Chemical Engineering Content

Creating Nanoislands for Better Platinum Catalysts

Andy Fell — January 28, 2025 - 4:27pm

Noble metals such as platinum can make useful catalysts to accelerate chemical reactions, particularly hydrogenation (adding hydrogen atoms to a molecule). The research team led by Professor Bruce Gates at the �ٺ��Ƶ Department of Chemical Engineering is interested in making platinum catalysts that are highly efficient and stable during chemical reactions.

Wrong Place, Wrong Time: Why Zika Virus Hijacks a Protein Needed for Brain Growth

Andy Fell — January 13, 2025 - 11:13am

The mosquito-borne Zika virus is known for causing microcephaly, a birth defect in which abnormal brain development results in a smaller-than-expected head. A new study published Jan. 13 in mBio shows that the Zika virus hijacks a host protein called ANKLE2, which happens to be important for brain development, to assist its own reproduction. Because Zika, unlike most related viruses, can cross the placenta, this can have disastrous consequences in pregnancy.

�ٺ��Ƶ Coffee Center Opens

Andy Fell — May 07, 2024 - 2:39pm

The Coffee Center at the University of California, Davis, officially opened Friday, May 3. The Coffee Center is a center of excellence in the �ٺ��Ƶ College of Engineering and the first academic research and teaching facility in the U.S. entirely dedicated to the study of coffee.

Among the Academies: Modeling Better Futures

Jose Antonio Vadi — March 18, 2024 - 1:47pm

Jennifer Sinclair Curtis was already well-established in her career in engineering when she arrived at �ٺ��Ƶ in 2015, yet she was able to take her work to even greater heights as the new dean of the College of Engineering.

“After the interview I knew I wanted this job,” Curtis said. “The spirit of the campus and faculty both shared “a very creative kind of can-do spirit, very no-nonsense. That's the vibe I got.”

Nano-Sized Islands Open Possibilities for Application of Single-Atom Catalysts

Andy Fell — October 26, 2022 - 11:45am

A new method to anchor single atoms of platinum-group metals on nanometer-sized islands allows for efficient use of these expensive metals as catalysts for a wide variety of applications.

Lettuce Could Protect Astronauts’ Bones on Mars Trip

Andy Fell — March 22, 2022 - 8:30am

Astronauts might one day grow and eat genetically modified plants to ward off disease associated with long spaceflights. Researchers at the University of California, Davis, College of Engineering have developed a transgenic, or genetically modified, lettuce producing a drug to protect against bone density loss in microgravity. The work will be presented March 22 at the spring meeting of the American Chemical Society in San Diego.

Airborne Viruses Can Spread on Dust, Nonrespiratory Particles

Andy Fell — August 18, 2020 - 10:16am

Influenza viruses can spread through the air on dust, fibers and other microscopic particles, according to new research from the University of California, Davis, and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. The findings, with obvious implications for coronavirus transmission as well as influenza, are published Aug. 18 in Nature Communications.

New Technique Allows 3D Printing of Flexible Materials

Andy Fell — June 18, 2020 - 11:00am

Engineers at the University of California, Davis, have developed a new approach to 3D printing that allows printing of finely tuned flexible materials. By using a droplet-based, multiphase microfluidic system, the team was able to efficiently print materials with potential applications in soft robotics, tissue engineering and wearable technology. The work is published June 15 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

How Important is Speech in Transmitting Coronavirus?

Karen Michele Nikos — April 16, 2020 - 2:17pm

This story by Andy Fell

Normal speech by individuals who are asymptomatic but infected with coronavirus may produce enough aerosolized particles to transmit the infection, according to aerosol scientists at the University of California, Davis. Although it’s not yet known how important this is to the spread of COVID-19, it underscores the need for strict social distancing measures — and for virologists, epidemiologists and engineers who study aerosols and droplets to work together on this and other respiratory diseases.

Wilbur Curtis Co. Supports �ٺ��Ƶ Coffee Center

Andy Fell — July 12, 2017 - 10:15am

Wilbur Curtis Co., an industry leader in the design and manufacturing of coffee-brewing equipment, has pledged $250,000 to the University of California, Davis, to support the university’s expanding Coffee Center. The donation is the first by Wilbur Curtis to a major academic institution.