Patty Guerra

At first glance, a mathematical model that describes how quickly materials transform from one phase to another might seem to have few other practical applications.

But what if this kind of model could be adapted to predict the spread of the next pandemic?

Two UC Merced researchers have been studying the Johnson-Mehl-Avrami-Kolmogorov (JMAK) equation, which helps scientists describe and predict how materials change over time, such as when crystals grow from a liquid, or when a new solid phase with a different composition emerges in an existing solid.

A simulation for a proposed air transport system among University of California campuses earned an award for a team of UC Merced students.

A UC Merced team competing in a U.S. Department of Energy contest won its division with a proposal to use floating solar panels to power the campus's Experimental Smart Farm.

Recently, more than 150 students at 10 high schools in Los Angeles, New York City and Washington, D.C. completed Climate Justice, a UC Merced course , through a unique partnership between the University of California and the National Education Equity Lab.

Last July, a glitch in a software upgrade by a cybersecurity company impacted 8.5 million computers, resulting in the cancellation of 2,800 flights and delays for 11,000 more.

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic impacted many facets of life, including health care, schools and the work environment.

A new study by UC Merced researchers shows evidence that the pandemic also fueled an elevated number of wildfires in the United States that year.

How?

Pictures accompanying Professor John Abatzoglou's presentation on the 2025 fire season were blurry. That was intentional, he said, because so much about wildfire is unpredictable.

"There's a lot that we know, and a lot we don't know," he said.

What will California's fire season look like in 2025?

A panel of UC Merced experts, joined by the founder of a public safety information nonprofit organization, will conduct an in-depth discussion of the risks, repercussions and forecasts, and what communities can do to be prepared.

The Fire Resilience Seminar and 2025 Wildfire Outlook will take place from 1 to 3 p.m. April 17 in the UC Merced Conference Center. It is free and open to the public.

Electrical engineering and computer science Professor Pengfei Su has received a CAREER award for his research on cross-layer performance tuning to enhance deep learning model efficiency.

He is the 41st researcher from UC Merced to earn a CAREER award from the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Many people with electric vehicles drive them to work during the day and then charge them overnight after returning home. But a simple reversal of that schedule could make it cheaper and easier to charge your electric car.

That was the conclusion reached by a team of UC Merced researchers, who recently published a paper in the Electricity Journal on "Aligning Electric Vehicle Charging with the Sun: An Opportunity for Daytime Charging?"