Advanced Manufacturing
Welcome to the Advanced Manufacturing (AM) graduate concentration at the Samueli School of Engineering. This school-wide graduate program leads to an M.S. degree or Ph.D. degree in Engineering with a concentration in AM. It also offers a part-time study option for students pursuing an M.S. degree. Currently, there are 33 faculty members from six departments (BME, CEE, CBE, EECS, MAE and MSE) participating in this interdisciplinary program.
Background Suggested:
Given the nature of Advanced Manufacturing as an interdisciplinary program, students having a background and suitable training in either Materials, Engineering (Biomedical, Chemical, Civil, Electrical, and Mechanical), or the Natural Sciences (Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Geology) are encouraged to participate. Recommended background courses include an introduction to materials, thermodynamics, mechanical properties, and electrical/optical/magnetic properties. A student with an insufficient background may be required to take remedial undergraduate courses following matriculation as a graduate student.
Admissions Information:
Use the following list as a guideline of documents needed for a complete application.
- Application
- Application Fee
- Statement Of Purpose
- Official Copy of GRE
- Official Copy of TOEFL (International Applicants Only)
- Copy of Transcripts (Bachelors and Masters, if applicable)
- 3 letters of recommendation
Fall 2026 Application Deadline: January 15th
Transcripts Information:
For application review purposes only, scan and upload copies of transcripts for all instiutions attended since high school. In the online application, you will be prompted to upload your scanned documents. Please upload both the front and back sides of the transcript. Uploaded transcripts should be recent and include the following: your name, dates of attendance, grades/marks received, credits and grading legend. UCI reserves the right to require official transcripts at any time during the admissions process, and rescind any offer of admission made if discrepancies between uploaded and official transcripts are found. Official transcripts will be requested if and when you are admitted and decide to attend UCI. Do not send official transcipts until this time, unless you are requested to do so.
Interdisciplinary Research Activities Include:
Subjects of interest in Advanced Manufacturing cover a wide spectrum including metals and alloys, electronic and optical materials, ceramics, advanced composites, polymers, biomaterials, electronic packaging, solder technology, microfabriaction, semiconductor processing, various sensors, lifechips, and nanotechnology. The emerging new research and technological areas in materials and manufacturing technology are in many cases interdisciplinary. Accordingly, the principal objective of the graduate curriculum is to integrate a student’s area of emphasis—whether it be chemical processing and production, electronic and photonic materials and devices, electronic packaging and manufacturing, or materials engineering —into the whole of materials and manufacturing technology. Such integration will breed familiarity with other disciplines and provide students with the breadth they need to face the challenges of current and future technology.
Career Fields Include:
The field of AM ranks high on the list of top careers for scientists and engineers. The services of these engineers and scientists are required in a variety of engineering operations dealing, for example, with design of semiconductors and optoelectronic devices, development of new technologies based on composites and high-temperature materials, biomedical products, performance (quality, reliability, safety, energy efficiency) in automobile and aircraft components, improvement in nondestructive testing techniques, corrosion behavior in refineries, fabrication of steels, and construction of highways and bridges. Southern California has one of the largest manufacturing bases in the world. The materials and manufacturing industries include: aerospace, automotive, biomedical, communications, construction, defense, electronics, food processing, machining, medical instruments, metallurgy, oil refinery, pharmaceutical, optics, semiconductor, and tools, etc. The opportunity for the graduates to find a position is high. The pursuit of advanced manufacturing technology is critical to keep manufacturing activities and jobs here. This needs the talents of the engineers and the workers to design and implement cost effective manufacturing processes.
Contacts
Program Director: David Kisailus
Senior Service Advisor: Enmanuel Gallardo
Diran Apelian (MSE): Solidification processing, aluminum metallurgy, clean metal/melt refining, plasma processing / spray forming, powder metallurgy, nanostructured materials, semi-solid processing, thermal processing, resource recovery and recycling, innovation in engineering education
Shane Ardo (Chemistry): Inorganic and organometallic, physical chemistry and chemical physics, polymer, materials, nanoscience
Ozdal Boyraz (EECS): Silicon photonics, nonlinear optics in silicon, cascaded cavity silicon Raman lasers.
Peter J. Burke (EECS): Nano-electronics, bio-nanotechnology
Penghui Cao (MAE): Fundamental understanding of the mechanisms by which materials plasticly deform and fail, particularly in extreme environments.
Zhongping Chen (BME): Biomedical optics, optical coherence tomography, bioMEMS, biomedical devices
Franco De Flaviis (EECS): Microwave systems, wireless communications, electromagnetic circuit simulations
James C. Earthman (MSE): Biomaterials, dental and orthopedic implants, green materials, nanocrystalline alloys, deformation and damage processes
Rahim Esfandyarpour (EECS): nanotechnology & nanoscience, flexible electronics, MEMS & NEMS fabrication and modeling, stretchable & wearable bio devices, translational micro/nanotechnologies, biological & chemical sensors, microfluidics, microelectronics circuits & systems, physiological monitoring, Internet of Things(IOT) bio devices, technology development for personalized/precision medicine, and Point of Care(POC) diagnostics
Manuel Gamero-Castaño (MAE): Electric propulsion, with emphasis on colloid thruster technology for precision formation flying missions and Hall thrusters, electrohydrodynamic atomization of liquids and related problems like electrospray ionization and technological applications of electrosprays, aerosol diagnostics
Alon Gorodetsky (CBE): cephalopod-inspired materials, biomimetic systems, materials and polymer chemistry, protein engineering, biological electronics.
