School of Engineering

UC Merced Alum, Now a Robotics Expert for Amazon, Advises Students to Get Their Hands Dirty

January 6, 2026

Kevin Arrieta is pictured speaking to an electrical engineering class at UC Merced.

Kevin Arrieta got into robotics to avoid getting into trouble. Arrieta said he joined the robotics club at his Compton high school after the teacher who ran it gave him an ultimatum. "I had gotten in with the wrong crowd," he said. "I had a physics teacher who told me, '...

Alumnus Stays Local, Launches Environmentally Friendly Career

Stephen Ho’s experience at UC Merced helped him land an internship with E. & J. Gallo Winery in Livingston shortly after his graduation in 2012. His engineering expertise, passion for the...

New Class Designed to Teach Students to Think Like Engineers

Students often expect that in classes, there will always be a right answer. Multilayered engineering problems with uncertain outcomes are a challenge for any student, but especially for first-...

Mechanical Engineering Now an Officially Accredited Graduate Degree

Current and prospective graduate students now have the option to earn degrees in mechanical engineering, after the UC system and the WASC Senior College and University Commission recently granted...

Winston Feted for Golden Anniversary of Landmark Discovery

Fifty years ago this year, while a freshman faculty member in the University of Chicago Physics Department, Roland Winston published a paper introducing a new field he called nonimaging optics. In it...

Researchers Eye Foggy Link Between Redwoods, Climate Change

Most Americans have probably seen gorgeous photos of fog winding its way through California’s coastal redwoods. The trees are one of the state’s most prominent icons, drawing more than 2 million...

Winston’s Innovative Project Highlights UC Solar Symposium

UC Merced Professor Roland Winston will deliver details on a groundbreaking hybrid solar collector he’s working on that simultaneously generates electricity and very-high-temperature heat at the...

Computational Training Expanding at UC Merced Through New Grants

Graduate students at the University of California, Merced, will benefit from extensive new research, funding and training opportunities, thanks to two National Science Foundation (NSF) grants...

Mind and Body Join Robotics in New Research Project

Three UC Merced researchers are connecting eye-tracking hardware with a robotic exoskeletal arm to further understand the mind-body connection and, someday, to help people with disabilities have...

Researcher’s Solar-Powered Water Heaters Could Save Energy and Money

UC Merced Professor Gerardo Diaz is developing solar-powered water heating technology that could reduce the demand for natural gas in businesses and homes and lower the costs for business and ...