UCLA is a large urban university situated between the city and the sea, at the foot of the Santa Monica Mountains. Less than six miles from the Pacific Ocean, it is bordered by Sunset and Wilshire Boulevards. As the city has grown physically and culturally, so has the campus, whose students and faculty members mirror the cultural and racial diversity of today’s Los Angeles. UCLA is one of the most widely respected and recognized universities in the world, and its impact on society can be felt to the far reaches of the globe. Students come from around the world to receive a UCLA education, and its alumni go on to become leaders in their fields, from visionary startup founders to heads of international corporations.
UCLA is recognized as the West’s leading center for the arts, culture, and medical research. Each year, more than half a million people attend visual and performing arts programs on campus; while more than 370,000 patients from around the world come to the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center for treatment. The 419acre University campus houses the College of Letters and Science and 12 professional schools. There are more than 47,800 students enrolled in 141 undergraduate degree programs and more than 265 graduate degree programs.
UCLA is rated one of the best public research universities in the U.S. and among a handful of top U.S. research universities, public and private. The chief executive of UCLA is Chancellor Gene D. Block. He oversees all aspects of the UCLA three-part mission of education, research, and service.
Southern California has grown to become one of the nation’s dominant industry centers, and the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science is uniquely situated as a hub of engineering research and professional training for this region and beyond.
The College of Engineering (as it was known then) was established in 1943 when California Governor Earl Warren signed a bill to provide instruction in engineering at the UCLA campus. It welcomed its first students in 1945, and was renamed the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science in 2000 in honor of the generous support of the school’s triple alumnus Henry Samueli.
Counted among the faculty are more than 30 National Academy of Engineering members, and more than 80 recipients of the National Science Foundation’s early career award. While no ranking can fully capture the success of a leading public research institution, the school is consistently ranked in the top 10 among U.S. public engineering schools, and its online master’s program has consistently been ranked first or second nationally.
The goal of UCLA Samueli is to engineer as much positive change as possible through the impact that engineers and computer scientists can have on society. As part of its academic program, the school focuses on research that targets today’s greatest societal challenges, education that empowers students to become future change agents, access for the graduates to succeed in engineering careers, and innovation that helps bring great ideas to the market.
UCLA Samueli is a tightly knit community of nearly 200 full-time faculty members, more than 6,500 undergraduate and graduate students, and 40,000 active alumni. Known as the birthplace of the Internet, UCLA Samueli is also where countless other fields took some of their first steps—from artificial intelligence to reverse osmosis, from mobile communications to human prosthetics. In 2021, a group of UCLA Samueli engineers became the first university team to win an X Prize. The grand prize, awarded for technology developed to capture CO2 emissions in concrete, included $7.5 million in prize money.
The school has identified six critical areas of research where it can have the greatest positive impact in the years and decades to come. These include robotics and cyberphysical systems; sustainable and resilient urban systems; engineering in medicine; big data, artificial intelligence, and machine learning; cybersecurity and future Internet; and advanced materials and manufacturing.
UCLA Samueli is well known for the research advances its laboratories and alumni have brought to the world. By defining these critical areas of research for the twenty-first century, the school is able to offer its resources and create a relevant educational structure for its students to galvanize the next generation of global leaders.
UCLA Samueli offers 40 academic and professional degree programs. The Bachelor of Science degree is offered in Aerospace Engineering, Bioengineering, Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Computer Science and Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Materials Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering.
The undergraduate curricula leading to these degrees offer students a solid foundation in engineering and applied science, and prepare graduates for immediate practice of the profession as well as advanced studies. In addition to engineering courses, students complete about one year of study in the humanities, social sciences, or fine arts.
Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy degrees are offered in Aerospace Engineering, Bioengineering, Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering (MS only), Materials Science and Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering.
In addition, UCLA Samueli also offers the Engineer degree, which is more advanced than the regular master’s, but does not require the research effort and orientation involved in a doctoral dissertation.
The school has two self-supporting, professional degree programs. The online Master of Science in Engineering degree program includes 11 individual degrees. In 2021, the school launched a one-year, full-time, on-campus professional degree, the Master of Engineering. Eight cross-discplinary areas of study are offered including artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, data science, digital health technology, green energy systems, integrated circuits (IC) design, Internet of Things (IoT) systems, and translational medicine.