Chemical Engineering Content

Could Cultured Chocolate Unlock the Next Food Revolution?

Andy Fell — May 11, 2026 - 1:12pm

Researchers at the University of California, Davis, are working with California Cultured, a Sacramento based food-tech company, to keep chocolate affordable and sustainable by growing everyone’s favorite treat directly from plant cells.

Biologists and Engineers Follow Goopy Clues to Plant-Wilting Bacteria

Andy Fell — January 23, 2026 - 11:02am

Slippery, drippy goop makes Ralstonia bacteria devastating killers of plants, causing rapid wilting in tomato, potato and a wide range of other crops, according to new research. The work, published Jan. 22 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, comes from an unusual collaboration between plant pathologists and engineers at the University of California, Davis.

Tackling Nuclear Waste Challenges One Atom at a Time

Andy Fell — June 09, 2025 - 3:29pm

Nuclear energy is having a bit of a moment, with recent interest from big tech companies like Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Meta, which are pursuing nuclear energy as a sustainable and reliable source of power for their growing data centers.

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 UC Davis 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.

UC Davis 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 UC Davis ��ý 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 UC Davis in 2015, yet she was able to take her work to even greater heights as the new dean of the ��ý 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, ��ý 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.