Message from the Associate Dean

Despite its relative youth, the Samueli School of Engineering has already distinguished itself as one of the most dynamic and innovative institutions in the world. Southern California has always been a center of creativity, and our bright and talented engineering faculty are no different -- they are leaders in their disciplines and have achieved worldwide recognition for their research and ingenious activities.

With state-of-the-art experimental and computational infrastructure, the school occupies a half dozen buildings and nearly 300,000 square feet of space. It is a vibrant and collegial community with 160 faculty, 933 graduate students and 3,659 undergraduate students in six departments: mechanical and aerospace engineering, electrical engineering and computer science, biomedical engineering, civil and environmental engineering, chemical and biomolecular engineering and materials science and engineering.

Through investments in research, our aspiration is to address the grand challenges facing society for a globally sustainable future. As outlined in our 2025 Strategic Plan, the school’s priorities and investments in the next decade center around four major challenges: science and engineering of human health, water and energy sustainability, materials and manufacturing, and communications, transportation and information technology.

As any university researcher knows, innovation is a crucial component of success. At the Samueli School, we work hard to move new ideas from academia into the public domain, where they can help humanity and enhance the economy. The excellence and growth of the UCI school of engineering puts it in a unique position to lead engineering discovery and provide a technological edge to industry through the facilitation of technology transfer and talent acquisition.

The Samueli School of Engineering is particularly known for its collaborative nature, across disciplines within both the school and the university, as well as with our corporate partners and colleagues at other universities. Our engineering faculty work together on projects with researchers in nearly all schools on campus, including those in social, physical, biological and computer sciences; medicine; public health and business.

We also have working research relationships with many industry and academic institutions around the world, and are always seeking new partners and collaborations. If you're interested, give us a call, or better, stop by for a visit. It's always a beautiful day in sunny Orange County!

Efi Foufoula-Georgiou, Ph.D.
Associate Dean, Research and Innovation
Distinguished Professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering