita Salire
Susan R. Sanicky, ’72
Nesrin Sarigul-Klijn
Arnab Sarkar, ’04, and
Deepalakshmi Raju, ’03
W. Steven Savage, ’73
Joseph H. Sayers, ’74
Herb Schmalenbach
Gordon J. Serpa, ’68
Mendora A. Servin, ’86
Robert B. Shank, ’90
James B. Shatara, ’95
Susan J. Sheffield, ’80
Kirthi Shenoy, ’00
Robert J. Sherwood, ’73
Genevieve A. Shiroma, ’78
Melina M. Simon, ’98
Shailendra P. Singh, ’08
Michael P. Siri, ’75
Floyd R. Smith, ’66
Alejandro Sosa, ’90
Anne L. Spiesman, ’84
Richard O. Sproul, ’77
Richard L. Stanley, ’79
Jackson W. Stephens
Richard H. Sterrett, ’77
David H. Stewart, ’80
Julie A. Stewart, ’83
Howard A. Stone, ’82
William D. Strauss, ’83
Jon A. Struck, ’94
Stryker Endoscopy
W. Randall Sturgeon, ’71
Simon S. Sue, ’81
Kei Sugaoka
John D. Sullivan, ’79
Chich-Yao Tang, ’95
William A. Taplin, ’79
Richard W. Terrazas, ’93
Robert D. Testa, ’63
Daniel P. Teuthorn, ’86
Jeffrey W. Thomas, ’77
Todd R. Thomas, ’84
Richard W. Thompson, ’66
H. H. Thorpe, ’72
Jonathan L. Thurston, ’90
Terry L. Tikalsky, ’81, and
Martha A. Tikalsky, ’81
Eric W. Tisinger, ’83
Ann Tobin, ’93
Christopher P. Toftner, ’78
Karen A. Tokashiki, ’82, and
Robert S. Tokashiki, ’81
Henry Tong, ’69
Lam Q. Trinh, ’90
Allan B. Tsou, ’07
Beth E. Twogood and
Richard E. Twogood, ’77
Tina M. Underwood, ’83
United Way Silicon Valley
Shrinivasa K. Upadhyaya
Stephen M. Urmini, ’89
Wim L. Van Warmerdam, ’88
Dennis L. Vanderpol, ’69
Rick E. Vargas, ’81
Vikrant K. Varma, ’95
Jennifer Vaughn, ’01, and
Michael S. Foster, ’00
R. Barton Vaughn, ’65
Gary R. Veerkamp, ’75
John A. Verbrugge, ’77
Celia Vigil, ’80
Paul R. Volkman, ’92
Douglas H. Wadman and
Mary J. Wadman
Lesley W. Walder and
Mark S. Walder, ’82
Joseph A. Wall, ’81
Xiaodong Wang, ’99
James R. Watson, ’03
Margaret M. Webb
Paul W. Wen, ’98
Marjorie S. Went, ’85
Timothy D. West, ’78
Lewis A. Whitney, ’64
Victoria A. Whitney-Landau, ’82
Jacqueline M. Wiggins, ’91
Kenneth S. Wilkins and
Rosalia R. Wilkins
Jeffrey D. Williams, ’84
Nicolaus J. Williams, ’07
Mahlon S. Wilson, ’82
Bradley D. Wind, ’93
Erik J. Winje, ’76
Martin W. Wizorek, ’70
Donald L. Wolfe, ’69
Anthony Wong and
Elaine Wong
Christopher F. Wong, ’88
Mark P. Woods, ’88
John E. Wright, ’73
Clark S. Wrigley, ’77
Baolin Wu, ’73
Ko Yamamoto, ’84
Samuel H. Yan, ’87
Jae Y. Yea, ’78
Melvin Yee, ’73
Douglas W. Yerkes, ’91
John J. Youden, ’75
Phillip D. Young, ’74
Brian K. Zarker, ’74
Mary Zhou, ’05
Harry Cheng came to UC Davis in 1992,
as a robotics and computing researcher.
His interests include information technology
and its applications in engineering, computeraided engineering, intelligent mechatronic
and embedded systems, robotics, design
and manufacturing, and mobile agent-based
computing. He also directs both the UC Davis
Integration Engineering Laboratory, and the
Center for Integrated Computing and STEM
Education (C-STEM).
He has earned numerous honors and awards;
he regularly publishes journal articles and book
chapters, and has chaired or served as a guest
speaker at dozens of conferences in the United
States and China. In the spring of 2011, Cheng
and former graduate student Graham Ryland
invented an intelligent, reconfigurable modular
robot — dubbed the “Mobot” — that earned a National Science Foundation Innovation Award grant and made splashy
features stories in newspapers and on ABC-TV.
