UCI Research Facilities

UCI houses an array of state-of-the-art facilities, fully equipped for micro/nano-technological advancement. 

The Integrated Nanosystems Research Facility (INRF) is a modern, industrial-grade facility, utilized for designing, constructing and testing micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS), opto-electronics, fiberoptics and photonics, electronics and microfluidics, and hybrid systems. The INRF will make equipment available to all IMSURE students, including lithography tools with capabilities of micron resolution, thin-film deposition devices, metal plating equipment, and etching tools for device creation. Recent equipment additions include a compound semiconductor, and polymer and metal MEMS and nanosystems processing tools. A packaging lab, a sample preparation lab, and thermal cycling and humidity chambers are available for device reliability assessment.

Faculty Laboratories also offer specialized equipment and facilities geared towards research in process/device circuit design and modeling, optical metrology, high-speed electronic devices, Bio-MEMS and microfluidics, integrated fiberoptics, electronic and photonic packaging, and nanotechnology. IMSURE students will have the opportunity to tour and work within these facilities. 
  
  
The UCI Campus

UC Irvine is in the heart of sunny Southern California, famous for it’s perpetually sunny and spring-like weather. UCI’s location offers students an unlimited number of local spots and activities to enjoy. The campus is five miles from the Pacific Ocean, so students are moments away from swimming, surfing, sailing, fishing and sunning. Local deserts and mountain resorts are all within driving distance, as are local museums, sports venues, concert halls, zoos, and theme parks, including Disneyland, Knott’s Berry Farm, Sea World, Magic Mountain, and Wild Rivers. Beautiful Catalina Island is just offshore and a short boatride away. 

The UCI campus itself is also designed to provide a dynamic environment for students. The circular campus design integrates natural open space with the modern architecture of the academic, research and administrative structures. Buildings encircle the 21-acre Aldrich Park, and the campus itself is a natural arboretum planted with trees and shrubs from all over the world. Ring Road, a mile in circumference walkway circling Aldrich Park, is the pedestrian thoroughfare that connects the classrooms, eateries, libraries, laboratories, and housing. The Ring also serves as the outdoor staging for a full calendar of cultural and social activities. Bike trails connect UCI to student housing and to the beach, and pedestrian bridges connect students to local movie theaters, restaurants, shops and businesses.
  
  
The UCI Research Environment

Founded in 1965, UCI has built a reputation as a top-tier research university that attracts the nation’s brightest students and faculty. U.S. News and World Report consistently ranks UCI among the best public universities across the nation, and was one of 63 universities elected to membership in the prestigious Association of American Universities. In 2005, U.S. News and World Report ranked UCI as having one of the top Academic Programs focused on Undergraduate Research and Creative Projects. UCI’s graduate programs were also ranked among “America’s Best Graduate Schools.” 

One of the distinguishing factors in UCI’s rankings have been the campus’s prominent faculty. UCI’s faculty is continually recognized on international levels for their contributions and research. UCI was the first public university with faculty who received Nobel Prizes in two different fields-chemistry and physics-in the same year. A third Nobel Prize was granted in 2004 in the field of chemistry. 

Programs like the NSF-funded IMSURE REU site are among a multitude of research opportunities for undergraduate students at UCI. The university has a strong history of involving undergraduates in faculty-mentored research, and nearly half of all graduating students have participated in an independent research or creative project. UCI students successfully compete for career and graduate studies opportunities, which is due in part to the skills and knowledge they acquire as a result of their active involvement in faculty-mentored undergraduate research and creative projects. 

The university also has a strong commitment to promoting diversity. The Princeton Review’s Best 345 College Ranking for 2003 placed UCI as number 15 in the Diverse Student Population category, and UCI ranks 50th nationwide in the Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education magazine’s “Top 100” for the number of academic degrees awarded to Hispanics. Black Issues in Higher Education ranked UCI fourth in the nation for awarding bachelor’s degrees to minority students in the 2002-03 school year. UCI awards more than $1 million dollars in internal diversity fellowships directly to qualifying students each year, and administers a number of programs relevant to this application. The California Alliance for Minority Participation (CAMP) facilitates laboratory research as a path toward graduate school, and has been funded by NSF since 1991. 

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