Outstanding Senior Spotlight: Noah Wagner

Noah Wagner was inspired to pursue electrical engineering after completing the circuits unit in a high school AP physics course in Sacramento, California. It is no surprise, then, that Wagner has created a body of work at the University of California, Davis, with a strong gravitational pull. 

For his senior design project, Wagner made history. He was part of a team that took on developing a Qi charger, or a device that uses electromagnetic induction to charge gadgets like smartphones and smartwatches. The project is notorious for its difficulty. 

“When we proposed the project, my team was informed that previous teams were not able to complete it,” Wagner said.  

Undeterred, his team became the first to build a fully functional Qi charger. 

Another marked accomplishment of Wagner’s was becoming the first recipient of the Valley Tech Systems Fellowship for an undergraduate student. The fellowship, sponsored by the Folsom-based engineering company Valley Tech Systems, Inc., financially supports an undergraduate interested in national security and signals intelligence research for one academic year.  

For his success, Wagner is grateful to Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Zhi Ding, who always showed enthusiasm for the discipline and a sincere desire to help all his students succeed. He is also thankful to his church, family and friends for all the unforgettable memories of the past four years and for helping him grow. 

After graduating, Wagner will begin a full-time position at Ulteig, an engineering firm in Rancho Cordova, California.