Media Watch
UCI Researchers Secure $1.5 Million Air Force Grant For Acquisition Of New Instruments
India Education Diary -
The Air Force Office of Scientific Research, under its Defense University Research Instrumentation Program, has granted materials scientists at UC Irvine $1.5 million for the acquisition of sophisticated nanomechanical and chemical characterization equipment for biomaterial analysis and a 3D printing platform to be used for biomimetic processing. Combined with existing tools in the laboratory of principal investigator David Kisailus, UCI professor of materials science and engineering, these new instruments will facilitate high-speed nanomechanical testing of materials under extreme temperatures (from cryogenic to ultrahot), nanometer-resolution Fourier transform infrared mapping via an atomic force microscope and a high-resolution, direct-ink-write multimaterial printer. Read More
Girand and Nelson: Coastal Conflict, Trains or Beaches?
Voice of OC -
In that same March 11th meeting, Professor Brett Sanders, PhD, an eminent UCI coastal engineer, firmly stated “without ambiguity” that it is “firmly established within the field of coastal engineering that armoring of the coastline leads to increased erosion.” He warned that the OCTA plan, if implemented “would worsen the problem of beach loss and will undermine future efforts to restore the coast.” Coastal advocates from Capo Cares and Save our Beaches San Clemente echoed that sentiment as Fifth District Supervisor Foley repeatedly insisted from the dais that the plan must include sand nourishment. Read More
Air Force Grants UC Irvine Engineers Funding To Study Exoskeletons Of Special Beetles
India Education Diary -
A team led by researchers at UC Irvine has won a $904,000 grant from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research for a four-year project to uncover the multiscale architectural features and functions of the exoskeletons of two beetle species. … The group, led by David Kisailus, UCI professor of materials science and engineering, will work to translate “blueprints” from the creatures’ bodies to develop high-performance, multifunctional engineered materials useful in national defense, aerospace and other applications. Read More
UC Irvine Materials Scientists Receive $4 Million Research Grant From Air Force
India Education Diary -
The Air Force Office of Scientific Research has awarded a UCI materials science team $4 million for a three-year project to perfect the use of microscopic life-forms in the extraction of rare earth elements and as productive components in additive manufacturing systems. The group, led by principal investigator David Kisailus, UCI professor of materials science and engineering, is looking for ways to employ microbes as miners in extreme conditions in remote environments, including the moon, Mars and asteroids. Read More
California Climate – From the Capitol
Politico -
Are California’s existing renewable energy policies strong enough to take on the demands of hydrogen production without straining the grid? The question lies at the center of the debate around clean hydrogen in the state; it emerged today in an Assembly committee hearing on building a hydrogen economy. … “You can operate mostly in the middle of the day, and as a result, have way lower carbon emissions than the average grid,” Jack Brouwer, director of University of California, Irvine’s Clean Energy Institute, there representing ARCHES, [the state’s hydrogen hub] said on a committee panel. Read More
After protests, SoCalGas scales back plans to test hydrogen energy at UC Irvine
The Orange County Register -
UC Irvine ended up on the front line of this debate because it is home to the National Fuel Cell Research Center, which has been testing hydrogen for years. The center is led by Jack Brouwer, an engineering professor at UCI who has studied hydrogen for 25 years. Brouwer’s team has worked with SoCalGas on other projects. So he said previously that this next test seemed a natural fit after the CPUC asked gas companies back in 2019 to help develop standards for safely injecting hydrogen into the statewide natural gas system. Read More
OCTA proposes half-mile wall, rocks to protect train line in San Clemente — for $200 million
The Orange County Register -
When waves strike a hard structure such as boulders or sea walls, they refract and create a backwash that pulls sand away from the shoreline and out to sea, said UC Irvine professor Brett Sanders, who specializes in coastal civil engineering and wave dynamics. While historically sand has kept the ocean away from those hard structures, problematic erosion in the past decade has allowed waves to batter onto rocks put in place to protect the rail line, scouring the sand and eroding the beach even further, Sanders said. Read More
Shark Tank's Mark Cuban links with Irvine's Cup-a-Bug inventor
Orange County Business Journal -
Justin Huang secured a deal with “Shark Tank” investor Mark Cuban for his bug catcher, Cup-a-Bug, in a episode that aired on ABC last month. … Huang described himself as a “serial inventor.” He graduated from the University of California, Irvine with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering in 2010 but diverged from a typical engineering career to pursue his own interests. Read More
California’s historic storms continue. Here’s how much scientists say it’s being driven by climate change
MSN (San Francisco Chronicle) -
The atmosphere can hold about 7% more moisture for each degree Celsius — 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit — of warming, said Amir AghaKouchak, professor of civil and environmental engineering at UC Irvine. That means in a warmer climate storms can produce extreme rainfall more often than in the past. “We have places where average precipitation has remained more or less the same, but we see more and more extreme events,” AghaKouchak said. Read More
After winter storms, California can expect a late start to the wildfire season
Los Angeles Times -
Still, as climate change pushes California fires to burn at higher elevations — places that were once too wet or cool to nurture flames — more snow is falling on burned areas, said Amir AghaKouchak, professor of civil and environmental engineering at UC Irvine. … “So potentially, more and more fire snow interactions can contribute to a stronger or more rapid change from flood risk to drought risk,” he said. Read More