Our scholars got dollars.

Nearly 40 future engineers received financial support this past academic year in the form of scholarship awards ranging largely between $1,000 and $2,500.

While this financial support assists Marlan and Rosemary Bourns College of Engineering (BCOE) students in covering some of the costs of their education, the scholarship-application process is meant to do something more: encourage them to make critical connections with the campus community beyond the classroom.

In reviewing scholarship applicants, committees review student engagement. Examples of such engagement includes participating in the Highlander Orientation Peer Leader and Supplemental Instruction Leader programs, engineering-oriented professional societies, undergraduate research, and internships. The more terms students engage in such activities, the more they increase their chances of receiving a scholarship.

Student engagement are equally considered with academic performance, said Rod Smith, BCOE’s director of student affairs. 

“Student engagement is deeply important to the success of our future engineers,” he added. “Research suggests that when students are broadly and deeply engaged with the campus community, there are positive impacts to their learning, their satisfaction, and their achievement. When our engineers connect in meaningful ways with our Bourns and UC Riverside communities, good things happen!”

The 39 scholarship recipients that were selected last academic year were drawn from a pool of 314 applicants. The total amount of scholarship funds awarded was more than $46,372. Of all these scholarships, the minimum amount that was awarded—with the exception of one $500 scholarship—was $1,000.

The goal is to award between $500 and $1,000 annually per scholarship recipient, and to distribute the funds equally across first-year students and seniors. Another goal is to award between $2,000 and $3,000 to scholarship recipients over their entire time at BCOE, Smith said.

There are generally four types of scholarships BCOE students may receive. Some scholarships are specific to the college, such as the Allen Van Tran Award in Engineering Fund scholarship, a legacy left by a first-generation graduate Allen Van Tran, the youngest BCOE alumnus to establish an endowment at UCR.

The American Honda Science/Engineering Endowed Fund scholarship is geared to women or students from underrepresented communities in the Honors Program who are working on their senior thesis project.

Other scholarships are specific to a department, such as the Roberta Nichols Yakel Endowned Scholarship, which is intended for juniors who are Mechanical Engineerng majors. The Alexander Scott Bilderback Endowed Bioengineering Scholarship is geared toward undergraduate or graduate students in the Bioengineering program.

The Mark and Pamela Rubin Endowned Scholarship is a UC Riverside-wide scholarship that is specifically intended for engineering students. Other scholarships not tied to BCOE are connected to the UCR Alumni Association, the UCR Foundation, and the Office of Financial Aid.

The scholarship application period is typically in winter with the selection of awardees and notification taking place the following April.

Part mascot. Part machine. All Scotty.

A team of mechanical engineering students recently developed a wheeled, robotic version of our university’s beloved mascot Scotty Highlander. Dubbed “RoboCUB” or “ScottyBOT,” it is capable of navigating on its own, avoiding obstacles, and basic communication. And while this autonomous robot platform may be used for campus tours, announcements, and advertising, it served a greater purpose: preparing them for their future engineering careers.

“ScottyBOT” (designed by Kevin Montufar, Reilly Parker, Jonathan Garcia, and Mario Abarca) is just one example of the dozens of Senior Design projects completed last spring by seniors working in teams from across the Marlan and Rosemary Bourns College of Engineering’s (BCOE) five departments. The projects and accompanying courses are required components of students’ degree program curriculum. They provide students the opportunity to apply the scientific knowledge and technical skills they learned in class to hands-on, real-world industry problems and engineering challenges.

Projects spanned a wide range: an autonomous robot capable of delivering food and packages, the next generation of solar-powered drones, an improved 3D-printing process for manufacturing process, and flight computers and communication systems for satellites small enough to hold in the palm of your hand.

“Senior Design allows students to get involved in real engineering problems spanning from the hands-on state-of-the-art industry-type to cutting-edge leading research projects,” said Farbod Khoshnoud, a mechanical engineering faculty member and a project advisor.

These projects are crucial in providing students the opportunity to sharpen their scientific and technical skills and engage in job-ready experiences such as working productively in teams, written and oral communications, risk analysis, environmental and ethical issues, and occupational health and safety.

Recent chemical engineering graduate Stewart Shining worked on designing a petrochemical process that would be useful for the oil-refining industry.

“For me, personally, it really opened my eyes to how engineers are tasked with applying knowledge to create solutions,” he said. “I underestimated the amount of presentations and preparation that engineers have to do for meetings and propositions, but it makes sense in hindsight that this would be the case since most of the people that we will have to propose to will not be engineers, but investors and senior management at companies or government bodies.”

Senior design projects are highlighted on campus with public displays, poster presentations, and special events, such as department open houses and the Bioengineering and Materials Science Senior Design Showcase held on May 12 and the Mechanical Engineering Senior Design Poster Exhibition on June 5.

“A senior design project enables students to practice knowledge they learned in previous courses, work on real-world engineering projects, and gain valuable project-planning, teamwork, and presentation skills,” said Jiamin Zhang, assistant professor of chemical and environmental engineering.

Such experiences are amplified when industry sponsors or mentors provide support. Examples of sponsors include Howmet Aerospace, a leading manufacturer of aircraft components that has collaborated with Dmytro Zagrebelnyy, assistant teaching professor of materials science and engineering, and Loma Linda University Medical Center, one of the state’s top hospitals that has worked with Rob McKee, assistant teaching professor of bioengineering.

Prospective industry sponsors are encouraged to contact Associate Director of Corporate & Strategic Partnerships Mike Allen at mrallen@engr.ucr.edu.

UCR scientist discover chemical reaction pathways that destroy certain toxic water pollutants and render them into harmless substances.

University of California, Riverside, chemical and environmental engineering scientists have identified two species of bacteria found in soil that break down a class of stubborn “forever chemicals,” giving hope for low-cost biological cleanup of industrial pollutants. 

Scientists are developing artificial photosynthesis to help make food production more energy-efficient here on Earth, and one day possibly on Mars

Celebrating UCR's young alumni making a splash across industries and around the world

Read the full story in UCR Magazine's Spring 2022 edition: https://news.ucr.edu/ucr-magazine/spring-2022/40-under-40