University of California, Merced - Patty Guerra

��ϰٿ� Celebrates 20 Years of Firsts

Anonymous — Sat, 06 Sep 2025 04:23:55 +0000

By Patty Guerra, ��ϰٿ�

September 5, 2025

20th birthday celebrations will continue all year.

Twenty years to the day after students first crossed Scholars Bridge into the campus, ��ϰٿ� celebrated its milestone birthday with a party, a drone show, and the university’s first NCAA Division II sporting event.

A large crowd of community members, many wearing T-shirts and waving rally towels that heralded the new era, joined students, faculty and staff as the ��ϰٿ� women’s soccer team took the field against Simon Fraser University of British Columbia. A nearly full moon rose in the late-summer sky for the first competition since the university entered Division II.

A pregame birthday celebration included food trucks, face painting, a deejay and performances by ��ϰٿ�’s drum line and dance team. The evening culminated with a drone show themed “Fiat Lux” after the University of California’s motto (Latin for “Let there be light”).

Since its first year, the campus has graduated more than 21,000 alumni, who work in sectors as varied as medicine and media, engineering and government.

“��ϰٿ� began with vision, courage, and a deep belief in the power of education to transform lives,” Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz said. “We are still building. And today, we honor our past, celebrate our success, and look ahead to a future filled with promise.”

At halftime, the university announced a major gift from one of its most dedicated supporters and partners. The Campos Foundation donated $5 million for the development of a new state-of-the-art campus facility dedicated to track and field. The university shared plans to name the new track Campos Field in recognition of the foundation’s contribution.

“This is an honor,” said Marco Campos, founder and executive chairman of the Colorado-based Campos Companies. “This campus is unusual.” He said he made the connection to ��ϰٿ� though one of his employees, an alumnus of the school.

��ϰٿ� originated with a 1988 decision by the UC Board of Regents to begin planning for a new university in the San Joaquin Valley to meet long-term enrollment demand. After a process that reviewed locations throughout the valley, the Merced site was chosen in 1995.

The university initially opened in offices at the former Castle Air Force Base in Atwater. The campus opened to 875 students in the fall of 2005 and has since grown to offer more than 60 undergraduate programs and 18 graduate programs to a student population of roughly 9,000.

��ϰٿ� has climbed in national rankings and impact. Earlier this year, ��ϰٿ� achieved R1 status from Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, a recognition given to the top echelon of research institutions in the nation. It is the only R1 university in the Central Valley of California one of only 187 accredited doctoral-granting universities in the United States — out of nearly 4,000 — that feature “very high research spending and doctorate production.” Last fall, the Wall Street Journal ranked ��ϰٿ� No. 1 for social mobility, which described how well colleges and universities attract, retain and help students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds complete their degrees and graduate into promising career.

��ϰٿ� has been on the cutting edge of sustainability in higher education since its inception and was the first public research university certified as carbon-neutral. Every campus building is certified Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum by the U.S. Green Building Council.

The 20^th birthday celebration will continue with events throughout the school year.

Two special exhibitions, 20 Years of ��ϰٿ� Art and Architecture at La Galería, and Foundation to Future: 20 Years of the ��ϰٿ� Library, showcase the creativity and scholarship that have shaped the university. Alumni events are planned in San Francisco and Los Angeles, demonstrating ��ϰٿ�’s impact around the state as well as in the Central Valley.

Damaging Lightning-Caused Wildfires Likely to Increase in a Few Years, Researchers Find

Anonymous — Wed, 03 Sep 2025 19:20:35 +0000

By Patty Guerra, ��ϰٿ�, and Shawn Vestal, Washington State University

September 3, 2025

Lightning ignited than 600 fires in California in 2020.

Lightning from thunderstorms rolling through Central California on Sept. 2 ignited numerous wildfires, including several large fires in the Sierra Nevada foothills that had burned more than 19 square miles by Wednesday morning. The California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services recorded more than 9,000 lightning strikes in a single day.