Despite all this innovative research, Cheng is most passionate about his outreach activities taking place outside the
lab. He has realized that his computing and robotics fields are ideal for better engaging at-risk students in K-12 schools:
children ill-served by teaching methodology which, in too many cases, hasn’t changed for 30 years. The idea, then, is to
tailor a teaching curriculum that better speaks to young students whose lives are consumed by smart phones, tablets and
all sorts of other gadgets.
During the past several years, Cheng has addressed both ends of the education equation: He leads seminars to train
participating K-12 teachers in the principles of computing and related teaching methodologies, and he also oversees
popular and highly competitive student activities, such as the annual C-STEM Day Robo-Play and Math Programming
Challenges. The 2013 event drew 30 teams of three to five students from regional schools, and the young scientists spent
the entire day putting various configurations of Mobots through their paces.
One day, Cheng hopes, they may do the same with full-scale robots of their own design.
Harry Cheng
2012-13 ANNUAL REPORT • 19
“...growing
cartilage tissue in
the lab from adult
stem cells.”
Kyriacos A. Athanasiou
Until recently, athletes with damaged knee joints were
forced to contemplate new careers. Adults suffering
from osteoarthritis could choose between only metal and
plastic prosthetics.
The reason? Cartilage, unlike most other human tissue,
cannot heal itself.
Kyriacos A. Athanasiou is a Distinguished
Professor and chair of the UC Davis Department of
Biomechanical Engineering, a position he accepted
in August 2009. He and his research team have been
growing cartilage tissue in the lab from adult stem cells
taken from bone marrow and skin, and from human
embryonic stem cells. His research goal will have a
huge impact on treatment; he desires nothing less than
live, biological cartilage that not only will fill defects, but
potentially will be able to re-coat the entire surface of
joints destroyed by osteoarthritis.
20 • UC DAVIS COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
In October 2011, Athanasiou received the Distinguished
Service Award — one of the highest possible honors —
from the Biomedical Engineering Society. That same month,
he was named to the scientific advisory board of the
Histogenics Corp., a regenerative medicine company that
intends to focus on cartilage repair.
In the spring of 2013, he was named the sole Laureate
of the 2012 Nemitsas Prize. The presentation ceremony
took place Nov. 27, 2013, in a newly constructed hall of
the presidential palace in the Republic of Cyprus. The event
was included in the official program of the Presidency of
Cyprus to the European Union, and the president himself
presented the prize, which included three honors: a
certificate, a solid gold medal and a monetary award of
50,000 Euros.
One day soon, people will walk and move better, thanks
to Athanasiou’s efforts.
Sanjay Joshi
While in junior high school, Sanjay Joshi was
given a NASA poster of the space shuttle Columbia,
emblazoned with the stirring words “Going to work in
space.” That poster now hangs on the wall of his office
in 2054 Bainer Hall.
After spending most of the 1990s working at NASA’s
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, memorably on the Deep
Space One spacecraft, Joshi yielded to the lure of
academia and joined the UC Davis Department of
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. His research
focus involves combining robotics control systems,
artificial intelligence and basic neuroscience, in order to
create systems that will help paralyzed people interact
with their environments.
In the spring of 2010, Joshi received a Hartwell
Foundation grant — $300,000 over three years — to
help develop machine interfaces that would allow
severely disabled children to control devices in their
environment. In September 2012, his brain/computer
interface work — on a project undertaken with Columbia
University colleagues Peter K. Allen, Joel Stein and Lyssa
Sorkin — garnered a National Science Foundation grant
in the amount of $1.21 million. The five-year study initially
will focus on 10-12 individuals with spinal cord injuries, to
determine if they can be trained in the effective control of
brain-computer interfaces.
In a filmed recording of a recent lab test, a robot is
controlled wirelessly by a young man paralyzed in a biking
accident, who sends signals to the muscle that moves one of
his ears. In this manner, he controls a robot that is a distance
away, on the other side of a wall. The subject can’t see the
robot, but he can see what the robot sees, via a camera
mounted on its body. In a real-world environment, such a
robot could be directed to answer a phone, respond to a
doorbell, fetch a book or perhaps even prepare a meal.
The potential is enormous.
“The ultimate goal,” Joshi enthuses, “is Avatar. And we’re
well on our way.”
Sanjay Joshi, right
“The ultimate goal is Avatar. And we’re well on our way.”
