Mechanical 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...

UC Solar Graduate Student Lighting the Night in a Controlled Way

One of the most stunning sights in Yosemite National Park has nothing to do with granite. It’s the night sky, Milky Way and all. But light pollution within the park can diminish that experience for...

MACES Focuses on Tiny Particles, Broad Horizons

Researchers at UC Merced are making a big deal out of a piece of equipment that lets them look at really tiny things. And they should — the new Zeiss Gemini SEM 500 scanning electron microscope is...

Internship Program Enhances Students’ Academic Experiences

Last fall, the Division of Student Affairs and the Office of Undergraduate Education launched an internship program with the goal of providing undergraduate students an opportunity to build...

Student Engineering Team Rewarded in International Competition

The federal Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) recognized this year’s team of UC Merced engineering students for its design of a device that cools high-powered electronics aboard...

Student Team Makes the Cut in Global ‘Hyperloop’ Competition

A small team of undergraduate students from UC Merced is gaining major exposure in a global competition to design portions of what could be the next big innovation in transportation. Elon Musk, the...

MACES Event Highlights Energy, Sensing Research

More than 70 people learned about the research and education opportunities offered by UC Merced’s new Merced nAnomaterials Center of Energy and Sensing (MACES) during an open house Dec. 4. MACES,...

Gasification Projects Could Benefit the Environment, Economy

Two overlapping research projects involving UC Merced professors could have big implications for the region’s economy and effects on renewable energy, water and wildfires. Professor Gerardo Diaz,...

Engineering Professor and Students Team Up with Chevron

Professor Ashlie Martini is one of only a few university researchers in the country who work on tribology — the study of friction, lubrication and wear. Her work and her willingness to develop...

Engineering Student Making an Impact on Agriculture

Rebecca Quinte is a mechanical engineer who is learning to apply her skills and knowledge in unexpected ways, and that could end up benefitting farmers in the Central Valley and beyond. The UC Merced...