Dr. Lilian P. Davila received her B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of California, Davis in Materials Science and Engineering. Dr. Davila is currently an Assistant Professional Researcher at the University of California, Merced. Dr. Davila was a recipient of highly competitive post-doctoral fellowships prior to her joining UC Merced. She was awarded a Ford Postdoctoral Fellowship from 2008-2009, a prestigious nation-wide recognition. Previously, Dr. Davila was awarded with a UC President’s Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of California, Merced and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) from 2006-2008. Dr. Davila earned a Ph.D. in 2015 at UC Davis and her dissertation examined silica glass at high pressure using atomistic simulations and the implications their resulting structural modifications have on varied properties. Dr. Davila’s current research interests include modeling nanostructures, biomaterials, porous materials, and “materials by design” using experiments, theory and simulations. The overall goal of her work is to contribute to the advancement of science by studying fundamental principles governing materials and their properties at various length scales for innovative nanotechnology, medicine and energy applications.
ABSTRACT The work presented in this thesis consists of using computational methods to understand ... more ABSTRACT The work presented in this thesis consists of using computational methods to understand the nature of vitreous silica at high pressure, predict the possible atomistic processes that lead to the densification in this glass, and examine the implications these structural modification have on selected useful properties. These simulations are part of an effort required to develop realistic models of this technologically important glass. Vitreous silica is simulated on the atomic-scale at elevated pressures using two computational tools. First, we reproduce realistic models of pure vitreous silica. Next, we monitor the behavior of this glass under shock pressures using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The simulations reproduce the experimental equation of state (EOS) of this material and explain its characteristic dependence on pressure. It is found that shock pressures modify the medium-range order of this amorphous system, producing changes that are revealed by its ring size distribution. The ring size distribution remains unchanged during elastic compression but varies continuously after the transition to the plastic regime. A detailed analysis of key structural parameters indicates the mechanisms that lead to such transformations in vitreous silica. Finally, we perform first-principles calculations to investigate the role of selected defects in the degradation of the optical properties in densified vitreous silica.
During the first mid‐term examination (which occurred three to four weeks after the start of inst... more During the first mid‐term examination (which occurred three to four weeks after the start of instruction), students from six lower division undergraduate courses at a major public university were asked if they could recall the name of their instructor. The 95 percent who were able to correctly write the first or last name of their instructor also scored significantly (P = 0.003) better on the examination than those who could not. The most widely reported methods for learning the instructor's name were the first lecture (52 percent), the syllabus (26 percent), and the university catalog (12 percent). Students were also asked if they thought that the professor knew the student's name. Four percent of the respondents reported that they thought the instructor knew their name, 89 percent replied that they did not think so, and six percent were not sure.
Designation: Catalog Description: Design considerations in the use of materials; quality control;... more Designation: Catalog Description: Design considerations in the use of materials; quality control; selecting materials to optimize multiple properties; materials failure; long-term materials properties; materials behavior under extreme conditions; corrosion; discussion of design and materials selection strategy; processing and process selection strategy; process economics; life-cycle thinking and eco-design; special topics. Text Books and Other Required Materials: • M.F. Ashby, Materials Selection in Mechanical Design, 4th Edition, Elsevier, San Francisco, 2011; ISBN 978-1-85617-663-7. • Cambridge Engineering Selector (CES EduPack), Granta Design Limited, Cambridge, UK, 2010, www.grantadesign.com. • Cases studies provided by the instructor • W.D. Callister, Materials Science for Engineering: An Introduction, 7th Edition, Wiley, 2007. ISB 978-0-471-73696-7. • M.S. Peters, K.D. Timmerhaus, R.E. West, Plant Design and Economics for Chemical Engineers, 5th Edition, McGraw-Hill (2003). ISBN 0-07-239266-5. • ASM Handbook Volume 20. Available online at: http://products.asminternational.org/hbk/index.jsp • Various other selected readings throughout the semester. Course Objectives/ Student Learning Outcomes: Course Goals:
Computer Applications in Engineering Education, 2022
This paper analyzes the assessment of engineering professors of different nationalities and unive... more This paper analyzes the assessment of engineering professors of different nationalities and universities regarding the use of virtual reality (VR) technologies in the classroom. In particular, the existence of gaps in these evaluations by ownership (private or public) of the university where each professor teaches is analyzed, both within the complete sample of participants and within the subsets formed when they are differentiated by gender, age, and time of teaching experience. For this purpose, a questionnaire has been designed and validated with 22 inquiries that have been dispersed in six scales, corresponding to six different dimensions that affect the didactic use of VR. The questionnaire has been distributed to a set of 279 university professors from different Engineering schools and countries. The results, which have been analyzed quantitatively, both descriptive and inferential, indicate that engineering teachers give high evaluations to VR as a didactic tool, but show a c...
