Mechanical Engineering

Simple Chemical Treatment Makes Next-Gen Electronics More Reliable

August 19, 2025

A team of international researchers has discovered that a simple chemical treatment can enhance the strength and reliability of one of the world’s thinnest materials for use in future electronics. The study, published in Nature Communications, demonstrates that treating monolayer...

Understanding Why Designs Work — or Don’t — is Important

Just because a design works once doesn’t mean that the research and development is done. That’s why, Professor Sarah Kurtz argues in a new commentary in the prestigious journal...

A woman in pink scarf and dark jacket stands in front of a table covered with posters and car prototypes.

Qattawi Named Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer

The Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) named Professor Ala Qattawi one of this year’s Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineers. “I am honored to receive this award,”...

More than 1,200 degrees were conferred last weekend, pushing the campus's alumni total over 9,000.

Perseverance, Leadership Key Themes of Campus’ Spring Commencement

UC Merced’s exuberant spring graduates got the chance to demonstrate their gratitude during the 13th Spring Commencement ceremonies this weekend as many of them paused to thank the faculty...

'Red Carpet' Event Honors Exceptional Leadership

At the 14th annual UC Merced Leadership Awards, undergraduate and graduate students, faculty advisors and student organizations were celebrated Hollywood style — complete with cameras, lights...

Graduate programs in the natural sciences are among the many UC Merced graduate programs included in the newest U.S. News rankings of Best Graduate Schools.

Grad Programs Make U.S. News Rankings Debut

For the first time, UC Merced’s doctoral programs in the sciences have been ranked among the best in the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2019 edition of Best Graduate...

A student stands in front of a sign that reads "NASA Research Park." Above the sign is a model of a NASA space shuttle.

NASA Interns Return With New Prospects, Realized Dreams

Zach Petrek, a second-year doctoral student in chemistry and chemical biology, can usually be found running experiments in the laboratory of his advisor, Professor Tao Ye. But this summer, he did...

Students Help Campus Earn Latest LEED Certification

UC Merced’s Classroom and Office Building (COB) has achieved a silver rating from the LEED Building Operations and Maintenance (O+M) sustainability program, the campus’s first certification to come...

MACES Hosts Big Bash to Highlight Tiny Technology

MACES, the Merced nAnomaterials Center for Energy and Sensing, held its second annual open house on April 19, showcasing student research and highlighting the center’s connection to NASA. The daylong...

Renewable Power Project Could Help Cut Food Processing Costs, Feed People and Animals

Researchers at UC Solar have developed and tested an innovative solar thermal-powered process for turning the pomace, or byproduct, of vegetable and fruit processing into reusable products,...