2024 Media Watch Archives
The horrors of TMJ: Chronic pain, metal jaws, and futile treatments
Fortune -
Kyriacos Athanasiou, a biomedical engineering professor at the University of California, Irvine, said it was because TMJ disorders are more prevalent among women that they were historically dismissed as neither serious nor complex, slowing research into the cause and treatment. The resulting dearth of knowledge, which is glaring when compared with other joints, has been "a huge disservice" to patients, Athanasiou said. In a 2021 study he co-authored, researchers found that the knee, despite being a much simpler joint, was the subject of about six times as many research papers and grants in a single year than the jaw joint. Read More
The horrors of TMJ: Chronic pain, metal jaws, and futile treatments
CBS News -
Kyriacos Athanasiou, a biomedical engineering professor at the University of California, Irvine, said it was because TMJ disorders are more prevalent among women that they were historically dismissed as neither serious nor complex, slowing research into the cause and treatment. The resulting dearth of knowledge, which is glaring when compared with other joints, has been "a huge disservice" to patients, Athanasiou said. In a 2021 study he co-authored, researchers found that the knee, despite being a much simpler joint, was the subject of about six times as many research papers and grants in a single year than the jaw joint. Watch More
UC Irvine Professor Proposes Solutions To Address Beach Erosion
India Education Diary -
Brett Sanders, professor of civil and environmental engineering, shared his expertise on the drivers and processes affecting beach erosion along Southern California’s coastline at the 2024 Orange County Council of Governments annual conference. … “Solving the problem of beach erosion is well within our reach, but it will require coordinated county-wide effort. Sustainable solutions will be found inland of the coast – restoring the natural processes that supply sand to beaches.” Read More
UC Irvine Engineers Secure Air Force Grant To Investigate 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 goal of the work is to reveal new designs that provide robust mechanical properties while exhibiting such other characteristics as thermal stability. 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. The researchers are also exploring the ability of these nearly indestructible organisms to work on our behalf in hazardous places like toxic waste sites. Read More
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