Graduating seniors in the School of Engineering assemble into teams of peers and faculty mentors who partner with local businesses and nonprofits to solve pressing or persistent engineering challenges. As part of the most recent I2G, for example, one team of students partnered with Bowles Farming Company in Los Banos to produce an irrigation system that reduces the time and labor needed to move sprinkler pipes in agricultural settings. Another partnered with E&J Gallo in Modesto to help the winery develop technologies to reclaim wastewater.
I2G owes much of its current success to the support of Wells Fargo.
“Wells Fargo is really responsible for the iteration of the event we see today,” Foresti said. “Wells came the second year of I2G, and they’ve helped it become the signature day for the School of Engineering and a major showcase for UC Merced.”
Wells Fargo has also been instrumental in I2G’s recent expansion into the fall semester. With this year’s $50,000 gift to the School of Engineering, Wells Fargo helped turn what was once a spring-only event into a biannual showcase that takes place at the end of both the fall and spring semesters. This year’s event is happening Dec. 15.
With their gifts to I2G and the School of Engineering, Wells Fargo hopes to cultivate innovation in clean technology. Rather than attaching their gifts to specific projects, Wells Fargo is underwriting I2G’s Food, Water and Energy Challenge, which fosters a multitude of student-led teams who are developing commercializable advances in clean tech.
But Wells Fargo’s involvement with UC Merced isn’t new. They’ve helped promote UC Merced’s vision for education and economic development in the San Joaquin Valley for quite some time. This year’s gift in support of I2G’s fall expansion is just one of many that Wells Fargo has provided in support of the university. Over the past three years, Well Fargo has committed over $300,000 to the School of Engineering and I2G. They’ve also sent local representatives to I2G to serve as competition judges.
Source: news.ucmerced.edu
