Engineering

Championing the Transition to Clean Energy

June 11, 2025

Image depicts UC Merced mechanical engineering Professor Ricardo Pinto de Castro talking to students near a small robot.

Mechanical engineering Professor Ricardo Pinto de Castro has turned a penchant for systems-level thinking and a longtime love of cars into a climate-resilient research mission. From electric vehicles (EVs) traversing San Francisco's busiest streets to electric appliances such as...

Planning for emergency evacuations using electric vehicles is the subject of one of the grants awarded to UC Merced.

University Awards over $80 million in State-funded Grants to Spur Climate Action

Four UC Merced researchers will share in the new California Climate Action Seed Grants and Matching Grants, which are the result of an historic partnership between the University of California and...

A rendering depicts what solar panels over canals will look like in Project Nexus.

UC Merced Researchers Describe Solar Over Canals Pilot Project

In an opinion piece published in today's Los Angeles Times, UC Merced researchers Brandi McKuin and Professor Roger Bales describe the work that led to the upcoming Project Nexus, a pilot...

Ashlie Martini is the associate director for the Center for the Mechanical Control of Chemistry.

UC Merced Among Institutions Awarded $20 Million NSF Investment for Mechanical Chemistry

Understanding the atomic-scale mysteries of "crushing" chemistry is the goal of an expanding research center with a newly awarded $20 million investment from the U.S. National Science...

Paper on Online Object Tracking Earns Award 10 Years Later

UC Merced electrical engineering and computer science Professor Ming Hsuan-Yang recently won an award for a paper he co-authored 10 years ago. Yang was awarded the Longuet-Higgins Prize at the...

Colleen Naughton, third from left, and team with freshly harvested argan nuts in Morocco. Photo courtesy of Colleen Naughton

Profile Highlights Impressive Contributions of UC Merced Professor

A new feature by the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society and the Banatao Institute (CITRIS) highlights the impressive contributions made by UC Merced civil and...

Josh Viers, Rakesh Goel, Yosuke Yamashiki, Hrant Hratchian, Sarah Naumes and Chase Yamauchi at the MOU signing. Photo by Leigh Bernacchi

Collaboration Across Continents: Agreement Brings Merced, Kyoto Campuses Closer

Merced, California, and Kyoto, Japan, are nearly 5,500 miles apart, but their research universities' shared goals to improve society is bringing them together. A new agreement between...

Rivera Middle School students get a lesson in engineering at the CalTeach Learning lab.

Learning Lab Offers Education for Children and Future Teachers

Every Tuesday and Thursday during the school year, elementary, middle and high school students from around the region travel to a special lab at UC Merced designed just for them. It’s the...

Campus Adds New Areas of Studies for Students to Choose From

New students or those who have not yet chosen their majors will have an array of options before them. Five new majors and several new emphases, ranging across all three schools, are all coming...

Students, Alums Receive Competitive NSF Fellowships

UC Merced students Brianna Aguilar-Solis, Diane-Marie Brache-Smith, Sierra Lema and Sarif Morningstar, and alumni Diana Cruz Garcia and Anna Maria Calderon were awarded fellowships from the National...