Cutting-edge research activities by a young and energetic ME faculty span seven broad areas. They include energy processing, bio-applications, nano and microscale engineering, computation and design, materials properties and processing, multiphase flow and combustion, and air quality and fire engineering. Faculty directed research is sponsored by federal agencies (NSF, NIH, DOE, ARO, AFOSR, USDAFS, ONR, etc.), state agencies (Cal Trans, CIEE, UCTC, etc.), and industrial sponsors (Raytheon, Aeptec, Lockheed, W.M. Keck Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Bourns Inc., etc.)

ME faculty participate in a wide range of college-wide and campus-wide research centres and initiatives. Various ME faculty are associated with the Center for Environmental Research and Technology (CE-CERT), which works closely with industry to transition to broad application technologies such as autonomous vehicles, biofuels, engines that use alternative fuels and computer models of highway air quality. ME faculty play a crucial role in the Winston Chung Energy Center, which focuses on the development of materials and devices for energy storage. Such technologies could dramatically increase the range of electric vehicles, enabling their widespread use with all its beneficial effects with respect of pollution and air quality. ME faculty also participate in the UC Riverside Stem Cell Center by developing devices for the precise manipulation of stem cells, thus offering new engineering tools to enable the development of regenerative medicine techniques.

Several forms of financial assistance are available to 90% our graduate students. Financial assistance includes fellowships, teaching assistantships (TA) or graduate student researcher (GSR) appointments, and tuition and fee grants. Offers of financial assistance may be multiyear, combining fellowship and TA and/or GSR appointments. Other forms of support are need-based and administered through the Office of Financial Aid.

UC Riverside is regularly recognized as a top institution for graduate education, both nationally and internationally. Recent examples include:

• 22^nd in the World, North America, and the U.S. (2016 CWTS Leiden)
• Top quartile of all ME programs worldwide (2016 Shanghai)
• Top quartile of all ME programs in the U.S. (2010 National Academies National Research Council)

Each of these rankings are particularly noteworthy, given their reliance upon objective measurements of research productivity, quality, impact, and influence, rather than purely subjective opinion.

The U.S. News & World Report (2015) ranked UCR highly in several categories including 7th in the nation in diversity. Located in the heart of Inland Southern California, the City of Riverside is an exciting, diverse, urban center with a population of 270,000. It's the largest city in one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the United States. With its beautiful, historic downtown — anchored by the world famous Mission Inn Hotel — it is a multi-cultural hub of arts and culture.