Methodologies and Intelligent Systems for Technology Enhanced Learning, 10th International Conference, 2020
The increasing presence of virtual reality learning environments (VRLEs) in university classrooms... more The increasing presence of virtual reality learning environments (VRLEs) in university classrooms makes it necessary to study what factors influence the effectiveness of this type of teaching tool. In particular, when planning to use a VRLE in class to support the classes, a careful design of the application to achieve a high level of efficiency at the formative level must be carried out. This article discusses key aspects that need to be taken into account during the design of a VRLE that have been determined to be increasingly important for students to achieve a higher level of meaningful learning (and, thanks to it, the knowledge acquired through the use of the VRLE will last in their memory for a longer time) and also feel a greater motivation to use it to: (i) adapt both the level of interactivity as well as the way the VRLE conducts the student through the virtual experiment; and (ii) maintain a look and a handling mode of the VRLE similar to other virtual environments that exist at the present time (e.g. video games). The study carried out and described in this article highlights the effectiveness of using in certain cases a step-by-step guidance protocol to improve long-term learning of concepts under study. In addition, the importance of using modern development tools to achieve a high level of motivation among students is emphasized.
New and efficient drug delivery to the posterior part of the eye is a growing health necessity wo... more New and efficient drug delivery to the posterior part of the eye is a growing health necessity worldwide. Current treatment of eye diseases, such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD), relies on repeated intravitreal injections of drug-containing solutions. Such a drug delivery has major drawbacks including short drug life, significant medical service, and high medical cost. In this study, we explored a new approach to controlled drug delivery by introducing unique porous implants. Our computational modeling contained key physiological and anatomical traits. Incompressible flow in a porous media field, including the sclera, choroid, and retina layers, is governed by Darcy law and the time evolution of the drug concentration was solved via three convection-diffusion equations in the three layers, respectively. The computational model was validated by established results from independent studies and experimental data. Simulations of the IgG1 Fab drug delivery to the posterior eye were performed to evaluate the effectiveness of the porous implants for controlled delivery. Overall, our results indicate that drug therapeutic levels in the posterior eye sustain for eight weeks similarly to those using intravitreal injection. We first evaluated the effects of the porous implants on the drug delivery in the posterior layers. Subsequent simulations were carried out with varying porosity values in a porous episcleral implant. We found that the time evolution of drug concentration is distinctively correlated to drug source location and pore size. A correlation between porosity and fluid properties for selected porous implants was revealed for the first time in this study.
ABSTRACT The work presented in this thesis consists of using computational methods to understand ... more ABSTRACT The work presented in this thesis consists of using computational methods to understand the nature of vitreous silica at high pressure, predict the possible atomistic processes that lead to the densification in this glass, and examine the implications these structural modification have on selected useful properties. These simulations are part of an effort required to develop realistic models of this technologically important glass. Vitreous silica is simulated on the atomic-scale at elevated pressures using two computational tools. First, we reproduce realistic models of pure vitreous silica. Next, we monitor the behavior of this glass under shock pressures using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The simulations reproduce the experimental equation of state (EOS) of this material and explain its characteristic dependence on pressure. It is found that shock pressures modify the medium-range order of this amorphous system, producing changes that are revealed by its ring size distribution. The ring size distribution remains unchanged during elastic compression but varies continuously after the transition to the plastic regime. A detailed analysis of key structural parameters indicates the mechanisms that lead to such transformations in vitreous silica. Finally, we perform first-principles calculations to investigate the role of selected defects in the degradation of the optical properties in densified vitreous silica.
During the first mid‐term examination (which occurred three to four weeks after the start of inst... more During the first mid‐term examination (which occurred three to four weeks after the start of instruction), students from six lower division undergraduate courses at a major public university were asked if they could recall the name of their instructor. The 95 percent who were able to correctly write the first or last name of their instructor also scored significantly (P = 0.003) better on the examination than those who could not. The most widely reported methods for learning the instructor's name were the first lecture (52 percent), the syllabus (26 percent), and the university catalog (12 percent). Students were also asked if they thought that the professor knew the student's name. Four percent of the respondents reported that they thought the instructor knew their name, 89 percent replied that they did not think so, and six percent were not sure.
