A group of students in the most recent School of Engineering capstone design course at the University of California, Merced, devised a sweet solution to a local farm’s harvesting problem – one that is reaping long-term benefits for the farm and the students.

MERCED, Calif. — Research into sustainable water supplies and viable solar energy solutions won the University of California, Merced, an anticipated $5 million in prestigious and competitive grants from the University of California.

For the University of California, Merced, students in this year’s nanoBIO internships and research program, working with something extremely small could have huge implications.

“I had no idea nanotechnology could have so many applications in biology,” said John Harvey Paredes, a fourth-year student majoring in materials science. “This internship opened so many doors, so many possibilities.”

Note: This story originally appeared in the Fall 2014 issue of UC Merced Magazine.

Before it infects humans who breathe it in, the fungus that causes valley fever changes shapes in the environment. Once infected, some people fight it off while others die.

Biochemistry Professor Patricia LiWang calls it a stroke of luck that she has become enmeshed in HIV research, but her developments are no accident.

Note: This story originally appeared in the Fall 2014 issue of UC Merced Magazine and has been updated in the wake of the Nov. 4 elections. Read the whole issue online.

MERCED, Calif. — The solar energy industry is emerging as a key player in the multi-pronged approach California will take in leading the nation in renewable energy, experts say.

And the University of California’s research is leading the way.

The University of California, Merced, home of The University of California Advanced Solar Technologies Institute (UC Solar), is sponsoring a seminar exploring the solar industry present and future, and the many creative initiatives being developed by the University of California.

California is deficit-spending its water and has been for a century, according to state data analyzed recently by researchers from the University of California.

UC Merced Professor Joshua Viers and postdoctoral researcher Ted Grantham, with UC Davis at the time, explored the state’s database of water-rights allocations, and found that allocations in California exceed the state's actual water supply by five times the average annual runoff and 100 times the actual surface-water supply for some river basins.

The long-awaited Science and Engineering Building 2 officially opens today, providing more space for instruction, research and offices.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony begins at 1 p.m.

Thirty months in the making, the building is designed to foster interdisciplinary work for researchers across UC Merced.

“We’re continuing a concept that has been important since the campus itself was being planned – collaboration between the schools,” Academic Facilities Planning Director Steve Rabedeaux said.