Henry Samueli School of Engineering

Henry Samueli School of Engineering
Name	Henry Samueli School of Engineering
Established	1965
Type	Private
Dean	Edward J. Fox
City	Irvine
State	California
Country	United States
Parent	University of California, Irvine

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Henry Samueli School of Engineering is the engineering school within the University of California, Irvine located in Irvine, California, United States. The school offers undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs and is known for research in electrical engineering, computer science, materials science, and biomedical engineering. Its programs intersect with regional industries in Silicon Valley, Orange County, California, and national laboratories such as Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories.

History

The school's origins trace to the expansion of University of California, Irvine in the 1960s during initiatives associated with the University of California system and the postwar growth of California State University-era projects. Early collaborations involved faculty recruited from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, University of California, Los Angeles, Princeton University, and California Institute of Technology to establish departments in electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, chemical engineering, and computer science. Over time, benefactions from industry leaders such as Henry Samueli, Broadcom Corporation, and foundations linked to W. M. Keck Foundation and Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation supported new facilities and endowed chairs. The school expanded research ties with federal initiatives like programs funded by the National Science Foundation, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and National Institutes of Health, reflecting wider trends seen at institutions such as Georgia Institute of Technology and University of Michigan.

The school confers degrees at the Bachelor of Science, Master of Science, Master of Engineering, and Doctor of Philosophy levels in fields comparable to those at Carnegie Mellon University, University of California, Berkeley, Cornell University, and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Departments offer curricula in computer engineering, electrical engineering, mechanical and aerospace engineering, chemical and biomolecular engineering, and materials science and engineering, with joint programs linked to Paul Merage School of Business-style management coursework and interdisciplinary centers similar to those at Johns Hopkins University and Massachusetts General Hospital. Professional certificates and online programs align with continuing education models used by Columbia University and Stanford Online.

Research units include centers modeled after hubs like MIT Media Lab and Stanford Research Institute; thematic areas cover semiconductor devices research comparable to Intel Corporation partnerships, photonics collaborations akin to Bell Labs, robotics initiatives similar to Carnegie Mellon Robotics Institute, and bioengineering efforts that parallel projects at Harvard University and Johns Hopkins University. Centers host multi-investigator grants from National Science Foundation, DARPA, and NASA and collaborate with industry partners including Broadcom Corporation, Qualcomm, Google, Apple Inc., and NVIDIA. Lab spaces support experimental programs in nanotechnology aligned with work at University of California, San Diego and computational efforts leveraging resources like XSEDE and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Student organizations mirror groups at peer institutions like Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University, including chapters of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Society of Women Engineers, Tau Beta Pi, and American Society of Civil Engineers. Project teams compete in events hosted by NASA and ASME and participate in entrepreneurship programs connected to incubators resembling Y Combinator and accelerators partnered with Plug and Play Tech Center. Student governance liaises with campus entities such as Associated Students of the University of California and engages in outreach with local schools in Orange County, California and community partners including Project Lead The Way.

Admissions are competitive within the University of California admissions landscape and compared with peers like University of California, Berkeley and University of California, Los Angeles. Graduate admissions attract candidates who previously studied at institutions including University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, Tsinghua University, ETH Zurich, and National University of Singapore. National and international rankings by organizations analogous to U.S. News & World Report, Times Higher Education, and QS World University Rankings have evaluated the school's programs in engineering and computer science.

Facilities include laboratories and centers on the campus of University of California, Irvine near landmarks such as the Aldrich Park and the Irvine Spectrum Center. Research infrastructure is comparable to facilities at University of California, San Diego and University of Washington, with cleanrooms, high-performance computing clusters, and fabrication facilities used for collaborations with semiconductor firms like Intel Corporation and Applied Materials. The campus integrates with regional transit and nearby research corridors serving Los Angeles and San Diego.

Alumni have taken leadership roles at companies and institutions including Broadcom Corporation, Google, Apple Inc., Qualcomm, Tesla, Inc., National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and National Institutes of Health. Graduates have founded startups that attracted investment from firms such as Sequoia Capital and Andreessen Horowitz and have contributed to technologies referenced by patents assigned to Broadcom Corporation and publications in journals like Nature and Science. Contributions extend to public-sector projects and collaborations with agencies including Department of Energy and Department of Defense.