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BCOE donors shower $257,000 in support for student organizations during largest BCOE Match Challenge to date

A new tradition is taking shape at the Marlan and Rosemary Bourns College of Engineering at UC Riverside; for the last couple years, the fall quarter has kicked off with the BCOE Match Challenge. Each October, this month-long fundraiser for the Dean’s Innovation Fund provides direct and immediate support for the college’s 21 engineering professional student organizations. 

In 2020, the BCOE Match Challenge raised $78,000. This year in 2021, BCOE set an ambitious goal to nearly double that amount to $150,000 – and surpassed that goal to raise $257,290, the largest Match Challenge amount to date. The start of this year’s challenge coincided with the launch of UCR’s Beyond Brilliant Initiative, which seeks to raise $50 million over five years for student support. 

Student organizations benefited from a historic triple match opportunity with matching funds made possible by TRIAD Magnetics, which has been a lead sponsor since 2018, the UC Riverside Trustee Student Support Challenge, and several other donors.

“It’s been exciting to witness the Match Challenge grow year after year,” said Bill Dull, president of Triad Magnetics and member of the BCOE Dean’s Council of Advisors. “We know that a successful engineering career begins with a strong educational foundation, but also early hands-on experience. With this support, students will gain access to these real-world learning opportunities and be equipped to bring their brightest ideas and solutions to academia, government, and industry companies like ours.” 

At the heart of the Match Challenge’s success were 382 donors, more than any previous Match Challenge. Parent support in particular played a big role in the success of this year’s challenge – contributing nearly $25,000 in matching funds. In addition to parent support, alumni donors provided $30,000 in matching funds.

“Participating in the Match Challenge is a wonderful way to make an impact not just on our own student away from home, but on future cohorts of students,” said Tracy Wang, co-chair of the BCOE Parent Advisory Council and current UCR Foundation Board of Trustees member. “It feels great knowing that our family is investing in today’s BCOE students who will become tomorrow’s scientific changemakers.”

Through their contributions, donors supported student projects and national competitions, professional and leadership development, K-12 community outreach, special events and more. New to this year’s roster of student organizations participating in the match were BCOE Veterans and Unmanned Aerial Systems @ UCR.

Throughout the campaign, student leaders were encouraged to secure donations for their affiliated group, with some healthy competition incentivized by weekly challenges. Student organizations who received the most unique donors each week unlocked a $1,000 bonus. This year’s winners included the Association for Computing Machinery tied with the Society of Women Engineers, Biomedical Engineering Society, Unmanned Aerial Systems @ UCR, and the Society of Automotive Engineers.

“Our alumni, parents, partners and friends showed up for our engineering students like never before, and their action will open new doors for our students to hone their professional and leadership skills,” said Marko Princevac, associate dean of student academic affairs and professor of mechanical engineering. “We look forward to continuing to create future engagement opportunities for the BCOE community to support, mentor and connect with our students.” 

For more than 75 years, Triad Magnetics has been a global leader in the design and manufacture of transformers, power supplies and inductors for a wide range of applications, including switch mode/high frequency, wall plug-in, power transformers, inductors and audio transformers.  In addition to Triad’s extensive standard product line of magnetic components, its California Design Center provides custom solutions, with rapid prototyping and testing.

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