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Cal-Bridge Scholar Rolando Ortega Wants to Build the Future

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

Rolando Ortega is closing in on his dream of earning a Ph.D. This fall, the Cal-Bridge scholar from Los Angeles County joins UC Merced to start his doctoral journey. With experience spanning national labs, NASA outreach and cutting-edge research, Ortega is ready to design devices that push the boundaries of science and technology.

Where I come from: I was born and raised in Baldwin Park and graduated from Baldwin Park High School in 2018.  

Last year, 96% of California was drought-free. A new map is far more grim.

Newsom's executive order targets ultra-processed foods, improving public health

CALMATTERS: California got millions to train workers in disaster relief, but it’s leaving money on table

People are showing attending the I2G event and examining posters of projects.

Innovate to Grow Highlights Engineering, Software Capstone Projects

Innovate to Grow, or I2G as it’s known on campus, is a twice-a-year showcase for UC Merced engineering and computer science students demonstrating projects they have been developing. Students compete on teams that are judged by experts from around California. People can see the fall showcase Dec....

US solar industry downplays climate in strategy for Trump era

REUTERS: US solar industry downplays climate in strategy for Trump era

Photo depicts a sepia-toned image of Albert Einstein transformed into Cubist art.

High School Student Part of AI Art Project at UC Merced

Here's a nifty use for AI: Turning photographs and other images into Cubist art. A team of UC Merced researchers developed a project to do just that, using artificial intelligence to transform images into the style of art created by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque that reduces and fractures...
Photo depicts Professor Debora Lyn Porter and a blue and gold background.

Grant Funds Research into Fungal Structures

Mushrooms are pretty amazing. They are light and porous yet have a high strength-to-weight ratio. They are absorbent. They can serve as filters. Manufacturing a material that mimics mushrooms and other fungal structures could provide opportunities in any number of areas, ranging from aerospace...
Photo depicts graphic blue and gold background and Efosa Omorogieva, a third-year computer science and engineering major at UC Merced,.

UC Students Tackle Tech-Centered Challenges in CITRIS Summer Internships

Efosa Omorogieva, a third-year computer science and engineering major at UC Merced, spent her summer using data to help transform items such as stalks and husks leftover after harvest into usable products for rural communities. Omorogieva interned at technology startup Takachar as a member of the...

Give to UC Merced 2024 to Launch on Giving Tuesday

On Dec. 3, the date of this year's Giving Tuesday, UC Merced will participate in the worldwide day of charitable giving by launching Give to UC Merced 2024. For the fifth year, the university's annual fundraising initiative will extend beyond its original 24-hour period to the entire month of...

LOS ANGELES TIMES: California farmers were big Trump backers. They may be on collision course over immigrant deportation

New faculty members pictured are Josué Medellìn-Azuara, Rebecca Ryals, Safeeq Khan and Reza Ehsani.

A Major Step Forward for UC Merced's Agricultural Experiment Station

The first four faculty members named to UC Merced's Agricultural Experiment Station look to make a big impact on farming in the San Joaquin Valley and beyond. Mechanical engineering Professor Reza Ehsani, civil and environmental engineering professors Safeeq Khan and Josué Medellìn-Azuara, and...
Robert Galliano, a forester designing and tracking the fuels treatments for the French Meadows Partnership, is shown talking to a crowd of people.

Agencies, Local Stakeholders Must Collaborate to Restore Wildlands

As wildfires grow in intensity and frequency, it's vital that agencies and local stakeholders work together to rehabilitate and restore resilience to wildlands in California. This finding is underscored in a paper in the journal Restoration Ecology published in October by UC Merced researchers....

LOS ANGELES TIMES: Political stress: Can you stay engaged without sacrificing your mental health?

UC Merced Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz moderates a panel featuring California Community Colleges Chancellor Sonya Christian, University of California President Michael Drake and California State University Chancellor Mildred Garcia.

Summit Aims to Ease the Path for Transfer Students

Between 70% and 80% of students who start classes at community colleges plan to transfer to four-year universities. But only between 20% and 30% do. In California, that number is closer to the lower end of that spectrum, a University of Wisconsin researcher told a room full of higher education...

FRESNO BEE: Why did Donald Trump win Fresno County? ‘People just voted their pocketbook’

photo of student with brown hair and yellow shirt on blue and gold backgroud

Fellowship Draws UC Merced Alum Back to the Capitol

As one of UC Merced’s first students, Josue “Josh” Franco seized the chance to help shape student government for future scholars on campus; now he has grasped a new opportunity on Capitol Hill. The three-time alumnus (B.A. ’09, M.A. ’16, Ph.D. ’18) has been awarded the American Political Science...

THE GUARDIAN: ‘Mass deportations would disrupt the food chain’: Californians warn of ripple effect of Trump threat

CHICAGO TRIBUNE: Can America heal after the election? Local clergy, researchers tackle political anxiety and toxic polarization

graduate student wearing black presenting to the group

Inaugural Mechanical Engineering Graduate Symposium Celebrates Student Research Excellence

UC Merced’s Department of Mechanical Engineering held its first Graduate Symposium on Nov. 2, marking a successful day of research presentations and community engagement. Graduate students showcased their research in poster and oral presentation formats with an impressive display of quality and...

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