[Tasha Higgins] earned a B.S. in Civil Engineering in 1993 from the University of California, Irvine …. [She says:] "I began my career at the University of California, Irvine. ... During freshman orientation, we heard from civil, mechanical and electrical engineering professors. The civil engineering professor floored the entire room. He did this speech, “Have you ever been on [Interstate] 405 and traffic comes to a screeching halt, then in a couple minutes it opens up?” Everyone was like, “Yes!” “Do you want to know why it happens? Take my class to find out.” I changed my major that week.

The team, led by David Kisailus, used microscopy, spectroscopy, and mechanical testing to identify what is hidden beneath this unique exoskeleton. And researchers' plan was to find out if the exoskeleton had the potential to be mixed with different materials, such as plastics and metal. They produced joints out of metal and composites based on the ones they observed in the beetle.

Squids and clothing that changes with the weather ….When squids move in a certain way, the stretching of their skin makes these chromatophores expand and contract, and this affects how light is reflected by or transmitted through it. This changes how the skin looks. … And materials scientists at UC Irvine decided to take a cue from this process. They created a material that can expand and contract. But instead of blocking or transmitting just light, this can trap and transfer heat. … Materials scientist Alon Gorodetsky, and his lab created this prototype.

“Small increases in global temperatures can lead to large increases in the frequency and intensity of extreme events, including heatwaves, cold waves, droughts, and floods,” lead author Omid Mazdiyasni, a civil and environmental engineer at the University of California, Irvine, told The Indian Express.

Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), an independent news outlet of the American Chemical Society (ACS), has unveiled its annual “Talented 12” list. ... Below is the list of 2022’s Talented 12 class. Adeyemi Adeleye, Ph.D., [assistant professor of civil & environmental engineering at the] University of California, Irvine. This environmental chemist develops nanomaterials to save contaminated soil and water. Read More

Would you live in a hexagon-shaped home if it was climate-friendly? What about a dome? Those are some of the designs chosen by student homebuilders from across Southern California and beyond who are competing in the inaugural Orange County Sustainability Decathlon at the OC Fair & Event Center. … The free event is now halfway over, but there’s plenty of time to catch the second half! During the first half of the decathlon, which ran Oct. 5 through Oct.

While many beetles are rounded on top, the diabolical ironclad is flat and low to the ground, University of California, Irvine, materials scientist David Kisailus tells Science News’ Maria Temming. That makes it hard to squish, since the pressure is distributed over the whole shell.

The diabolical ironclad beetle, which dwells in desert regions of western North America, has a distinctly hard-to-squish shape. “Unlike a stink beetle, or a Namibian beetle, which is more rounded … it’s low to the ground it’s flat on top,” says David Kisailus, a materials scientist at the University of California, Irvine. In compression experiments, Kisailus and colleagues found that the beetle could withstand around 39,000 times its own body weight. Read More

Cephalopods are such exciting sources of inspiration,” says Alon Gorodetsky, a materials scientist at the University of California, Irvine.

Brett Sanders, a civil and environmental engineering professor at UC Irvine who specializes in creating flood assessments, said rainfall in San Francisco over New Year’s Eve was “an extreme event that probably approaches a 50-to-100 year event or more.” … “The combined effects of a really wet storm with aging infrastructure and with changing land use — collectively, all those three factors led to intense flooding across the region,” Sanders said.