University of California, Davis (UCD) Courses

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

The Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering offers Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Science and Engineering with emphasis on mathematics, physical sciences, and engineering sciences. The undergraduate program in Mechanical Engineering enables learners to use fundamental sciences and physical and mechanical principles to design and produce complicated engineering systems, and handle control devices, power conversion systems, materials, and machinery.

The graduate programs in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering provide M.S. and Ph.D. degrees. Graduate students gain abilities in addressing the basic problems in these fields and designing complicated multi-component systems. The Ph.D. program studies are performed in close cooperation between the professors and the students who are interested in conducting autonomous and comprehensive studies in their field of expertise.

Students may apply to the Ph.D. program directly, irrespective of whether or not they have already received an M.S. degree. Departmental research lays emphasis on a variety of areas, including biomechanics, aerostructures, sensors, combustion systems, and energy systems.

Areas of Expertise:

• Mico and Non-Engineering
• MEMS; Plasma Physics
• Energy Systems
• Design & Manufacturing
• Aerospace Science & Engineering
• Fluid Mechanics and Thermal Sciences
• Dynamics
• Controls
• Robotics
• Mechatronics
• Bioengineering
• Vehicles & Transportation Engineering
• Computational Science & Engineering

List of Labs: Advanced Highway Maintenance & Construction Technology Ctr.; Air Quality Research Center

Biotechnology

UC Davis provides undergraduate and graduates programs in Biotechnology preparing students for rewarding careers in both private and public industries. Students receive academic training at UC Davis in technologically sophisticated classrooms and practical training in high-quality study laboratories. The bachelor's degree in Biotechnology (BSc) is a four-year program.  

For more in-depth research, the learners concentrate their research on one of the four particular fields: microbial biotechnology, animal biotechnology, plant biotechnology, or bioinformatics. UCD does not have a master’s or doctoral degrees in biotechnology but offers a Designated Emphasis in Biotechnology (DEB) program.

The DEB is an inter-graduate group program that allows Ph.D. students in any of the graduate programs to obtain and be credited for training in the area of biotechnology. The DEB offers multidisciplinary concentrations in biotechnology including bioethics exposure and company and biotechnology legal elements. It also offers an interactive atmosphere to foster the integration of various methods of research and promoting biotechnology learning. The Advanced Degree Program for Corporate Employees is also accessible at UCD which allows doctoral degrees to be pursued by the staff at regional biotechnology, biomedical or bioscience companies.

Areas of Expertise:

• Aquaculture
• Biotechnology
• Pre-Medicine
• Robotics
• Ecology Engineering
• Food Engineering
• Biomechanics
• Bioenergy
• Pre-Veterinary Medicine
• Forestry

Chemical

The Chemical Engineering Department at UC Davis provides Chemical Engineering undergraduate and graduate programs leading to Ph.D. and MS degrees in Chemical Engineering. UC Davis’ chemical engineering graduates are well prepared for careers in the private and government sectors and academia. The Graduate Program guarantees powerful grounding in the fundamentals of chemical engineering and investigates the critical applications across a broad variety of process systems.

The major thrust areas of the department are energy, environment, food and health, information technology, biotechnology, and nanotechnology. Graduates conduct research and take part in the production in sectors as varied as biotechnology, aerospace, and food processing, and manufacturing positions.

Areas of Expertise:

• Mathematical/Molecular Modeling
• Thermochemistry
• Process Control
• Renewable Energy
• Green Engineering and Design
• Fluid Mechanics and Rheology
• Hydrogels
• Biotechnology
• Biochemical and Biomolecular Engineering
• Membrane Biophysics
• Polymers
• Electron Microscopy
• Electronic and Electrochemical Properties and Devices
• Transport Phenomena
• Reaction Engineering
• Catalysis

