New Assistant Professor

Dr. William Ristenpart joins the faculty of the Department of Food Science & Technology

Prof. William Ristenpart is a proud alumnus of UC Davis. He graduated with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering in 1999 and then went on to get a Ph. D. in Chemical Engineering at Princeton University.  Most recently, he finished a post-doctoral fellowship at Harvard University where he had the opportunity to work with Prof. Howard Stone (himself an alumnus of UC Davis), one of the preeminent experts in the world on fluid mechanics. At Harvard, Prof. Ristenpart used microfluidic techniques to investigate how red blood cells respond to arterial constrictions, such as those formed when arteries clog due to buildup of excess arterial plaque.  At UC Davis, Prof. Ristenpart intends to use these microfluidic techniques to probe how metabolites of different foods affect red blood cells and their ability to regulate blood pressure.

Dr. Ristenpart has already made a splash on the UC Davis scene as one of his papers was highlighted in News and Information.