Founded in 1965, The Henry Samueli School of Engineering is one of the nation’s fastest growing engineering schools, attracting talented faculty and students from across the country and around the world. Its mission is to educate students, at all levels, to be the best engineers and leaders in the nation and world by engaging them in a stimulating community dedicated to the discovery of knowledge, creation of new technologies, and service to society. The Samueli School provides outstanding education to graduate and undergraduate students through a combination of classroom learning and laboratory research experience, distinguishing itself through an emphasis on cross-disciplinary research and education. Working in partnership with state and federal agencies and industry, the school promotes the transfer of research to applications that benefit society.
Focused Research
The school is equipped with excellent experimental facilities and a state-of-the-art computational infrastructure, occupying more than 295,000 square feet. It offers numerous research centers, institutes and facilities, including the Center for Pervasive Communications & Computing, The Edwards Lifesciences Center for Advanced Cardiovascular Technology, the Integrated Nanosystems Research Facility, the National Fuel Cell Research Center, the UC Irvine Combustion Lab, the Center for Embedded Computer Systems, the Center for Hydrometeorology & Remote Sensing, the Laboratory for Fluorescence Dynamics, the Center for Advanced Monitoring & Damage Inspection, the Center for Engineering Science in Design, and the Micro/Nano Fluidics Fundamentals Focus Center.
The school’s faculty also is active in the Institute of Transportation Studies, the Networked Systems Center, the Beckman Laser Institute & Medical Clinic, the Urban Water Research Center, and the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. In addition, the School is an integral part of the California Institute for Telecommunications & Information Technology (Calit2), one of four Institutes for Science & Innovation within the University of California.
With more than 2,800 undergraduate students and 860 graduate students, the Samueli School includes the following departments:
- The Department of Biomedical Engineering offers a broad array of exciting research and training opportunities with world-renowned researchers. Engineering focus areas include biomedical photonics/optoelectronics, biomedical nano- and microscale systems/fabrication, biomedical computation/modeling, and tissue engineering. These technology areas intersect with clinical areas of focus such as cardiovascular disease, the nervous system, cancer, and ophthalmology. Included in these opportunities are major campus research centers at the Beckman Laser Institute (biophotonics), the Edwards Lifesciences Center for Advanced Cardiovascular Technology (ELCACT), the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, the Integrated Nanosystems Research Facility, the Laboratory of Fluorescence Dynamics, and the Micro/nano Fluidics Fundamentals Focus (MF3) Center. Because of its interdisciplinary nature, biomedical engineering attracts students with a variety of backgrounds.
- The Department of Chemical Engineering & Materials Science focuses research efforts in several areas. Chemical engineering activities concentrate in two areas: biotechnology and biomolecular engineering, which includes protein expression, metabolic engineering, bioreactor engineering, protein engineering, cell and tissue engineering, biomaterials, colloids, and drug delivery; and, transport phenomena, which includes fluid, heat and mass transport in biological systems; laser-induced transport processes with applications in microfluidics, biology, and medicine; transport of biological particles (i.e., viruses, bacteria, protozoa) through environmental systems. Materials science areas include: synthesis, mechanical behavior, and characterization of advanced nanostructured materials; ceramics and sol-gel processing; device packaging and manufacturing; electronic and optical materials; lightweight structures and multifunctional materials; microbiological corrosion of metals and alloys; biomaterials; polymers and related nanotechnology and nanocomposites; creep and superplasticity; fuel cell and energy related system materials; device physics; and, coatings and multilayers.
- The Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering focuses on a wide range of scientific and engineering challenges involving civil infrastructure, natural resources and their interactions. The department strives to address these challenges with the development and application of emerging information technologies such as microsensors, satellite-based remote sensing and simulation methodologies, by promoting a systems approach to analysis and design, and by building on scientific and engineering fundamentals in the areas of structural engineering, transportation engineering and environmental engineering.
- The Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science is creating state-of- the-art technologies in computer science and engineering, computer system design, information theory, broadband communication systems, high-speed analog and digital circuit design, signal and image processing, electromagnetics, photonics, high-efficiency power electronic circuits, and alternative energy power generation. The department faculty participate in a number of research collaborations focused on areas as diverse as embedded systems, micro-electro-mechanical systems and nanotechnology, communication systems, machine intelligence, bio-chips, real-time and fault tolerant systems, parallel and distributed systems, and computer architecture.
- The Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering focuses on the areas of combustion, flow physics, turbulence, energy and propulsion; environmental analysis; control, dynamics and guidance; robotics and automation; aerospace structures; and manufacturing and materials processing, including micro-electro-mechanical systems. The department is home to excellent experimental and computational facilities, including a robotics and automation laboratory, a biomechatronics laboratory, a micro-electro-mechanical systems laboratory, combustion and fuel-cell laboratories, a high Reynolds number mixing facility, a supersonic flow facility, and a large, low-speed wind tunnel.
Distinguished Faculty
The school's faculty members are scholars and leaders in their disciplines, and have achieved worldwide honors and recognition for their pioneering research and dedicated teaching. More than a third of the school’s 106 faculty members are fellows in professional societies, and 11 have been elected as members of the National Academies.
Corporate Partnerships
The school’s corporate affiliates programs and other alliances with industry offer a vital connection to the future by providing an avenue for the continuous flow of new information, and access to a pool of new engineering talent. Membership in these groups enables corporations to mine the wealth of resources available at the school.
By the Numbers (2012-13)
- Full-time faculty: 110
- Undergraduate enrollment: 2,872
- Graduate enrollment: 861
- Ranked 37th in U.S. News & World Report's 2012 listing of best engineering graduate schools
