Media Watch
The business of beaches: leaders gather to discuss impacts of a disappearing coast
The Orange County Register -
A group gathered at the UC Irvine one recent day to discuss the “Business of Beaches,” drawing politicians, planners, educators and economic experts to brainstorm ideas to tackle a problem — the shrinking supply of sand that makes up much of the region’s beaches — that could have a domino of disastrous impacts. … While there’s much talk about climate change and the role sea level rise will have in threatening the coastline, the problem is rooted in poor infrastructure design dating back decades — and it can be fixed, according to Brett Sanders, professor of civil and environmental engineering, urban planning and public policy at UC Irvine. Read More
The National Academy of Engineering Launches Editorial Board
National Academy of Engineering -
The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) has formed the new NAE Editorial Board composed of NAE members and leaders in engineering and science communication across industry and academia. The NAE Editorial Board will offer invaluable guidance as the NAE strives to boost the reach and impact of its publications, enabling the NAE to disseminate high-quality content pertaining to its mission throughout the engineering community and beyond. … On the board is Diran Apelian, Distinguished Professor, Materials Science and Engineering at UC Irvine’s School of Engineering. Read More
Predictions for Small-Scale Turbulence
Physics Magazine -
Large-scale turbulence is causing new headaches for anxious aviators in a warming atmosphere, but it’s small-scale turbulence that has always made physicists scratch their heads. The cascading process that transfers energy from the biggest eddies down to the tiniest ones causes a turbulent flow at the small scale to retain no memory of the large-scale flow structure. Because of this memory loss, researchers often assume that small-scale turbulence is isotropic. Subharthi Chowdhuri and Tirtha Banerjee of the University of California, Irvine, now introduce a framework for investigating turbulent flows and show that anisotropy persists even at the small scale. Read More
NASA Awards Support STEM Research at Minority Serving Institutions
NASA -
NASA has selected 23 minority-serving institutions to receive $1.2 million to grow their research and technology capabilities, collaborate on research projects, and contribute to the agency’s missions for the benefit of humanity. … The awardees are as follows: … University of California, Irvine - Flexible Modular Robots for Extreme Access …. Read More
4 Challenges For Transforming Manufacturing Through AI
Industry Today -
Pramod P. Khargonekar, ERVA Co-Principal Investigator; UCI Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Vice Chancellor for Research writes, “The power of artificial intelligence to transform industry is often taken as a given. However, there is a gap between expectations and implementation that many industry leaders are not addressing. One essential element in the AI transformation equation is the need to proactively bridge two crucial fields: AI and engineering.” Read More
Higher-ed plays a crucial role in filling AI engineering needs
ECampus News -
“This emerging fusion of the AI and engineering fields represents a profound opportunity to make breakthrough research advances as well as to address some of the most pressing challenges facing society today,” said Pramod Khargonekar, professor of electrical engineering and computer science and vice chancellor for research at the University of California, Irvine, and chair of the visioning event. “By leveraging AI to enhance engineering research and innovation and vice versa, we can achieve unparalleled progress and create a brighter future for all.” Read More
UCI study offers data to better manage shrinking beaches
Spectrum News 1 -
Science may offer some help guiding the best way to manage the beaches, including a study out of UC Irvine that looks at how the beaches have been growing or shrinking and in which direction the sand is moving. Graduate student and UCI Flood Lab researcher Daniel Kahl, lead author of the study, speaks about some of his findings. Professor Brett Sanders, the study's co-author, discusses shrinking beaches and their potential effects and how the study could offer a cost-benefit analysis of some beach erosion mitigation methods. Read More
The Era of Super-Wild Weather Is Already Here
Bloomberg -
“The common denominator here is rising temperatures,” says Amir AghaKouchak, a professor at University of California, Irvine who has studied the future risk of compound events. “Temperature has increased significantly, and it’s contributing to all of [the disasters] and it’s intensifying maybe the relationship between different hazards.” Read More
Home designed by OC college students to be used for transitional youth housing
The Orange County Register -
The modular unit was designed and built by a group of 30 students from UC Irvine and Orange Coast College as part of the inaugural Orange County Sustainability Decathlon. The competition brought together college students to not only get hands-on architecture experience, but to do so with affordability and sustainability in mind. … “The ADU gifted from UCI and OCC is going to give us the ability to expand our program. Currently with just the home that we have, we can serve up to nine individuals, both male and female,” Alfa Hernandez, program director at HIS-OC, said. Read More
OC college students design, build ADU to help homeless youth who have aged out of foster care system
KABC -
Students from UC Irvine and Orange Coast College designed, engineered and built the two-bedroom accessory dwelling unit - or ADU - to address the state's housing needs and be sustainable. The group worked with Danielian Associates to construct the home. "It was about three months worth of work. The number of students varied from 30 to 50 students. Ninety percent of them were all women students," said Victor Alvarez, Danielian's chief technology manager. Watch More