Civil and Environmental Engineering

In the latest rankings of the U.S. News and World Report, the civil engineering program is ranked 12th in the country and the environmental engineering programme is ranked 15th. Together with the Ph.D., the department provides bachelors and masters degrees. The undergraduate program in Civil Engineering offers a curriculum that not only provides a strict foundation of basics and considerable flexibility in the choice of courses but also integrates basics, implementation, and professionalism into individual lessons. UC Davis’s undergraduate program in Environmental Engineering prepares students for a multitude of government and private organizations, including the California Department of Water Resources, the California Air Resources Board, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and for major environmental engineering and government businesses across California, the country, and the globe. CEE students work on one or more of five specialized areas of research: Environmental Engineering, Geotechnical Engineering, Structural and Structural Mechanics, Water Resources and Transportation Engineering. UC Davis' CEE Graduate Program offers a platform where learners can develop the full potential to solve issues and become leaders in civil infrastructure and environmental engineering through individual and cooperative studies, education, and professional service inclusion. The graduate programmes include MS and Ph.D. degrees in Civil and Environmental Engineering. The MS programmes have two options - a thesis and non-thesis. The former involves the completion of the designated coursework and submission of thesis, while the latter involves the completion of the designated coursework, taking a comprehensive written examination or submission of a project.

Areas of Expertise:

• Land Use and Transportation Relationships
• Travel Behavior Analysis and Demand Modeling
• Air Quality Engineering
• Structural Engineering and Solid Mechanics
• Environmental Engineering
• Geotechnical Engineering
• Environmental Impacts of Transportation
• Traffic Flow and Network Analysis
• Transportation Economics
• Water Resources Engineering;
• Renewable Fuels and Hybrid Vehicle Systems
• Transportation Engineering and Planning
• Water-energy Efficiency
• Life Cycle Analysis
• Heating/Ventilation/Air-conditioning and Refrigeration
• Data Analytics
• Energy Economics
• Plug-in Hybrid and Electric Vehicles
• Transportation Engineering  Planning
• Lighting

List of Labs:

• National Center for Sustainable Transportation
• Center for Water-Energy Efficiency
• Tahoe Environmental Research Center
• Institute of Transportation Studies
• UC Davis J. Amorocho Hydraulics Laboratory (JAHL)
• Pavement Research Center
• Advanced Transportation Infrastructure Research Center Facility
• Western Cooling Efficiency Center
• Center for Watershed Sciences
• Center for Geotechnical Modeling
• Policy Institute for Energy
• Environment and the Economy

Computer Science

The Computer Science Department provides a Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Ph.D. degrees. The bachelor’s or the undergraduate degree administers two curricula: Computer Science (CS) in the College of Letters and Science and Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) in the College of Engineering.

Both the CS and CSE majors offer students a wide background in Computer Science along with the chance to choose their electives from a multitude of specific fields. The Computer Science (CS) major provides a strong grounding in computer language fundamentals, operating systems, and formal mathematical instruments used in problem-solving with the help of computers.

The Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) major involves organizing, designing, analyzing, programming, and applying digital computers and computing systems. Hardware / Software interaction in computer system design is the main theme of this curriculum. The CSE also needs extra electives from General Education to help students to learn the verbal abilities and intellectual skills that employers require. The Department also provides computer science graduate studies leading to the Master of Science and Ph.D. degrees.

The department offers two plans for the MS degree: Plan I which requires successful completion of a thesis, and Plan II which requires successful completion of either a project or a master’s exam. The MS thesis demonstrates the proficiency of a student in research methods and scientific analysis and thorough knowledge in the chosen area.  In a multitude of core and applied CS fields, the Graduate Group in Computer Science (GGCS) provides intensive study programs. These programs provide learners with access to professors outside the department of computer science, as well as intellectual freedom to transcend study disciplines and regions.