Lightning is a major source of wildfire ignition in the western United States every summer.

In August 2020, more than 15,000 lightning strikes were recorded in Central and Northern California over a few days, igniting more than 600 fires and burning more than 2 million acres. More than 20 people died in the fires. Wildfires ignited by cloud-to-ground lightning during the summer are responsible for more than two-thirds of the total acreage burned yearly across the West.

��ϰٿ� researchers warn that climate change is likely to bring an increase in both cloud-to-ground lightning and the risk of lightning-caused wildfires.

In a paper published last week in Earth’s Future, lead author Dmitri Kalashnikov, a National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellow affiliated with the university’s Sierra Nevada Research Institute, said his projections show an increase in cloud-to-ground lightning over the next three decades or so, particularly in the interior northwestern United States and northern Rocky Mountains.

Kalashnikov led the project, which he began while completing his Ph.D. at Washington State University and finished while a postdoctoral fellow at ��ϰٿ�. Co-authors include researchers from ��ϰٿ�, Colorado State University, Portland State University and other institutions.

“Lightning is a big wild card when it comes to the outcome of fire seasons here in California and other parts of the Western U.S.,” said co-author John Abatzoglou, a climatologist and management of complex systems professor at ��ϰٿ�. “Some of the biggest fire seasons — like 2020 — really got going due to widespread lightning outbreaks in summer.”

Dry lightning, or lightning that strikes outside of rainstorms, is particularly dangerous.

“The Northwest is emerging, in this study as well as in others, as the region where fire- and fire-related hazards are likely to increase substantially more than in other parts of the western U.S.,” said Deepti Singh, an associate professor in the School of the Environment at WSU Vancouver and co-author of the paper.

The study underscores the importance of managing forests to mitigate wildfire risk and to prepare at-risk communities for fires as the planet continues to warm and wildfires grow in size and severity, the researchers said. Current global climate models are unable to directly simulate future lightning because they rely on geographic resolutions too coarse to capture the conditions that create it.

The study used a machine-learning technique called “convolutional neural networks" to project future lightning over the western U.S. The technique is used to predict lightning based on the meteorological conditions that are simulated by climate models, allowing researchers to project the number of cloud-to-ground lightning days in the future.

The machine-learning models developed in this study zoom in to create the most detailed picture yet of future lightning patterns and lightning-caused fire risk across the West.

“There are already a lot of studies that say future wildfire activity will increase in the Western U.S. and that’s without even considering the potential of increased lightning, which we’re showing is going to happen in many areas,” Kalashnikov said. “Our study makes projections of increased lightning and fire risk for the relatively near future — 2031 to 2060 — whereas other studies tend to make projections for later in the 21st century. This should carry additional relevance for near-term planning and policy decisions.”

Researchers also project an increased likelihood of cloud-to-ground lightning occurring on days with meteorological conditions favorable for wildfires, increasing the risk of lightning-ignited wildfires. These findings are important for understanding changes in lightning-ignited wildfire risk, and for planning wildland fire management and suppression needs in a warming climate.

“There has been very little research devoted to how lightning may change in future climates,” Abatzoglou said. “A few lightning studies have generally pointed to increases in lightning, but these approaches have not been well codified for the western United States, where we get a lot of dry lightning. This study fills a void in this literature.”

An increase in lightning days does not result in a 1-to-1 increase in fire risk, however, because fire risk depends on other variables, such as temperature, rainfall, wind and vegetation dryness. Across the Rockies, for example, the number of days with a high likelihood of lightning-caused fires is expected to grow by three or more by the mid-21st century, though the overall increase in lightning days is larger.

On the other hand, parts of Utah and Arizona showed a reduction in lightning days — but an increase in days of potential lightning-caused fires, due to higher wildfire risk in general.

The Southwest overall showed fewer projected increases in lightning days — and even declines in some areas — but the region is still expected to see a rise in days with a likelihood of wildfires ignited by lightning.

