About Our Laboratory

Our research group's work focuses on cutting edge research on the design and implementation of analytical sensors -- especially chemical sensors. We occupy ~1,000 ft² of dedicated laboratory space on the main University of California, Davis campus.

There exists an urgent need for sensors that can rapidly, accurately, and specifically detect extremely small concentrations of chemical and biological materials. Such technologies can make an impact on everything from public health to national defense.

Along with researchers in industry, our group is developing new sensor systems suitable for rapid diagnosis of various pulmonary diseases. Similarly, we are also applying variations on this technology for the early detection of chemical and biological agents. By drawing parallels in chemical/metabolite detection for clinical and defense applications, we can now develop "dual-use" sensors that are less expensive to bring through the development pipeline and can be applied to a wide spectrum of problems.

This core thrust in our research requires a multidisciplinary effort between biology, chemistry, mathematics, mechanical, and electrical engineering.

A broad range of research topics are being pursued by our lab members, including:

• non-invasive clinical diagnostic tools
• sensor system development for precision agriculture
• novel microelectromechanical (MEMS) devices
• nanotechnology manufacturing methods
• biodefense applications
• new materials for MEMS/NEMS applications
• mechanical and bioinstrumentation design
• bioinformatics and machine learning approaches for data analysis

Please look around our website, and contact Prof. Davis with any questions!