Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering professor Francis Assadian is a co-PI on a $7 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to study cooperative automated vehicles (CAVs) in rural and multimodal environments. Led by at Texas A&M University, the four-year project titled, “AVA: Automated Vehicles for All” involves collaborators at George Washington University, General Motors, NVIDIA and National Instruments.

Distinguished Professor Bahram Ravani and Professor Stephen Robinson received Outstanding Faculty Awards from the UC Davis College of Engineering for their outstanding work during the 2018-19 academic year. Ravani received the Outstanding Senior Faculty Research Award and Robinson received the Outstanding Faculty Teaching Award. These awards are the college's highest honors given to faculty.

Mechanical and aerospace engineering professor Niels Grønbech-Jensen was re-appointed as faculty executive director for the California State Summer School for Mathematics and Science (COSMOS) program for another five-year term. Grønbech-Jensen is the first person to serve in the role, which was created in 2014.

Humans and machines communicate using different languages, and like any language barrier, it can be reduced through mutual understanding and translation. New mechanical and aerospace engineering assistant professor Dr. Jonathon Schofield aims to break down this barrier by improving communication between humans and robotic rehabilitation technologies. 

By Brady Oppenheim

When Dr. Ralph Aldredge begins his new position as the UC Davis College of Engineering’s Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies in summer 2019, he will bring a long history of student advocacy to his latest role.

Professor Cristina Davis has been named chair of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, effective July 1, 2019. Davis has been at UC Davis since November 2005 and has served as vice chair for the past two years.

Mechanical and aerospace engineering and computer science professor Raissa D’Souza has been named lead editor of the American Physical Society’s new open access journal, Physical Review Research.

MAE and CS professor Raissa D’Souza was honored twice by the Network Science Society, being named a Fellow of the society and receiving the inaugural Euler Award for an outstanding research contribution that changed paradigms or assumptions in the field.

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Lecturer Jason Moore is a co-awardee for an inaugural $5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to further the LibreTexts project.