2012-13 ANNUAL REPORT • 21
Robinson logged more
than 1,156 hours and
19.8 million miles in space.
stephen
robinson
The first time shuttle astronaut Stephen K. Robinson made UC Davis his home, from 1974 to ‘78, he
was an undergraduate engineering student who — quite notoriously — spent an entire night in the Tercero
Dining Commons, in order to finish building a hang glider.
In September 2012, Robinson returned to the campus where he also once played sousaphone in the Cal
Aggie Marching Band-uh, this time to join the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.
Robinson accomplished a great deal during his absence from UC Davis. The Sacramento native
became a veteran NASA research scientist and astronaut, with four shuttle missions to his
credit. The first three took place on the shuttle Discovery, in 1997, ‘98 and 2005; the
fourth, in February 2010 on the shuttle Endeavor, involved a visit to the International
Space Station. All told, Robinson logged more than 1,156 hours and 19.8 million
miles in space, including more than 20 EVA (extra-vehicular activity) hours.
His second Discovery mission — a media sensation — was made alongside
John Glenn, famously returning to space 36 years after he became the first
American in orbit on Feb. 20, 1962, aboard the Friendship 7 Mercury
capsule.
Robinson always has remained faithful to his home-town supporters. In
October 2005, when the IMAX film Magnificent Desolation: Walking
on the Moon premiered at downtown Sacramento’s Esquire
Theater, he was on hand to chat with local schoolchildren
and media representatives. He returned in April 2010 and
performed similar duties for the premiere of the IMAX film
Hubble 3D, once again at Sacramento’s Esquire Theater.
Robinson also has been a popular speaker at UC Davis.
A 2005 appearance filled the Mondavi Center’s Jackson
Hall; that same year, he won the UC Davis Medal,
the highest honor the campus accords an individual
for contributions to the university, or the broader
community of learning. An April 2010 presentation,
as part of the College of Engineering’s Dean’s
Distinguished Lecture Series, featured a slide show
that concluded with an image of the UC Davis flag
... in outer space.
22 • UC DAVIS COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
Enrique Lavernia
Enrique Lavernia, left
When Enrique Lavernia served as emcee for UC Davis’ Centennial Convocation in
September 2008, he made a point of acknowledging the UC Davis Symphony Orchestra, then
celebrating its 50th anniversary. Science disciplines too infrequently recognize the arts under
such public circumstances, but this salutation was typical of Lavernia, who goes out of his way to
ensure that colleagues — whether fellow faculty members, research associates in other states or
countries, or even brief professional acquaintances — understand how much he appreciates their
time and effort.
Lavernia became dean of the UC Davis College of Engineering
in September 2002. As a further indication of his commitment
to all aspects of academic life, he temporarily stepped down
from that position in January 2009, when he was appointed the
UC Davis provost and executive vice chancellor. In this capacity,
he served as the campus’ chief academic and operating officer
until January 2011, at which point he resumed his responsibilities
as Dean of the College of Engineering.
His research work focused on the synthesis of structural
materials and metal matrix composites, with particular attention
to processing fundamentals and thermal spray processing; he
developed a ground-breaking manufacturing technique, dubbed
“spray rolling,” to produce aluminum products.
Mostly, though, Lavernia has worked hard to ensure the continued growth and prestige of the
UC Davis College of Engineering. During his tenure as dean, it has become one of the nation’s
fastest-growing engineering schools, with 14 undergraduate majors, more than 200 faculty and
more than 5,000 undergraduate and graduate students.
His many honors include the 2013 ASM International Gold Medal, and in February 2013 he
was elected to the National Academy of Engineering, for “contributions to novel processing of
metals and alloys, and for leadership in engineering education.”
“Lavernia has worked
hard to ensure the
continued growth and
prestige of the UC Davis
College of Engineering.”
2012-13 ANNUAL REPORT • 23
From left, Maelene
Wong, biomedical
engineering graduate
student; Leigh Griffiths,
assistant professor of
veterinary medicine and
epidemiology; Jeni Lee,
biomedical engineering
graduate student;
and Gina MacBarb,
biomedical engineering
graduate student.
“...patients benefiting from ViVita’s technology would
be freed from a lifetime of immunity-rejection drugs.”
ViVita
When UC Davis biomedical engineering doctoral student
Maelene Wong joined Leigh Griffiths’ lab in 2009, her
first project focused on confirming what they believed
to be a dead end in transplant research: the notion
that tissue replacement — for, say, patients needing
new heart valves — could be enhanced to a degree
that would prevent the recipient’s immune system from
rejecting the new organ.
