Undergraduate Students

The University of California, Merced, continues to pave the way to success for local high school students. The campus announced the expansion of the Merced Automatic Admission Program (MAAP) for students at Dinuba Unified School District (DUSD).

The new partnership will allow students with a weighted GPA of 3.5 with no grade lower than a “C” to be automatically admitted to UC Merced through a streamlined admissions process.

Victor Oregon will attend UC Merced to study mechanical engineering this fall.

A key factor in his decision to attend UC Merced was its proximity to his family and to Yosemite National Park.

“I chose Merced for the financial aid that I am being awarded, and because of its unique location like no other,” he said. “I like how close it is to some of the best national parks in the United States. The campus also has National Park Service rangers on site.”

UC Merced is highlighting incoming first-year students for fall 2022 — a dynamic, diverse and accomplished cohort of new Bobcats.

When deciding on a university, Emanuel Armando Angel, known as Manny, knew he wanted to commit to an institution whose core value is to build a relationship with the education of its students while preparing them for a successful life.

Distinguished Professor Roland Winston was among the first eight faculty members at UC Merced in 2003, two years before the campus opened. When he retires July 1, at age 86, he will be the first of those eight to leave — but his work on solar energy applications will continue.

It's not hyperbolic to say Winston is a really big deal in the worlds of physics and solar energy.

The biannual School of Engineering showcase event, Innovate to Grow (I2G), continued in-person and virtually this spring. The event highlighted innovative engineering design projects that were developed by undergraduates in partnership with 36 industry and nonprofit clients.

The event began with a poster and prototype session that included 66 teams and 330 students showcasing their projects in the Joseph E. Gallo Recreation & Wellness Center.

For the first time, UC Merced has partnered with local higher education institutions for a two-day symposium dedicated to education research findings from the Central Valley.

Bioengineering Professor Changqing Li is building a high-resolution CT imaging scanner that will allow scientists to study and understand how oxygen plays a role in cancer therapy and stem cells growing in deep tissue such as bone marrow, and possibly develop new advances to culture stem cells outside the body and therapeutics to control tumor growth.

Professor Maria-Elena Zoghbi and her lab are taking a closer look at a human transporter protein that acts as a cellular protector by relocating a molecule that has important antioxidant properties in the cells, preventing oxidative damage in several tissues, including the heart.

A wave of blue and gold covered the recreation fields at UC Merced as more than 2,400 students walked the stage during the first in-person spring commencement in three years.

The three-day ceremony weekend started by welcoming back 1,000 alumni from the classes of 2020 and 2021 — who were previously honored with a virtual ceremony because of COVID-19.

In front of more than 1,400 fellow Bobcats, Cathryn Flores and Maya Morris, the student commencement speakers for the Class of 2022 will share their words of congratulations and encouragement with their fellow graduates.

Flores will speak to the graduates of the School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts (SSHA) at 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 14, at the university’s Recreation Field. The Fremont native is majoring in English and minoring in writing. She said her four years at UC Merced have molded her into the person she is today.