School of Engineering

From Soil to Climate Solutions: Berhe Leads Sierra Nevada Research Institute into its Next Chapter

September 11, 2025

When Professor Asmeret Asefaw Berhe arrived at UC Merced in 2009, she and her husband, Professor Teamrat Ghezzehei, were leaving major research institutions to join a brand-new campus in California’s Central Valley. It was a leap of faith — one made easier by the Sierra Nevada Research...

Researchers Align Atomic Friction Experiments

Working together to study friction on the atomic scale, researchers at UC Merced and the University of Pennsylvania have conducted the first atomic-scale experiments and simulations of friction at...

New NASA-Affiliated Center Opening at UC Merced

MERCED, Calif. — NASA has awarded a group of researchers at the University of California, Merced, $5 million to establish the campus’s largest extramurally funded research and education center to...

Researcher Wins Fulbright Award to Study Himalayan Hydropower

UC Merced researcher David Rheinheimer has seen the Himalayas from many angles — from his home on the Yangtze River, from the foothills as a student in India and from the Nu River in Yunnan’s Three...

Most Americans Could Eat Locally, Research Shows

MERCED, Calif. — New farmland-mapping research published today shows that up to 90 percent of Americans could be fed entirely by food grown or raised within 100 miles of their homes. Professor...

Professor Joins Major New Robotics Initiative

UC Merced Professor Stefano Carpin will serve on the executive board of a new multidisciplinary research enterprise called the People and Robots Initiative, by the Center for Information Technology...

Student Teams Win Cash Prizes at Innovate to Grow

The winners of this year’s Innovate to Grow competition have been announced. The event includes three components: The Mobile App Challenge, the Capstone competition for senior Innovation and Design...

Campus to Mark Milestone with 10th Graduating Class

When students walk across the stage at this weekend’s commencement ceremonies at the University of California, Merced, they will join the nearly 4,000 scholars who have earned degrees from the...

Innovate to Grow Promises Exciting Developments

Innovate to Grow, the annual showcase of UC Merced student creativity, features some amazing teamwork this year, from medical and agricultural devices to mobile applications for saving energy and ...

Researcher Develops New Cloud Security Method for Mobile Users

A UC Merced researcher has come up with a new, super-efficient encryption system for smart phones that lets users secure data being sent to and retrieved from the cloud. Encrypting data on your phone...