This column offers a sampling of honors recently awarded to UC Davis faculty, staff and units:

Kazuo Yamazaki, a professor of mechanical and aeronautical engineering, has received the Frederick W. Taylor Research Medal from the Society of Manufacturing Engineers. The medal — which recognizes significant published research leading to a better understanding of factors involved in improving manufacturing processes — was awarded to Yamazaki for his body of research and development.

Marie Burns, associate professor in the UC Davis Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Science and a member of the UC Davis Center for Neuroscience, is the 2009 recipient of the Cogan Award. The award, bestowed by the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, recognizes a researcher 40 years old or younger who has made important contributions to research in ophthalmology or visual science that are directly related to disorders of the human eye or visual system, and who shows substantial promise for future research.

Burns will receive the award at the association’s annual meeting from May 3-7 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Nathan Kuppermann, a professor of emergency medicine and pediatrics and chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine at the UC Davis School of Medicine, has been awarded the Miller-Sarkin Mentoring Award by the national Academic Pediatric Association. The award will be presented during the Pediatric Academic Societies’ annual meeting in Baltimore May 2 through 5.

The Miller-Sarkin Award recognizes the contributions of an Academic Pediatric Association member who has provided outstanding mentorship.

— Dateline staff