��ϰٿ� Agricultural Experiment Station Adds Fire, Insect and Soil Researchers

Anonymous — Tue, 02 Sep 2025 16:17:17 +0000

By Patty Guerra, ��ϰٿ�

September 2, 2025

Work at the AES advances innovation, fosters sustainability and builds climate resilience.

Three professors are joining ��ϰٿ�’s Agricultural Experiment Station this fall, bringing more expertise and resources to the 3-year-old research center.

Management of complex systems Professor Crystal Kolden will focus on the intersection of agriculture and wildfire, public health Professor Andrea Joyce will work on sustainable, environmentally friendly agricultural insect management and life and environmental science Professor Josh Garcia will examine plant-soil-microbe interactions.

��ϰٿ� and UC Santa Cruz received AES designations in 2022, the first UC campuses so named in 50 years. An AES is a scientific research center at a land-grant university that explores challenges and develops improvements to agriculture by working with farmers, ranchers, suppliers, processors and others. Work at the AES advances innovation, fosters sustainability and builds climate resilience to meet the needs of the San Joaquin Valley and beyond.

Kolden is a nationally recognized authority on the story of wildfire and the director of the ��ϰٿ� Fire Resilience Center. Her research focuses on characterizing and understanding wildfire intersections with the human-environment system through geospatial, temporal and mixed-methods approaches.

"Joining the AES will complement my existing USDA NIFA (National Institute of Food and Agriculture) funding for conducting research on fire in working landscapes with tribal partners and farmers,” Kolden said. “I'm excited to expand on our nascent efforts to reduce wildfire disasters with strategic use of crops and cultural fire."

Joyce is an entomologist who works with insects that impact agriculture and public health, and works with beneficial insects to control pests. She is affiliated with the Sierra Nevada Research Institute.

“I am excited to continue working with local farmers and to promote the use of beneficial insects and alternatives to insecticides,” Joyce said.

Garcia is new to the university. A National Science Foundation and UC President's Postdoctoral Fellow at UC Davis, he researched how regenerative management practices such as compost applications and crop rotations influence the soil food web and biogeochemical processes in traditional field-based agriculture and urban agriculture.

“I chose to come to ��ϰٿ� as faculty for the exciting opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration and to get involved with expanding ��ϰٿ�'s work in sustainable agriculture with the new AES,” Garcia said.

He will pursue applied research and outreach in the areas of soil health, regenerative agriculture and waste reduction and looks forward to working with his colleagues to understand how types of compost made from municipal waste change the soil and what the implications of that might be.

“I'm also looking forward to finding new and innovative ways to outreach our findings and science-based information to diverse stakeholders here in California,” Garcia said.

The trio joins the four founding inaugural AES faculty: mechanical engineering Professor Reza Ehsani, civil and environmental engineering professors Safeeq Khan and Josué Medellìn-Azuara and life and environmental sciences Professor Rebecca Ryals.

Professor Joshua Viers, executive associate dean for the AES, said, “This is an exceptional group of faculty and we are very pleased to have such broad representation from across our schools. It speaks to the continued investment ��ϰٿ� is making to address issues of importance to the San Joaquin Valley and beyond.”

The station is aimed at building on agricultural research that has been going on at ��ϰٿ� since the university's inception, including at its Experimental Smart Farm. The 45-acre property, roughly a half mile south of campus, grows various crops and serves as an outdoor lab for student and faculty researchers.

Boosting AI and Science: NSF Invests $600K in OpenDOTA Project at ��ϰٿ�

Anonymous — Wed, 13 Aug 2025 00:29:58 +0000

By Patty Guerra, ��ϰٿ�

August 12, 2025

The project is aimed at accelerating the future of artificial intelligence and scientific research

The U.S. National Science Foundation has awarded nearly $600,000 to support a groundbreaking project at ��ϰٿ� aimed at accelerating the future of artificial intelligence and scientific research.