Zhibuan Guan (Chemistry): chemical biology, organic and synthetic, polymer, materials, nanoscience
Kai He (MSE): Transmission electron microscopy, spectroscopy, and holography, nanostructured multifunctional materials, energy conversion and storage, quantum materials and devices
Michelle Khine (BME): development of novel nano- and micro-fabrication technologies and systems for single cell analysis, stem cell research, in-vitro diagnostics
David Kisailus (MSE): Investigation of synthesis – structure and structure - property relationships in biological and biomimetic materials, development of multifunctional structural materials, synthesis and crystal growth of nanoscale materials for energy conversion, storage and environmental remediation
Lawrence Kulinsky (MAE): Micro- and nano-manufacturing, hybrid manufacturing, microfluidics, electrokinetic phenomena, BioMEMs, personalized diagnostics, and drug delivery.
Abraham “Abe” Lee (BME): Lab-on-a-Chip health monitoring instruments, drug delivery micro/nanoparticles, integrated cell sorting microdevices, lipid vesicles as carriers for cells and biomolecules, high throughput droplet bioassays, microfluidic tactile sensors
Jaeho Lee (MAE): Nanoscale heat transfer and materials engineering, targeting impact on semiconductor devices and energy conversion systems via metrology development.
Guann Pyng Li (EECS): high-speed semiconductor technology, optoelectronic devices, integrated circuit fabrication and testing
Michael McCarthy (MAE): Machine design and kinematic synthesis of spatial mechanisms and robots.
Ayman S. Mosallam (CEE): Advanced composites and hybrid systems, seismic repair and rehabilitation of structures, blast mitigation and diagnostic/prognostic techniques for infrastructure security
Daniel R. Mumm (MSE): Development of materials for power generation systems, propulsion, integrated sensing, advanced vehicle concepts and platform protection
Xiaoqing Pan (MSE): atomic-scale structure, properties and dynamic behaviors of advanced materials including thin films and nanostructures for memories, catalysts, and energy conversion and storage devices.
Regina Ragan (MSE): Exploration and development of novel material systems for nanoscale electronic and optoelectronic devices
Andrei M. Shkel (MAE): Design and advanced control of micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS), precision micro-sensors and actuators for telecommunication and information technologies, MEMS-based health monitoring systems, disposable diagnostic devices, prosthetic implants
Lizhi Sun (CEE): Micro- and nano-mechanics, composites and nanocomposites, smart materials and structures, multiscale modeling, elastography
Lorenzo Valdevit, Director (MSE): Multifunctional sandwich structures, thermal protection systems, morphing structures, active materials, MEMS, electronic packaging, cell mechanics
Camilo Velez Cuervo (MAE): Micro/nano robotics, micro/nano device fabrication, microfabrication of magnetic microsystems, magnetic micro/nanostructures, selective magnetization of micro patterns, microsystems (MEMS), biomedical microsystems, semiconductor devices and microfluidics
Yoonjin Won (MAE): Multi-scale structures for thermal and energy applications, in particular fabrication, characterization, and integration of structured materials
Iryna Zenyuk (CBE): Renewable energy, fuel cells, electrolyzers, batteries, X-ray imaging techniques, multi-scale modeling, transport phenomena)
John C. LaRue (MAE): Fluid mechanics, micro-electrical-mechanical systems (MEMS), turbulence, heat transfer, and instrumentation
Enrique J. Lavernia (MSE): Nanostructured materials, additive manufacturing, powder metallurgy, mechanical behavior
Chin C. Lee (EECS): Bonding technology, electronic packaging, acoustics, microwaves, semiconductor devices, thermal management
Henry P. Lee (EECS): Photonics, fiber-optics and compound semiconductors
Marc J. Madou (MAE): Fundamental aspects of micro/nano-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS/NEMS), biosensors, nanofluidics, biomimetics
Thomas Milner (Surgery): Optical-based therapeutics and diagnostic imaging, biomedical optics sensors, optical tomography
Farghalli Mohamed (MSE): Mechanical behavior of engineering materials such as metals, composites and ceramics, the correlation between behavior and microstructure, creep and superplasticity, mechanisms responsible for strengthening and fracture
Frank G. Shi (CBE): Optoelectronic devices and materials, optoelectronic device packaging materials, optoelectronic medical devices and packaging, white LED technologies, high power LED packaging
Bill Tang (BME): Micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) nanoscale engineering for biomedical applications, microsystems integration, microimplants, microbiomechanics, microfluidics
Chen S. Tsai (EECS): Integrated and fiber optics, devices and materials, integrated acoustooptics and magnetooptics, integrated microwave magnetics, Ultrasonic Atomization for Nanoparticles Synthesis, silicon photonics
Albert Yee (CBE): Nanofabrication of soft materials, physics of polymer thin films, nanomechanical properties of polymers, ultra-low k dielectrics, fracture and toughening of polymer nanocomposites.