Javier Aztiazarain was at a crossroads in his life. For years, he’d worked as an engineer for a production company, designing and building stage shows and live events for clients across the entertainment and sports industries. While he enjoyed the work, Aztiazarain wasn’t satisfied. He wanted to move in a different professional direction, one that still fed his love for design and tinkering tendencies.
Chemistry is in the spotlight this March with the celebration of the 24th Annual R. Bryan Miller Symposium. The event, scheduled for March 14 and 15, features a lineup of lectures from prestigious scientists working at the cutting-edge of chemistry, its subdisciplines and related fields. Registration for the event, which is free, is now open.
Created over 10 years ago by Professor of Chemistry Jared Shaw, the Davis Science Café provides an avenue for the community to learn about the current state of science across its many disciplines. Learn more about the Davis Science Café in the above video. The meetings are held on the second Wednesday of every month at G Street WunderBar in Davis at 5:30 p.m.
In nature, organic molecules are either left- or right-handed, but synthesizing molecules with a specific handedness in a lab is hard to do. Make a drug or enzyme with the wrong “handedness” and it just won’t work. Now chemists at the College of Letters and Science at UC Davis are getting closer to mimicking nature’s chemical efficiency through computational modeling and physical experimentation.
As a UC Davis associate professor in the Department of Chemistry at the College of Letters and Science, Jesús Velázquez employs his chemistry expertise to synthesize materials useful for environmental remediation, transforming carbon dioxide-based waste streams, and energy conversion and storage. With his sights set on transforming the world for the better through chemistry, Velázquez, ever humble, never fails to thank the family members and academic mentors who guided his life path. Their imprint echoes into today, informing how he mentors and teaches.
In a new paper appearing in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, Professor of Chemistry Frank Osterloh and his colleagues unveiled a new type of solar cell that might be used in tandem with current commercial solar cell technologies to improve solar conversion efficiency and produce clean hydrogen fuel.
A mathematician, a linguist, a chemist and a physicist are among this year’s cohort to receive Incentives for Large Grant Awards from the College of Letters and Science at UC Davis. The Incentives for Large Grant Awards program provides faculty with up to $80,000 in support over two years to pursue large grants over $1 million.
Four faculty members have received the 2023 College of Letters and Science Teaching Awards. The awards recognize outstanding teaching on the undergraduate and graduate levels, both inside and outside the classroom.
We’ve all heard the advice: “Eat more fiber.” But the reality behind that seemingly simple recommendation is much more complex when it comes to human health. While consumption of dietary fiber has been associated with decreased risks of obesity, type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease and certain gastrointestinal disorders, honing in on how specific fibers — or more broadly, carbohydrates — from different foods affect the gut microbiome and thus human health remains a black box.
Created over 10 years ago by Professor of Chemistry Jared Shaw, the Davis Science Café meets on the second Wednesday of each month to provide an avenue for the community to learn about the current state of science across its many disciplines.