Professor Xiaoyi Lu from the electrical engineering and computer science group in the School of Engineering and his team have created the Open Source Data Offloading and Transfer Architecture (OpenDOTA) project. The work focuses on improving how computers equipped with specialized hardware called Data Processing Units (DPUs) move data efficiently. By making data transfer faster, OpenDOTA allows the main computer system to concentrate on important tasks, which can speed up scientific research and the development of artificial intelligence.

The OpenDOTA project will develop technology to help computers move and process massive amounts of data more efficiently, a crucial step for faster discoveries in science and smarter AI systems.

Artificial intelligence is, as one NPR story put it, “an electricity hog.” According to the Allen Institute for AI, a single query to ChatGPT uses roughly the same amount of electricity as lighting one lightbulb for 20 minutes.

AI consumes far more electricity than traditional internet use. As ChatGPT and programs like it grow in popularity, that’s a big increase in the energy needed to power them.

With this investment, ��ϰٿ� researchers will develop innovative tools that enhance the efficiency of computers in handling data-intensive AI and scientific tasks, enabling scientists and engineers to concentrate on solving complex problems rather than waiting for data to transfer between systems. The OpenDOTA project is designed to benefit not only academic researchers but also industries that rely on high-performance computing, opening the door to new advancements in fields ranging from agriculture to climate science.

Currently, many computer systems struggle to keep up when transferring large amounts of data, especially in environments where multiple computers work together. OpenDOTA aims to solve these slowdowns by making data movement faster and more efficient. As Professor Lu explains, improving the efficiency of DPU-powered systems will help advance scientific simulations, drive progress in AI, and strengthen the overall computing infrastructure for improved performance and energy consumption. The project encourages collaboration and will be available for anyone to use, supporting both academic and industry needs.

The research is organized around three main goals: intelligent data transfer between computers, efficient group communication among multiple machines and scalable learning-based automated optimization.

“By combining these approaches, OpenDOTA offers a complete solution to today’s data movement challenges, helping to power the next generation of high-performance and sustainable AI and scientific applications,” Lu said.

The project’s website will provide updates and resources for anyone interested. The $596,738 grant, awarded through the National Science Foundation’s Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure Core Research, will support this project for three years.

Black Engineering Society Earns Regional Chapter of the Year

Anonymous — Thu, 31 Jul 2025 16:04:42 +0000

By Patty Guerra, ��ϰٿ�

July 29, 2025

The chapter was recognized at the NSBE convention in Chicago.

The National Society of Black Engineers, established at ��ϰٿ� in 2007, is one of the campus’s oldest and most active student organizations. It provides support, guidance and advocacy for its members through their college journeys and beyond.

All that hard work has been recognized by the national NSBE organization, which recently awarded ��ϰٿ� its Region VI Chapter of the Year award during its convention in Chicago.

“It was a proud moment for our chapter,” said Meley Abay, a third-year computer science and engineering major, who is president of the ��ϰٿ� chapter. The NSBE has more than 200,000 members in more than 100 chapters.

The award recognizes how well the chapter performs throughout the year, Abay said. The ��ϰٿ� chapter’s activities included professional development workshops, campus collaboration and community service events.

“I think it’s a variety of factors that keeps this organization successful,” said School of Engineering Personnel Services Director Tomiko Hale, who has been the NSBE advisor since the club began. “This organization really supports students. Being a minority in engineering, being a woman in engineering, sometimes there are not people in class who look like you. NSBE gives you support outside of the classroom where you can talk about your struggles and encourage people to do better.”

Abay agreed.

“As a student, coming into college as an engineer and being a minority, it’s important to find a group of students who have that same mindset, the same goals you have.”

The organization helps students come together and strive to be better, Abay and Hale said. The conferences provide networking opportunities with other members, alumni and potential employers.

“It opens so many doors for students,” Hale said. “They just have to show up and do the work that’s in front of them. On top of that, they meet and find a community.”

NBSE has been so successful it has broadened its reach beyond the School of Engineering. Much of what the organization provides is applicable to other fields.

