Patty Guerra

Several UC Merced students pitched in Saturday, Jan. 28 to help people whose belongings were damaged when rains earlier this month flooded a storage facility.

Students from sports teams and on-campus organizations sorted belongings, hauled trash and cleaned up the Merced Mini Storage facility, alongside teams from the California Conservation Corps and Lowe's home improvement store. Merced Mayor Matthew Serrato also was on hand to help, and a local restaurant provided lunch for the volunteers.

Computer technology has exploded in recent years and is only going to keep growing, with ever more use of artificial intelligence and connected devices that communicate, or the Internet of Things.

A UC Merced researcher recently won a grant aimed at helping to learn how to reduce the amount of power required to do all that work. And she will work with colleagues at two other UC campuses.

Innovate to Grow is a twice-yearly celebration of student ingenuity hosted by the School of Engineering (SoE). In a way, it's a science fair for college students to help solve problems that businesses and nonprofit organizations face, and potentially gain partnerships to see their projects utilized in real-world applications.

UC Merced students came away from a national engineering conference with some big wins — including a first-place finish in a famous design competition and job offers from some of the most prestigious companies in the United States.

When planting crops, farmers confront numerous questions. Among them: Will it get too hot? Is it likely frost will stunt growing? When is the best time to plant? What kind of pests could impact the harvest?

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."