"It ends up being very difficult to make battery electric vehicles work in very cold conditions," University of California, Irvine professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and director of the Clean Energy Institute Jack Brouwer told the NYT. "You cannot charge a battery as fast or discharge a battery as fast if it’s cold. There’s no physical way of getting around." Read More

A study from UC Irvine suggests that urban street layouts and building density may be exacerbating flood severity in areas already vulnerable to extreme weather caused by climate change. … “Detailed modeling worldwide is presently impossible for many cities because of inadequate data, so our team was motivated to develop a new way of looking at flood risk based on the form of the built urban environment.” Says Sarah Balaian, a doctoral candidate in civil and environmental engineering at UC Irvine.

The current restrictions, as a result of the COVID-19 social distancing measures, is shaping and testing a new generation of young professionals in ways that will yield greater resiliency and adaptability in the workplace of the future. The University of California, Irvine Solar Car team is no exception. Like most research university engineering clubs, they have a limited timeframe to complete their objectives, are resource constrained and have their normal coursework to attend to.

The Advanced Power and Energy Program at the University of California, Irvine, joined the U.S. Department of Energy, KB Home, SunPower, Southern California Edison and Schneider Electric on May 22 to officially open the novel microgrid communities located in the Shadow Mountain master plan in Menifee, California.