“We have students in all kinds of majors,” Hale said. “We do resume workshops and mock interviews, work with the Career Center and help prepare students for internships. At the end of the day, it’s about the mindset and the community it builds.”

And because of that success, the club has doubled its membership this year, to 72.

“I’m so proud of what the group has done,” Hale said. “Awards like these demonstrate to people and especially companies that we’re a force.”

She said she remembers when the local NSBE chapter began, she would go to national events and people would ask her about the university.

“They’d say, ‘UC what? Mer-ked?’” she said with a laugh. “Now we go and we don’t have to tell them who we are. They know.”

Tiny Artificial Cells Can Keep Time, Study Finds

Anonymous — Mon, 28 Jul 2025 20:01:28 +0000

July 28, 2025

The findings shed light on how biological clocks stay on schedule.

A team of ��ϰٿ� researchers has shown that tiny artificial cells can accurately keep time, mimicking the daily rhythms found in living organisms. Their findings shed light on how biological clocks stay on schedule despite the inherent molecular noise inside cells.

The study, recently published in Nature Communications, was led by bioengineering Professor Anand Bala Subramaniam and chemistry and biochemistry Professor Andy LiWang. The first author, Alexander Zhang Tu Li, earned his Ph.D. in Subramaniam’s lab.

Biological clocks — also known as circadian rhythms — govern 24-hour cycles that regulate sleep, metabolism and other vital processes. To explore the mechanisms behind the circadian rhythms of cyanobacteria, the researchers reconstructed the clockwork in simplified, cell-like structures called vesicles. These vesicles were loaded with core clock proteins, one of which was tagged with a fluorescent marker.

The artificial cells glowed in a regular 24-hour rhythm for at least four days. However, when the number of clock proteins was reduced or the vesicles were made smaller, the rhythmic glow stopped. The loss of rhythm followed a reproducible pattern.

To explain these findings, the team built a computational model. The model revealed that clocks become more robust with higher concentrations of clock proteins, allowing thousands of vesicles to keep time reliably — even when protein amounts vary slightly between vesicles.

The model also suggested another component of the natural circadian system — responsible for turning genes on and off — does not play a major role in maintaining individual clocks but is essential for synchronizing clock timing across a population.

The researchers also noted that some clock proteins tend to stick to the walls of the vesicles, meaning a high total protein count is necessary to maintain proper function.

“This study shows that we can dissect and understand the core principles of biological timekeeping using simplified, synthetic systems,” Subramaniam said.

The work led by Subramaniam and LiWang advances the methodology for studying biological clocks, said Mingxu Fang, a microbiology professor at Ohio State University and an expert in circadian clocks.

“The cyanobacterial circadian clock relies on slow biochemical reactions that are inherently noisy, and it has been proposed that high clock protein numbers are needed to buffer this noise,” Fang said. “This new study introduces a method to observe reconstituted clock reactions within size-adjustable vesicles that mimic cellular dimensions. This powerful tool enables direct testing of how and why organisms with different cell sizes may adopt distinct timing strategies, thereby deepening our understanding of biological timekeeping mechanisms across life forms.”

Subramaniam is a faculty member in the Department of Bioengineering and an affiliate of the Health Sciences Research Institute (HSRI). LiWang is a faculty member in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, also affiliated with HSRI. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology and the 2025 recipient of the Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin Award from The Protein Society.

The work was supported by Subramaniam’s National Science Foundation CAREER award from the Division of Materials Research and by grants from the National Institutes of Health and Army Research Office awarded to LiWang. LiWang was supported by a fellowship from the NSF CREST Center for Cellular and Biomolecular Machines at ��ϰٿ�.

Video of a collection of artificial cells glowing rhythmically keeping 24-hour time.

Community Health Worker Program Celebrates First Graduates

Anonymous — Mon, 28 Jul 2025 18:01:13 +0000

By Patty Guerra, ��ϰٿ�

July 28, 2025

The certificate is designed around core competencies health care workers need to succeed.

The region has nearly 170 newly certified community health workers after the first cohort completed a specialized training program at ��ϰٿ�.

