UC Davis engineers have invented shaking and inversion machines that are a critical part of the UC Davis Genome Center’s award-winning asymptomatic COVID-19 testing. These machines, designed and built in just six weeks, help treat saliva samples so they can be tested for the virus.
On March 18, the UC Davis Healthy Soils Project hosted a virtual field day focused on producing and applying compost products from almond and dairy waste. The virtual field day is an opportunity for UC Davis faculty and students to connect and share their research with agricultural producers across California.
Researchers in the department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering (BAE) are working to make agriculture safer for children. With a new five-year project funded through the National Children’s Center for Rural and Agricultural Health and Safety (NCCRAHS), assistant cooperative extension specialist Farzaneh Khorsandi and professor Fadi Fathallah will study all-terrain vehicle (ATV) safety to prevent childhood injury.
Biological and agricultural engineering associate professor Stavros Vougioukas is leading two new research projects to mechanize the orchard and pick fruit more effectively.
As the world’s population is expected to reach 9–10 billion by 2050 according to the U.N., the world must double food production to meet demand while using and reusing the resources we have left in a sustainable manner. Ruihong Zhang and Isaya Kisekka at UC Davis are rising to meet the challenge by finding new ways to sustainably produce food, while conserving resources by using microbes to produce new sources of protein and managing and irrigating crops with pinpoint precision.
A 2019 paper from the UC Davis Biological and Agricultural Engineering Department recently received the European Society of Agricultural Engineers (EurAgEng) Outstanding Paper Award. The award is given every other year by the Institution of Agricultural Engineers (IAgrE) to two to three standout papers published in the Biosystems Engineering journal.
Though many restaurants and markets pride themselves on serving “farm to fork” food, what happens between those steps is one of the most important part of the food production process. With improper handling and storage, food can start to rot or grow mold, which makes it unusable and unsafe for consumers.
Vivian Vuong’s ’17, Ph.D. ’21, drive to study agricultural engineering stemmed from her undergraduate research with Biological and Agricultural Engineering Professor and Smart Farm Big Idea Champion David Slaughter. Today she’s working on gathering genetic data on plants to increase yield in the field – a method that can improve food access and the environment.
The University of California, Davis, has been awarded $20 million as part of a multi-institutional collaboration to establish an institute focused on enabling the next-generation food system through the integration of artificial intelligence, or AI, technologies. The award is part of a larger investment announced today (Aug. 26) by the National Science Foundation, or NSF, in partnership with several federal agencies — distributing a total of $140 million to fund seven complementary AI research institutes across the nation.
A new startup out of the UC Davis biological and agricultural engineering (BAE) department has developed an award-winning system that uses insect larvae to produce animal feed with less land and a smaller carbon footprint. Fresh off success in UC Berkeley’s 2020 Big Ideas competition and UC Davis’ 2019 Big Bang! Business Competition, BioMilitus is poised to use their lab-based research to make the planet more sustainable.
Professor David Slaughter was featured in the article discussing the changes ahead for agriculture as the workers will move from manual labor to digital labor.
Read the article, titled "Where Will We Find Tech-Savvy Farm Workers?" at GrowingProduce.com.
The April 2019 issue of Irrigation Today features an article written by Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering faculty member, Isaya Kisseka.
On Tuesday, April 3rd, a small group of researchers met at Hines Nursery in Winters, CA to fly drones. But, these were not just any drones. These drones are equipped with thermal and multi spectral cameras.
The Biological and Agricultural Engineering department at UC Davis welcomed guests from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and UC San Diego during a two day workshop October 16th-17th made possible by funding from the Global Incentive Fund (GIF). The joint workshop was an opportunity to learn more about the current trends in gasification, biofuels, and synthesis gas (syngas).
