Dec 13, 2024  
2023-2024 Catalog 
    
2023-2024 Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

School of Engineering


 


The School of Engineering emphasizes excellence by educating future leaders in engineering who understand the context in which they live and work, and who are comfortable with managing and driving change.  We focus on developing innovative education that provides deep engineering competence, promotes high ethical standards, and delivers solutions to our challenges in an economically, environmentally, and socially responsible manner.

The School of Engineering offers the following majors:

The School of Engineering offers the following minors:

 


What Is Engineering?

Engineering is about problem solving, innovation, and the creation of devices, systems, processes, and structures to benefit society. Engineers create new ideas and then transform those ideas into products and services that improve people’s lives. As part of this creative process, engineers apply mathematics and the principles of the natural sciences to solve problems and meet the needs of society. Engineering spans the very small to the very large, from micro-sensors that can continuously monitor human health, to space stations that can support the exploration of new worlds. It also touches our everyday lives.

Engineering has provided our shelter, our transportation, our entertainment, our medical supplies and technologies, our water supplies, the food we eat, the movies we watch, the appliances that make our lives easier and the protection of our environment. Engineering careers are among the highest in demand in the world including the United States and, as a result, provide great personal and professional satisfaction and quality of life. Engineering is a “people-serving profession” and a pathway to financial security. In short, engineering makes the world work!

Letter of Welcome from the Dean

Dear Aspiring Engineer:

We need talented and highly creative people to participate in this exciting profession to address the needs and welfare of society. Engineering is all about creating things that never were, transforming culture, and improving human lives and conditions around the world.

At one of the youngest and most diverse universities in the country, engineering education at UC Merced is both challenging and satisfying. You will have an opportunity to learn and grow in a diverse and student focused environment. You will meet extraordinary people: world-class faculty, committed fellow students, dedicated staff, and partners from the local community and around the world. The social network you will develop in the School of Engineering and beyond during your time at UC Merced will last a lifetime. Our goal is to help you explore ways in which engineering and appropriate technology helps people and prepare you for a career of leadership and responsibility.

I look forward to welcoming you into the School of Engineering and watching you develop into a technical leader prepared for the complexities of tomorrow.


Rakesh Goel, Ph.D., P.E., F.ASCE, F.SEI

Dean, School of Engineering

Normal Progress to Degree Policy

Normal progress is defined as follows:

  • Each student must register in at least 12 units per semester and of these 12 units, two classes must be major prep (math/science), ENGR or major-specific, technical requirements. The major-specific courses cannot be university or campus requirements, nor can they be Social Science, Humanities and Arts (SSHA) general education courses.
  • Each student must successfully complete — at UC Merced — no fewer than the following number of units: 15 x (N-1) = units needed. N = semesters at UC Merced. Summer sessions are not counted as semesters.

Any student who fails to achieve normal progress will be subject to academic withdrawal and will need approval to continue at UC Merced. Any student can petition the School of Engineering if their failure to make normal progress is due to extenuating circumstances beyond their control.