Graduates of the training, offered through the university’s Professional and Continuing Education (PACE) division, were celebrated at a ceremony July 15 on campus. The program equips participants with the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to serve as effective community health workers. People in these positions serve as a bridge between people and the health care system, building trust with those they serve and facilitating access to resources.

Dean Annette Roberts Webb said the Community Health Worker Training Specialized Certificate meets the mission of PACE to develop programs that align with employer needs and create jobs.

“This is the first certificate we’ve created,” she said. “It’s designed around core competencies and the skills needed to succeed.”

She said having more than 160 people complete the initial cohort is “amazing.”

“Even more exciting, 34 of these completers are high school students from our partner districts in Turlock and Atwater.”

Among them was Andrea Sandoval, who graduated from Atwater High School and is headed to California State University, Stanislaus, in the fall to pursue a degree in nursing.

“The program didn’t just prepare me to work in health care, it taught me how to truly connect with people, understand their needs and advocate for better access to care, especially to those who need it the most,” Sandoval said. “This is why this certification is more than a line on my resume, it’s a foundation I will build on to help others.”

Also earning a certificate was Nikirah Appiah, a community health navigator for Dignity Health who works with Mercy Medical Center’s Mobile Care Clinic.

“While my current role provided me with initial hands-on experience as a community health worker, this course gave me so much more insight and clarity on what my role truly is,” she said. “I gained confidence in the care and services we provide, and it inspired me to find better ways to serve our community. The camaraderie among mycohort was incredibly encouraging, and meeting face-to-face at the graduation celebration brought it all full circle.”

The online program costs $895; 120 students had their tuition covered through a grant from the Central California Alliance for Health.

“For this program, the Alliance awarded nearly $800,000 in grants to pay tuition for students who work for providers in Merced and adjacent counties,” said CEO Michael Schrader. “The Alliance made this commitment because we’re really committed to Merced and Mariposa counties. We want more community health care workers to serve our Medi-Cal members.”

The graduates are more than health care workers, Yamilet Valladolid, director of government and community affairs for Golden Valley Health Care, said in her keynote remarks. “You are neighbors, healers, advocates and bridge builders.”

Valladolid told the students they are graduating into a world that desperately needs them.

“Health care systems are often overwhelmed and impersonal,” she said. “You are not just community health workers. You are also community builders. You are front line leaders. Advocates for change. The ripple effect your work will have will be felt for generations to come.”

The program is expanding this fall, with another cohort starting in September, a dual enrollment program with Mariposa County High school kicking off, and a Spanish-language version as well, said Michael Pierick, director of strategic initiatives and the degree completion program at PACE.

“Working with our partners, this is a testament to the commitment to improving access to health care in the Central Valley,” Pierick said. “We want to make sure we are everywhere with the type of work we can do.”

Sandoval said one of the most meaningful parts of her journey was realizing how much she can do to help the Central Valley, the place she calls home.

“Many families in our area face barriers like language, transportation, or lack of health insurance,” she said. “With this certification, I now have the tools to be part of the solution. Whether it’s connecting someone to a clinic, helping them understand their medications, or simply being someone they can trust, I am so ready to serve.”

UC Investment Academy Propels Students to Financial Career Success

Anonymous — Mon, 14 Jul 2025 19:00:15 +0000

July 14, 2025

By Patty Guerra, ��ϰٿ�

The UC Investments Academy educates, motivates and trains students for careers in investing and finance.

This summer, 2024 ��ϰٿ� graduate Tatiana Howell is set to begin working as a wealth management analyst with Goldman Sachs. She got the job through tenacity, a strong work ethic and participation in an innovative program that prepared her and other students to work in the financial sector.

The UC Investments Academy educates, motivates and professionally trains students for careers in investing and finance, at no cost.

Originated by UC Chief Investment Officer Jagdeep Singh Bachher, the academy launched in 2022 with 100 students at ��ϰٿ� and has since expanded to include 1,000 students on campus and 4,500 throughout the UC system.