Imagine their surprise, then, when their breakthrough
process successfully removed the substances that
triggered a patient’s immune response, while still
preserving the structural integrity and functional
properties of the replacement tissue.
In the summer of 2012, Griffiths and his team —
Wong and fellow biomedical engineering graduate
students Regina MacBarb and Jennifer Lee — attracted
the attention of Jim Olson, of UC Davis’ Engineering
Translational Technology Center (ETTC), the College of
Engineering’s in-house technology incubator. The result
was the creation and incorporation of Vivita, a start-up
“home” for this tissue research.
24 • UC DAVIS COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
technologies
The new company initially will target the roughly 65,000
replacement heart valve procedures performed in the United
States each year, which represents an annual market of
$755 million and a potential global market of $2.5 billion.
But the ViVita breakthrough doesn’t merely address the
current shortage of organs for such procedures. Unlike
current heart valve transplants, patients benefiting from
ViVita’s technology would be freed from a lifetime of
immunity-rejection drugs. The company’s tissue preparation
process will create tissue replacements that will last the
lifetime of the patient. It also will allow for better transplant
methods for children, who often need new transplants, via
additional surgeries, as their bodies grow.
Looking not too much further into the future, ViVita plans
to expand via the development of a much more diverse
product pipeline: Heart muscles, small vessels, bone, liver
and cartilage applications are under development.
Griffiths fully expects to achieve the goal that he and his
team set, just a few years ago: to one day meet somebody
who is alive because of their technology.
Engineering Translational
Technology Center
Adds New Clients
The College of Engineering’s Engineering Translational
Technology Center (ETTC) has grown considerably during
the past year, thanks to the influx of new clients.
ETTC was established in 2010 as a “technology
incubator” designed to identify and influence early-stage,
high-value research from tenure-track faculty within the
UC Davis College of Engineering. ETTC’s primary goal
is to help transform such UC Davis-developed intellectual
property into a startup which then can attract support
from external financial investors.
The Center was co-founded by Bruce White, a
UC Davis dean emeritus and professor emeritus, who
is a leading pioneer in environmental wind-tunnel
research and an internationally recognized authority in
wind engineering; and Jim Olson, an entrepreneur who
rejuvenated Hewlett Packard during a 21-year career at
that company, and subsequently founded and became
CEO of the WestShore Management Group, which
provides consulting and development services for public
and private venture-finance companies.
In August 2012, ETTC was named one of the “Ten
College Business Incubators We’re Most Excited About”
by bestcollegesonline.com. ETTC appeared on the list
alongside Syracuse University’s Student Sandbox and
Harvard’s Innovation Lab.
Dysonics, a startup that is developing products
designed to reproduce immersive sound via headphones,
became ETTC’s first “graduate” in May 2012. In
January 2013, the Center proudly announced its second
graduate: Ennetix, a startup formed to commercialize
a software application called “EnergyPlus,” which
optimizes energy use in IT networks and connected
systems.
ETTC’s current clients include:
n Ambercycle,
which uses synthetic biology to engineer
custom-tailored organisms that degrade PET plastic
into high-value commodity chemicals;
which is developing ceramic and
semiconductor blades with custom 3D cutting-edge
profiles that are just a few atoms across;
that uses tobacco plants as “biofactories” of highvalue recombinant proteins, including life-saving
therapeutics and vaccines;
n Atocera,
n Picosense LLC,
n Barobo Inc.,
n StreamTex Technologies,
which aims to make robots more
affordable, adaptable, reconfigurable and
reprogrammable for education, research and
industrial applications;
n HydroAlumina,
which creates and stores ultra-pure
hydrogen at low temperatures and pressure, using a
process that is both green and economical;
n ImmunoSense Technologies,
which focuses on
innovative methods for blood analysis;
n Inserogen,
which plans to commercialize a quick,
scalable and cost-effective manufacturing platform
which is developing the next
generation of chip-scale sensors that will be capable
of measuring picotesla magnetic signals;
which will exploit a
biomedical engineered textile that stays dry by
forming moisture into droplets that drain away via a
network of water-attracting threads within a waterrepellent fabric;
n TacSense,
which is developing small, flexible sensors
for personal home health monitoring; and
n ViVita Technologies Inc.,
which has developed a
process that enhances tissue replacement to a degree
that would prevent the recipient’s immune system from
rejecting a new organ.
2012-13 ANNUAL REPORT • 25
UC Davis College of Engineering
One Shields Avenue
Davis, CA 95616
engineering.ucdavis.edu
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