Engineering

Land has been tilled at UC Merced’s smart farm, the first physical step in developing the state-of-the-art project.

“Even though it’s just a blank field, we have overcome some pretty big obstacles to be where we are today,” said Danny Royer, Experimental Smart Farm coordinator for the university. He spoke Nov. 16, at the farm, describing the work done so far and what’s next.

Plans call for the farm to grow oats, grain, tomatoes and squash. But the primary crop for the 45-acre property roughly a half-mile south of campus will be data.

Rakesh Goel developed an interest in earthquakes at an early age — and rather abruptly.

As a small boy in India, one of his first memories is of experiencing an earthquake.

"I must have been a few years old and there was a big earthquake," said Dr. Goel. "I clung to the window, thinking that it was a big freight train going by the house."

UCs Merced and Santa Cruz became the newest campuses in the system to be named an agricultural experiment stations (AES), UC President Michael Drake announced at today’s Regents’ meeting.

They are the first campuses in more than 50 years to earn the designation.

    It wasn’t exactly “Racers, start your engines.” More like, “Racers, remove
    your covers.”

    But the solar car challenge put on by CalTeach and the Solar Energy
    Association at UC Merced Saturday, Nov. 5, was still an action-packed day
    of racing.

    Several dozen middle school students, their teachers and parents gathered
    on campus to test out the cars they built over the last few weeks.

    The Educational Employees Federal Credit Union supplied funding for materials.

When it functions correctly, inflammation protects the body from infection and injury. But when it becomes chronic, inflammation is linked to health problems such as heart disease, diabetes, cancer, arthritis and bowel diseases, including Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.

This past weekend was a time of festivities for the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) chapter at UC Merced as members celebrated their 10th anniversary as part of the Bobcat community.

Researchers and students in the departments of Physics, Mechanical Engineering, and Materials Science and Engineering working on quantum physics will have upgraded equipment soon, thanks to a grant from the Department of Defense.

Professor Jay Sharping is refurbishing two dilution refrigerators that are required to perform measurements on samples at temperatures as low as 10 millikelvins (mK) — near absolute zero.

UC Merced’s battle against climate change is traveling south of the border as campus leaders joined UC Alianza MX to help launch a strategic alliance between the UC system and counterparts in Mexico.

Rising juniors this fall will have an unprecedented opportunity for stem cell research training that could lead directly to careers in stem cell science after graduation.

Like many other researchers, environmental engineering professors Erin Hestir and Joshua Viers are trying to quantify water use in California’s Central Valley.

The difference is, they are doing it from the sky.