The academy has two tracks:

An intensive career track aimed at those who want to pursue the industry professionally and involves five to 10 hours of work per week.
A personal finance track, which is for those who want to learn more about managing their own portfolios and requires about a one-hour-per-week commitment.

"For years, we kept hearing about a 'pipeline problem' in the finance industry," Bachher said. "At UC, we're in the business of building pipelines. We saw the opportunity to turn talk into action - and the Investments Academy was our answer. It's about unlocking potential and creating pathways to success for our students."

In only three years, the academy already is seeing results.

"The academy is making a big impact on career readiness and job placement," said Brian O'Bruba, assistant vice chancellor for student engagement at ��ϰٿ�.

Howell took part in the program's first cohort, which is supplemental to regular UC courses. She said she was excited for the unique opportunity.

"I took a global markets and investment course with (economic and business management lecturer) Mark Harris, and he shifted the whole landscape of the class to be centered around understanding the industry," she said. "I got to meet the UC Investments team and do the Training the Street program as a final project."

Training The Street offers targeted courses in accounting, corporate finance, financial modeling, and valuation to academic, corporate and public enrollment clients. It is used by financial institutions worldwide.

"Students in the UC Investments Academy gain practical, career-relevant training that mirrors what entry-level professionals would receive at a top investment firm," said Economics and Business Management Professor Jason Lee. "The academy is designed to make the world of finance and investing more accessible, especially for students without prior knowledge or experience."

Tiler Fears, who came to ��ϰٿ� to play basketball, knew he was interested in business and finance.

"This academy provided a direction," he said. In addition to the training, the academy provided valuable networking opportunities that led Fears to two internships, one at Mercer Investments and one at L'Attitude Ventures.

Fears has since graduated and landed a job as a client account manager at Albourne, an alternative investment consulting firm.

"It was great being able to hear from different industry professionals and kind of just shaping my exposure to the industry," he said. Though the academy is a lot of work at times, he said he appreciated the ability to go at his own pace.

For Eshaan Kajani, the program led him into a new and unexpected direction.

"I did not know that much about finance other than paying taxes and bills before the Investments Academy," said Kajani, now a second-year law student at Georgetown University. "I joined my junior year after taking Economies of Investments and realizing how interesting financial markets were. The academy opened doors to learning more about the financial world and the way markets operate."

Kajani said he will be working in a law firm in a practice group that works with hedge funds and private equity firms, "the very same businesses I was learning about during my time with the Investment Academy."

Lee said students get four key benefits from taking part in the academy:

Hands-on technical training in financial modeling, valuation and investment analysis.
Invitations to live speaker sessions featuring industry professionals.
Financial literacy workshops that teach students how to build personal wealth and make informed financial decisions.
Career strategy sessions with members of the UC Investments team and other investment professionals who mentor students on how to navigate the job market.

"Most students leave the program with greater confidence and gain valuable connections in the finance world," Lee said.

The students agreed.

"I had a great experience," Fears said. "I think it prepared me mentally and physically, getting the training and knowing the lingo and industry terms and what these companies are expecting."

For Howell, the Investment Academy opened doors to opportunities she didn't know existed.

"You can work in these spaces that are almost Ivy League institutions," she said. "It's a place to go and learn as much as you can about being the best of the best in this industry."

For more information about the program or to apply, contact UC Investments at UCinvestmentsacademy@ucop.edu .

Imagination the Only Limitation at ��ϰٿ�'s Makerspace

Anonymous — Wed, 09 Jul 2025 18:00:11 +0000

By Patty Guerra, ��ϰٿ�

July 9, 2025

A new program allows students to check out 3D printers.

��ϰٿ�'s Makerspace lab has been living up to its name recently.

The School of Engineering's lab, housed in the Sustainability Research and Engineering building, has been increasingly busy. The Makerspace offers services to courses, research and campus clubs.

