Spring Digest | May 12, 2021
Dean's Message
Dear Colleagues,

Greetings from the School of Engineering at the University of California, Merced. We are innovative, transformative and on the rise. In the 16 years since the university's first classes were held, the School has established a solid foundation for sustained excellence.

UC Merced is ranked in the Top 100 overall and in the Top 40 of public universities by U.S. News & World Report. We are also first among public universities in outperforming expected graduation rates and fifth among all universities in supporting social mobility.

As a highly diverse school and institution, the School of Engineering is always looking for new ways to engage students and broaden their paths to career and research opportunities. Fall semester 2021 will mark the debut of a new Civil Engineering major that emphasizes sustainable systems and infrastructure. The School will also introduce a streamlined Bioengineering major that offers career pathways in biotechnology and in biomedical imaging and bioinstrumentation.

We are proud of our widely recognized faculty, such as Assistant Professors Arvind Gopinath and Marie-Odile Fortier, who each received a 2021 National Science Foundation CAREER to support their research. Gopinath is studying how biological materials respond to features of their environments and cause infection. Fortier is researching climate change impacts of solar and ocean renewable energy.

UC Merced is truly building the future in the heart of California, and the School of Engineering is proud to be a major part of the university’s success.
SCHOOL ON THE RISE
Debuting at No. 140 in 2015, the School of Engineering now stands at No. 119 in the U.S. News and World Report Engineering Graduate Program ranking!
NSF CAREER AWARDS
Engineering Faculty Earn UC Merced's
25th and 28th CAREER Awards
Professor Arvind Gopinath's infectious-cells research earns an NSF CAREER Award.
Professor Marie Odile-Fortier receives an NSF CAREER Award to support enhanced renewable energy assessments.
RESEARCH IMPACT
Engineering Faculty Lead 2 New UC Multi-Campus Centers
UC Multicampus Research Programs and Initiatives (MRPI) 2021 Results

Fifteen outstanding proposals, totaling more than $18 million over four years, were awarded as a result of the 2021 Multicampus Research Programs and Initiatives (MRPI) competition.

These awards, selected from a pool of 94 eligible applications, represent an investment in innovative, interdisciplinary research across a broad range of fields, engaging faculty and students across UC campuses, and supporting collaborations that strengthen UC's research enterprise and benefit UC and the people of California.
Prestigious Biennial Grant Program Includes Funding for Ag-labor and Wildfire Research

1) Labor and Automation in California Agriculture (LACA): Equity, Productivity & Resilience | Lead PI: Professor Thomas Harmon

2) Addressing California communities doubly vulnerable to catastrophic wildfires | Lead PI: Professor Crystal Kolden

In addition to these two projects, six UC Merced faculty members are co-primary investigators on projects led by other UC campuses and about a dozen more UC Merced faculty members are participating in the eight MRPI-supported projects.
NIH Funded Collaboration Furthers Understanding of Immune Cell Development
A new grant from the National Institutes of Health enables School of Engineering Professor Spencer and School of Natural Sciences Professor Manilay to expand a collaborative project to better understand B-cells.
Faculty News Digest
Women in STEM Feature
Mission Unstoppable on CBS celebrates women who have become superstars in #STEM​-related careers.

Mechanical Engineering Professor Ashlie Martini answers the question: "What is Tribology?"

DEPARTMENT UPDATE
Coming this Fall 2021!
Civil Engineering
The School of Engineering will welcome its newest program, Civil Engineering, with the official launch this coming Fall 2021!
Bioengineering
Beginning in Fall 2021, the Bioengineering department is rolling out a new undergraduate program that provides a significant modification and streamlining of the current BS degree program. Structured specifically around a curriculum consistent with ABET accreditation expectations, the new program offers students two distinct pathways to exciting careers in the bioengineering field.
STUDENT SUCCESS
School of Engineering student is UC Merced's 1st Rhodes Scholar
Selina Brinkmann, who will graduate in May with a master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, is UC Merced’s first student to earn a prestigious Rhodes Scholarship.
Students Contribute to Castle Air Museum Proposal
Students teamed up with Castle Air Museum to complete a grant application for funds from Proposition 68, which would improve the park for the community.
Ukamaka Ezimora is recognized by the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) as a 2021 NCWIT Collegiate Award Finalist for her technical contributions to Sepia Sisters's Voting Game / Python Voting System.
Jacqueline Bustamante, a 4th year Chemistry student, shares her cross-collaborative experiential learning research opportunity provided by Merced nAnomaterials Center for Energy and Sensing (MACES).
Our Programs