Designation: Catalog Description: Design considerations in the use of materials; quality control;... more Designation: Catalog Description: Design considerations in the use of materials; quality control; selecting materials to optimize multiple properties; materials failure; long-term materials properties; materials behavior under extreme conditions; corrosion; discussion of design and materials selection strategy; processing and process selection strategy; process economics; life-cycle thinking and eco-design; special topics. Text Books and Other Required Materials: • M.F. Ashby, Materials Selection in Mechanical Design, 4th Edition, Elsevier, San Francisco, 2011; ISBN 978-1-85617-663-7. • Cambridge Engineering Selector (CES EduPack), Granta Design Limited, Cambridge, UK, 2010, www.grantadesign.com. • Cases studies provided by the instructor • W.D. Callister, Materials Science for Engineering: An Introduction, 7th Edition, Wiley, 2007. ISB 978-0-471-73696-7. • M.S. Peters, K.D. Timmerhaus, R.E. West, Plant Design and Economics for Chemical Engineers, 5th Edition, McGraw-Hill (2003). ISBN 0-07-239266-5. • ASM Handbook Volume 20. Available online at: http://products.asminternational.org/hbk/index.jsp • Various other selected readings throughout the semester. Course Objectives/ Student Learning Outcomes: Course Goals:
Computer Applications in Engineering Education, 2022
This paper analyzes the assessment of engineering professors of different nationalities and unive... more This paper analyzes the assessment of engineering professors of different nationalities and universities regarding the use of virtual reality (VR) technologies in the classroom. In particular, the existence of gaps in these evaluations by ownership (private or public) of the university where each professor teaches is analyzed, both within the complete sample of participants and within the subsets formed when they are differentiated by gender, age, and time of teaching experience. For this purpose, a questionnaire has been designed and validated with 22 inquiries that have been dispersed in six scales, corresponding to six different dimensions that affect the didactic use of VR. The questionnaire has been distributed to a set of 279 university professors from different Engineering schools and countries. The results, which have been analyzed quantitatively, both descriptive and inferential, indicate that engineering teachers give high evaluations to VR as a didactic tool, but show a c...
Methodologies and Intelligent Systems for Technology Enhanced Learning, 10th International Conference, 2020
The increasing presence of virtual reality learning environments (VRLEs) in university classrooms... more The increasing presence of virtual reality learning environments (VRLEs) in university classrooms makes it necessary to study what factors influence the effectiveness of this type of teaching tool. In particular, when planning to use a VRLE in class to support the classes, a careful design of the application to achieve a high level of efficiency at the formative level must be carried out. This article discusses key aspects that need to be taken into account during the design of a VRLE that have been determined to be increasingly important for students to achieve a higher level of meaningful learning (and, thanks to it, the knowledge acquired through the use of the VRLE will last in their memory for a longer time) and also feel a greater motivation to use it to: (i) adapt both the level of interactivity as well as the way the VRLE conducts the student through the virtual experiment; and (ii) maintain a look and a handling mode of the VRLE similar to other virtual environments that exist at the present time (e.g. video games). The study carried out and described in this article highlights the effectiveness of using in certain cases a step-by-step guidance protocol to improve long-term learning of concepts under study. In addition, the importance of using modern development tools to achieve a high level of motivation among students is emphasized.
New and efficient drug delivery to the posterior part of the eye is a growing health necessity wo... more New and efficient drug delivery to the posterior part of the eye is a growing health necessity worldwide. Current treatment of eye diseases, such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD), relies on repeated intravitreal injections of drug-containing solutions. Such a drug delivery has major drawbacks including short drug life, significant medical service, and high medical cost. In this study, we explored a new approach to controlled drug delivery by introducing unique porous implants. Our computational modeling contained key physiological and anatomical traits. Incompressible flow in a porous media field, including the sclera, choroid, and retina layers, is governed by Darcy law and the time evolution of the drug concentration was solved via three convection-diffusion equations in the three layers, respectively. The computational model was validated by established results from independent studies and experimental data. Simulations of the IgG1 Fab drug delivery to the posterior eye were performed to evaluate the effectiveness of the porous implants for controlled delivery. Overall, our results indicate that drug therapeutic levels in the posterior eye sustain for eight weeks similarly to those using intravitreal injection. We first evaluated the effects of the porous implants on the drug delivery in the posterior layers. Subsequent simulations were carried out with varying porosity values in a porous episcleral implant. We found that the time evolution of drug concentration is distinctively correlated to drug source location and pore size. A correlation between porosity and fluid properties for selected porous implants was revealed for the first time in this study.
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