Last year, Makerspace staff came to the rescue of Dining Services after a plastic bushing on the door of a cooker in the Pavilion broke. The bushing, part of a latch that holds the lid on the quarter-ton large, tilting skillet, isn't made anymore.

The replacement part was fabricated on a 3D printer in the Makerspace lab. It is believed to be the first time the technique, also known as additive manufacturing, was used to replace a machine part at a ��ϰٿ� facility.

Students, staff and faculty can make projects in the space after taking part in a roughly 30-minute training session on the equipment. Pretty quickly, they can be creating something nifty on one of the facility's printers or laser cutters.

"We really focus on making sure students get hands-on experience," said Salvador Diaz, instructional lab coordinator. "It gets very busy here during the end of the semester."

As of this spring, the Makerspace had hosted 300 students to make figurines, an airless soccer ball and even a Boba Fett helmet.

The space is free for students, staff and faculty to use for personal projects. They must pay for materials. It's not expensive - material can be purchased for $20 or $25 and turned into printing projects.

And if you can't make it to the Makerspace, the Makerspace will come to you. A new program will allow students to check out portable 3-D printers for off-site projects. Thirty printers are available and will be part of a pilot project starting this week.

"We are student-run," said Jose Morales, also an instructional lab coordinator. "We are open when we have student staff. During peak times, we'll get 15-20 students in here." The facility is typically open from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays.

A 3D printer creates by squirting out layer upon layer of melted material, following a digital blueprint of the desired shape.

"We call regular printers you'd have in an office a 2D printer," Diaz said.

The machine shop next door is also open to students. It operates in a similar yet opposite manner to the Makerspace. Users can create projects, but rather than building them out of material from scratch, they take materials and remove or carve out parts to get the desired result.

"That's subtractive manufacturing, and what we do in here is additive manufacturing," Morales said.

Campus organizations have used the Makerspace to create items for events. Miniatures of the Beginnings sculpture are a popular request. For Bobcat Day, students created tokens to give to prospective students.

"Whether you're studying engineering, art, or anything in between, our Makerspace is open to all," Diaz said. "If you can imagine it, we can help you bring it to life - no experience needed. Come learn to 3D print, create and explore what's possible."

More information on the Makerspace is available on the facility's website.

Honors Student from Merced Ready for Next Big Step

Anonymous — Tue, 08 Jul 2025 18:00:15 +0000

July 8, 2025

"I truly believe this school will open so many opportunities for me."

This is part of a series of profiles of new ��ϰٿ� Bobcats enrolled for the fall 2025 semester.

Leslie Perez-Cruz will start at ��ϰٿ� with several accomplishments already under her belt - she took classes at Merced College while attending high school and is a certified nursing assistant, on her way to become an emergency room technician and ultimately attend medical school.

Where I come from: I am a local here, born and raised in Merced. I graduated from El Capitan High School, which is about four to five minutes from ��ϰٿ�.

What I've done: As a student from ECHS, I graduated as salutatorian and was on the honor roll all four years. I was able to become a CNA during my high school years. I was involved in the aquatics program, where I played water polo for three years and did competitive swimming for two years. While at school, I would also work in my parents' family business at flea markets, where we would sell aguas frescas.

Why are you excited about coming to ��ϰٿ�? I truly believe this school will open so many opportunities to me. I am excited about the hands-on opportunities and learning new things within my major. I'm excited for the fresh new start and campus life.

Academic and personal goals:I wish to accomplish an amazing application for medical school once I graduate. I wish to build beautiful bonds with friends and my professors. I want to build strong academic resources that will help me build skills and knowledge to succeed. Personally, I want to grow as an individual, becoming more independent, confident and involved.

Favorite food: My favorite food will forever be clayudas, an Oaxacan dish.

What do you do to relax? Swimming. It helps me feel free and not worry about anything.

You can teleport anywhere in the world for a three-day weekend. Where do you go? Lake Tahoe. It is an amazing place to connect with nature and just relax.

Quotable: "If you are new to Merced, I will be happy to show you around the town."

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