Areas of Expertise:  

• Computational Biology
• Computer Graphics and Visualization
• Computer Security and Cryptography
• Software Engineering
• Wireless Communication
• Bioinformatics
• Database Systems
• Data Mining and Machine Learning
• Programming Languages
• Computer Networks

List of Labs: Computer Security Laboratory; UC Davis Center for Visualization

Electrical Computer Engineering

The Electrical and Computer Engineering Department offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees. The Electrical Engineering undergraduate degree includes designing, analyzing, and making efficient use of electrical devices including electronic computers. The department of ECE provides graduate programs leading to Ph.D. and Master of Science degrees. There are two kinds of degrees of Masters of Science (MS).

The plan I need a thesis to be completed, providing a chance to conduct in-depth research and write a thesis. On the other hand, Plan II involves extra training and examination. The ECE Ph.D. program requires students to pass a preliminary Ph.D. assessment - an individualized study program, demonstrate satisfactory performance in the qualifying examination, finish a dissertation on studies.
 
Areas of Expertise:

• Physical Electronics
• Computer Engineering
• Electronic Circuits
• Communication
• Control
• Networking, and Signal Processing
• RF
• Micro- and Millimeter Waves
• Optoelectronics

List of  Labs: Davis Millimeter Wave Research Center

Material Science

The Department of Materials Science and Engineering’s undergraduate program focuses on areas ranging from fracture conduct in automobiles to fatigue conduct in aircraft frames; from corrosion conduct in petrochemical refineries to radiation-induced harm in nuclear power plants; and from steel manufacturing to semiconductor design.

The Master of Science degree (M.S.) is intended to prepare learners for research and development professions and industry. The M.S. Degree combines training and research but with a more restricted study project scope and thesis for a shorter time-to-degree. The one-year Master of Engineering (M.Eng.) is the department's most flexible degree.

The M.Eng. A degree can be completed as both full or part-time programme and is open to both recent graduates and those in the workforce at the moment. The doctoral graduates go for careers related to product development or research. 

Areas of Expertise:

• Mechanical Properties and Synthesis
• Structural Materials
• Defect Structures
• Ceramics
• Metals
• Glasses
• Mathematical Modeling
• Radiation Tolerant Materials
• Materials under Extreme Conditions
• Magnetic Properties and Devices
• Biomaterials
• Bionanotechnology
• Biomedical Engineering
• Materials Microstructure and/or Processing
• Nanomaterials
• Electronic and Electrochemical Properties and Devices
• Electron Microscopy
• Optical Properties and Devices

List of Labs: Center for Nano and Micromanufacturing; Advanced Materials Characterization and Testing Lab; Nanomaterials in the Environment, Agriculture, and Technology

Pure Sciences

The Department of Physics of UC Davis offers A.B.(Bachelor of Arts) and B.S. degrees in physics as well as a B.S. with astrophysics specialization. Bachelor of Arts (A.B.) majors often engage in fields such as pre-university learning, leadership, and administration in industrial laboratories and government agencies, and manufacturing and sales. B.S. majors can continue studying physics at the graduate level; many of them also study associated areas such as astrophysics and astronomy, biophysics, informatics, and materials science.

The department also provides two master’s degree programs, Plan I involves coursework for graduates and a master's dissertation. Plan II involves a degree course and a comprehensive examination. The Ph.D. degree needs students to have a thorough knowledge of the principles of physics and mathematical techniques and also submit a thesis. The Chemistry Department at UC Davis provides undergraduate programs such as Bachelor of Arts (A.B.) and Bachelor of Science (B.S). Graduate programmes in Chemistry include masters and Ph.D. Ph.D. scholars in the department, either as a Teaching Assistant or a Graduate Student Researcher (GSR), are guaranteed economic assistance.

The Mathematics department provides the following undergraduate programs - Bachelor of Arts (A.B.) or the Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degrees. Also, the department provides programs that lead to M.A. (Program of Mathematics), M.S. (Applied Mathematics), and Ph.D. (Mathematics as well as Applied Mathematics). UC Davis graduates in mathematics have found career opportunities in operations research, analysis of systems, computing, actuarial work, insurance, economic services, and education.

List of Labs: Center for Advanced Laboratory Fusion Science and Engineering