Engineering

Project Aims to Put AI to Work Reducing its Own Energy Needs

April 8, 2026

Photo depicts Elizabeth Nowadnick, center, surrounded by members of her lab on campus at UC Merced.

It's no secret that artificial intelligence uses a lot of electricity. A standard ChatGPT query consumes approximately 0.34 watt-hours - roughly 10 times more than a Google search. According to the Pew Research Center, U.S. data centers consumed 183 terawatt-hours of electricity in 2024 -...

Top 100 Best Graduate Schools ranking, two students in a lab

UC Merced Sees Strong Gains in U.S. News Grad School Rankings

UC Merced saw broad gains in the U.S. News and World Report 2026 Best Graduate Schools rankings with graduate programs rising in national standing, reflecting the campus’s growing academic and...

Depicted are Sen. Anna Caballero and the women recognized as "Distinguished Women" for State Senate District 14.

Bioengineering Professor Among Senate District’s ‘Women Who Inspire’

State Sen. Anna Caballero recently honored UC Merced bioengineering Professor Sushma Shrinivasan among the “Women Who Inspire” in 2026 for District 14. According to the senator’s...

Commuter Student Finds Belonging at UC Merced

Most weekdays, civil engineering major Jacqueline Garcia travels 45 minutes each way from her hometown of Hughson to attend classes at UC Merced. “The perk is being able to pursue my...

The sign reads University of California, Merced

Two UC Merced Researchers Among This Year’s AAAS Fellows

Professors Asmeret Asefaw Berhe and Ming-Hsuan Yang have been named 2025 fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the world’s largest general scientific society and...

Depicted is the sun in an orange sky framed by palm leaves.

UC Merced Climate Experts Explain Why March Heat Wave is Dangerous

Temperatures in the 90s are nothing new to the northern San Joaquin Valley. But having them in March, as expected this week, is unusual and potentially dangerous. An exceptionally strong ridge of...

Depicted are students holding an oversized check against a blue UC Merced background.

Turner Construction Foundation Gifts Future Engineers

A company UC Merced has invested in to help build out its campus in turn is investing in the university's students. The foundation run by Turner Construction this week gave a $5,000 donation to...

Depicted are the letters "Ai" on a green graphic background

Amazon Funds Research into Making AI More Efficient

Two UC Merced computer science and engineering professors will delve deep into artificial intelligence in projects with Amazon. Dong Li and Xiaoyi Lu earned Amazon Research Awards, the...

Photo depicts two students working on a circuit board at UC Merced.

New Approaches Coming to UC Merced Electrical Engineering Department

As technology advances and new problems present themselves, electrical engineers who can meet the needs of the modern world are in high demand, and adapting to electrical engineering education has...

Four student standing in front of their poster at the Data Science Challenge

UC Merced Students Invited to Tackle Real-World AI Challenges in 2026 Data Science Program

Applications are open for the 2026 Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Data Science Challenge, a two-week summer internship that gives students a firsthand look at national lab research through...