School of Engineering

UC Merced Breakthrough Could Transform How California Monitors Toxic Algae

July 10, 2025

Photo depicts Brittany Barreto Martinez pouring liquid into a test tube in a lab.

San Luis Reservoir in Merced County - one of California's largest artificial lakes - not only irrigates Central Valley farmland and supplies drinking water across Silicon Valley and the South Bay, but also draws swimmers, boaters and anglers year-round. Yet for months at a time, forest-green...

Study Shows Sugarcane Ethanol Production Causes Air Pollution

The burning of sugarcane fields prior to harvest for ethanol production can create air pollution that detracts from the biofuel’s overall sustainability, according to research published recently by a...

Innovative Solar Research Highlighted During Symposium

From improving the performance and efficiency of solar cells to using solar technology to speed up fruit drying, a wide array of topics were covered by distinguished scientists at the UC Solar...

Family Provides Inspiration for Graduate Student

Growing up in the village of Juchipila in central Mexico, Jesus Luna knew exactly what he would do some day. “When I was 3 or 4 years old, I told my mom I would be a scientist,” Luna said. “I told...

Scientists Propose Thinning Sierra Forests to Enhance Water Runoff

Runoff from the Sierra Nevada, a critical source of California’s water supply, could be enhanced by thinning forests to historical conditions, according to a report from a team of scientists with the...

Students Take Home Honors for Research Presentations

Three UC Merced students who devoted the summer to research earned top awards for poster presentations at the national conference of SACNAS, a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing Hispanics...

Cozy Campus, Research Opportunity Benefit Engineering Major

Coming from a private high school in Sacramento, Ian Donahue knows a thing or two about small class sizes. The 21-year-old UC Merced senior from Jesuit High School has been having flashbacks to his...

Sierra Nevada Water Researchers Awarded $2M Grant

Researchers with the Sierra Nevada Research Institute (SNRI) at the University of California, Merced, have received a $2 million grant from the National Science Foundation to expand on a prototype...

Researchers Unveil Innovative Solar Cooling Project

Using solar thermal energy to power an air conditioning unit can be difficult and expensive. But a team of researchers at the University of California, Merced, have added a game-changing advance to...

Impact: Engineers Building Sustainable Solutions

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thl53DGexFk UC Merced graduate student Brandi McKuin recently returned from a trip to India, where she spent time studying the energy needs of rural villages that have...