Business Development Fellows
Fei Chang
Exploring biomass as a renewable energy and material source
Fei Chang is a six-year Ph.D. candidate in the Chemistry Department. He will receive his degree this summer. As a graduate student, Chang had a one-year medicinal chemist internship at GlaxoSmithKline working on drug discovery. In late 2016 he cofounded Furanica Inc. to commercialize his patented technology of producing furan fatty acids as nutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals.
Shea Feeney
Taking the bite out of a tissue-dissolving parasitic amoebozoa
Shea Feeney received her B.S. with a double major in biochemistry and cellular & molecular biology from San Francisco State University in 2014. That fall she joined the UC Davis Biochemistry, Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology graduate group and is now a Ph.D. candidate.
Rouzbeh Kananizadeh
Making dental appointments less daunting
Rouzbeh Kananizadeh began his UC Davis doctoral program in 2012 and is now a Ph.D. candidate in electrical engineering. He earned his B.S. at Sharif University of Technology in Tehran, Iran.
Xingchen Liu
Developing functional and green clothing materials
Xingchen Liu is a fourth-year Ph.D. student in the Agricultural and Environmental Chemistry graduate program, pursuing a major in fiber and polymer science. Xingchen earned her B.S. in textiles at Donghua University, the world-class textile engineering college in China, and her M.S. in textiles & clothing at UC Davis.
Shalini Shankar
Capturing health-promoting ingredients from dairy industry waste streams
Shalini Shankar is a second-year master’s student in the Department of Food Science and Technology. She earned her Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) in food engineering and technology from the Institute of Chemical Technology in Mumbai, India. She worked with the Coca-Cola Co. in the corporate R&D and the global scientific and regulatory affairs departments, and also completed internships with the USDA, Tata Chemicals Innovation Centre and Equinox Labs prior to enrolling at UC Davis.
Kay Watt
Deconstructing drought to further food security
Kay Watt is a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate in the Integrative Genetics and Genomics graduate group, and the Plant Sciences department. She is a NSF GRFP fellow, a Fulbright scholar and a former Peace Corps volunteer. She has a BA in religious studies from Smith College, and a BS in biotechnology from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.