Alumni Spotlights

Since its founding in 1962, over 35,000 students — and counting! — have graduated from the UC Davis College of Engineering. Our alumni have pursued careers in a wide variety of technical fields in industry, public service and academia, occupying positions of leadership and making a global difference.

Alumni Spotlights

Our alumni have become pioneers in their respective fields with achievements that have been far-reaching. Here are some outstanding examples of how our graduates are changing the world:

A Conversation with Federal Energy Regulatory Commissioner and Alum Judy Chang

by Jessica Heath
November 14, 2024

Alumni

Before Judy Chang was overseeing the country's energy transmission as the first Asian American woman Commissioner on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, she was an undergraduate engineer walking through Kemper Hall. She talks about laying the groundwork for her career in energy policy and how her love of electronic music brought her to UC Davis.

Erik Contreras and other student smile as they look at robotic car on table

Erik Contreras Combines Design, Sustainability and Open-Source Innovation in Engineering

by Jessica Heath
October 30, 2024

Erik Contreras, a UC Davis mechanical engineering graduate student, paused their degree to pursue a Master of Fine Arts in Design. In this Q&A, Contreras discusses their interdisciplinary journey, creative hacking and their work on autonomous vehicles.

Woman of Steel: Zeynep Gulerce, Ph.D. '08

by Nayana Jayarajan, IAEA Department of Nuclear Safety and Security
October 08, 2024

Alumni

Zeynep Gulerce's career has been shaped by earthquakes. She was a young civil-engineer-in-training in Türkiye when a magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck the Kocaeli Province of the country. It lasted 37 seconds and claimed more than 18,000 lives and injured tens of thousands of people. Hundreds of thousands lost their homes and businesses.

Mountains Beyond Mountains

by Matt Marcure
October 04, 2024

More than 7,500 miles separate Nepal and the University of California, Davis. That distance becomes imperceptible in a lab at Tribhuvan University in Kathmandu, the country's capital.

A Conversation with Three-Time Engineering Alum Diana Gamzina

by College of Engineering Communications
August 13, 2024

Alumni

Diana Gamzina '08, M.S. '12, Ph.D. '16 recently spoke with Microwave Product Digest to discuss the innovations she’s made in millimeter-wave power amplifiers as well as current hurdles and future accomplishments she hopes to make with her company Elve.