Vinod Narayanan Leads Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering as New Department Chair

Professor Vinod Narayanan is the new Warren and Leta Giedt Endowed Professor and Chair of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of California, Davis. His appointment is effective July 1, 2026.  

As chair, Narayanan looks forward to further strengthening the department's research, education and industry partnerships.    

“I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to serve as chair of mechanical and aerospace engineering,” Narayanan said. “I am excited to work with our distinguished and dynamic faculty and our outstanding staff to build on the department’s many past successes. Together, we will continue to provide our undergraduate and graduate students with the exceptional educational experience they need to thrive in their careers.”  

Narayanan, an expert in thermal fluid sciences, is at the forefront of thermal management technologies. His work has spanned building energy efficiency and HVAC technologies, data center thermal management, additively manufactured heat exchangers for extreme environments and energy efficiency in industrial processes.  

In 2015, he joined UC Davis as a professor and associate director of the Western Cooling Efficiency Center, or WCEC, which works with manufacturers, policymakers and utilities to accelerate the development and commercialization of efficient heating, cooling and energy distribution solutions. Since 2021, he has served as director of the WCEC.  

At UC Davis, Narayanan has been named a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and Sempra Chair in Energy Efficiency. He received the UC Davis Graduate Program Advising and Mentoring Award in 2023.  

Prior to UC Davis, Narayanan was a faculty member at Oregon State University's School of Mechanical, Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering for 14 years. While there, he received the NSF CAREER Award in 2008 and was the inaugural holder of the Welty Faculty Fellowship.  

Narayanan has authored and co-authored over 150 journal and conference publications and is the inventor or co-inventor of five patents. 

Narayanan earned his Master of Science and Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Texas A&M University and his Bachelor of Engineering in mechanical engineering from the National Institute of Technology, Karnataka, in India.