Barbara Linke Named UC Davis Chancellor’s Fellow
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE) associate professor Barbara Linke was named a 2022 UC Davis Chancellor’s Fellow. The fellowship program, now in its 22nd year, recognizes and supports outstanding early-career faculty members at UC Davis. Chancellor’s Fellows receive a one-time award to support research, teaching and service and hold the title for five years.
Linke is one of 12 recipients this year and one of two from engineering.
“I feel highly honored being chosen for the Chancellor's Fellowship,” she said. “I am thrilled that this award gives me the chance to enhance my research on sustainable manufacturing, and I am excited that this can open new opportunities for funding and collaborations.”
Linke runs the Manufacturing and Sustainable Technology Research (MASTeR) Lab, which is known for its work in green and energy-efficient manufacturing and abrasive machining processes. To make product design and manufacturing more sustainable, the lab studies three different aspects of manufacturing and design—concepts of sustainable and smart manufacturing, physical principles of manufacturing processes like grinding, milling and 3D printing, and part quality, which includes distortion, surface integrity and 3D surface topography.
Linke is heavily involved in teaching as well. Aside from being the department’s vice chair for undergraduate studies, she teaches the popular “Manufacturing Processes” course (EME 50) and the “Mechanical Design” course (EME 150B), as well as “Sustainable Manufacturing and Design” (MAE 256) and Modern Manufacturing Technologies (MAE 259) for graduate students. She has also graduated 15 graduate students.
“Barbara always motivates, inspires and creates an encouraging environment for her students to grow professionally and her enthusiasm and love for teaching is contagious,” said her former Ph.D. student Jayanti Das in a letter of support. “She is always supportive, helpful, and constantly challenges her students to think more deeply and to explore different perspectives.
She received the F.W. Medal from the International Academy for Production Engineering in 2009, the Society of Manufacturing Engineers’ Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineering Award in 2013 and the College of Engineering’s Outstanding Junior Faculty Research Award in 2019.
Linke earned her undergraduate and doctoral degrees at RWTH Aachen University in Germany and worked as a postdoctoral scholar there before coming to UC Berkeley for her second postdoctoral position. She joined UC Davis in 2012.