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 -...

Researchers Win CITRIS Grants for Four New Technology Projects

UC Merced researchers won four of only 11 seed grants given out by the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS) for the year. CITRIS received 24 highly...

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...

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...

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...

Campus Celebrates UC Natural Reserve System on Protected Lands

Research, teaching and public outreach were all on display today at UC Merced’s celebration of the University of California Natural Reserve System’s 50th anniversary. The inaugural celebration of the...