Media Watch
Green Universities Offering Sustainability Degree Programs
Earth911 -
UCI reports that nearly 50% of their course offerings include sustainability and over 96% of their academic departments provide sustainability course offerings. The university offers several sustainability-focused degrees, including an Environmental Science and Policy B.A. degree, a B.A. of Urban Studies, and Environmental Engineering degrees, as well as several related minors. The many earth-focused student organizations include the Green Medicine Initiative at UCI, Engineers for a Sustainable World, and the Earth Systems Science Club. The UCI Sustainability Resource Center offers programming, internships, training, and other opportunities. Read More
Documentary about sea level rise and coastal erosion takes look at Balboa Island, Crystal Cove
Daily Pilot -
“I’m always following the news, and have always been concerned about climate change and seeing the sea levels rise locally,” [Mike] Moodian said. “I decided that this was a story that needed to be told.” His thoughts led him to create a 30-minute documentary called “Coastal Crisis: California’s Vanishing Beaches,” which will air at 3:30 p.m. on KDOC-TV this Sunday. … “Coastal Crisis,” written and narrated by Moodian, includes the voices of experts such as Brett Sanders, a UC Irvine professor of civil and environmental engineering …. [Subscription required, you can request an electronic copy of the article by sending an email to communications@uci.edu.] Read More
Large-Scale Green Hydrogen Infrastructure System Unveiled for California
POWER Magazine -
Jack Brouwer, director of the National Fuel Cell Research Center at the University of California, Irvine (UCI), noted that SoCalGas has worked with the university and others for nearly a decade to make the hydrogen economy a reality. Efforts included “helping us build the very first power-to-gas-to-power system in the country right here on the UCI campus,” Brouwer said. “The Angeles Link is a great example of what can be done when government, industry, and academia work together toward a common purpose,” he said. Read More
San Clemente hopes to add 250,000 cubic yards of sand to beaches
Spectrum News 1 -
Brett Sanders, a University of Irvine professor of civil and environmental engineering, walked on the other end of the project recently at Linda Lane. He noted that the city’s project is a good start. "But it’s only one piece of the puzzle," he added. "What we need to be thinking about is the entire Southern California coastline from San Diego up to Santa Barbara and thinking about how we restore natural supplies to the coast.” … "So the question is, what is the long term plan? And we’re going to need more projects like this," he said. Read More
More than half of California’s bridges are not in good shape; billions on way for repairs
The Orange County Register -
“The bottom line is that big ticket items get the press, and not pavement management or bridge conditions,” said Michael McNally, professor of civil and environmental engineering at UC Irvine. … “Given our state’s booming economy and budget surpluses, however, now may be the time to reconsider infrastructure health before we have bridge collapses, drinking water problems or related issues for things people just expect to work,” McNally said. [Subscription required, campus-wide access provided by UCI Libraries. Sign-up here: https://guides.lib.uci.edu/news/ocregister] Read More
Neil Sahota - AI Advisor to the United Nations, IBM Master Inventor, & Chief Innovation Officer at UC Irvine
Intelligent Automation Radio -
To even begin understanding how wide-ranging the effect of artificial intelligence is currently, we undertake a wide-ranging discussion with Neil Sahota, AI advisor to the United Nations [and UCI lecturer in the engineering school]. Neil takes us a on grand tour of some really exciting ways AI’s capabilities are being used around the world today. He also introduces us to a thinking framework he developed that can guide us on how to harness AI’s capabilities to create disruptive advances. Read More
Opinion: Can the Apple Playbook Work for Windows Computers?
Bloomberg -
Desktops made by a small California company demonstrate that it is possible to build a PC that performs well and isn’t an eyesore. … Founder and Chief Executive Officer Johnny Hou started NZXT in 2004 to sell a colorful, robot-themed computer case he designed when he was an engineering student at University of California, Irvine. In an interview earlier this month, the entrepreneur explained how the venture brought together his lifelong passions for gaming, design and technology. Read More
Column: North County sand war underscores San Diego’s long struggle to save beaches
The San Diego Union Tribune -
Some development has resulted in artificially broad beaches, according to Brett Sanders, professor of civil and environmental engineering, urban planning and public policy at UC Irvine. “The construction of Dana Point Harbor in the 1960s and the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in the 1960s and ’70s contributed to beach widening from Doheny through San Onofre beaches — where beach sand is now vanishing,” he wrote in the Los Angeles Times. Read More
SPIE names Michael Berns as its 2022 Gold Medal winner
Optics.org -
SPIE has announced that its 2022 SPIE Gold Medal winner is Michael Berns, co-founder and founding director of the Beckman Laser Institute & Medical Clinic and a professor of biomedical engineering, surgery, and developmental and cell biology at the University of California, Irvine. The SPIE Gold Medal is the highest honor the Society bestows. It is awarded in recognition of outstanding engineering or scientific accomplishments in optics, photonics, electro-optics, or imaging technologies and applications. Berns is widely known as the “the father of laser microbeams,” due, in part, to his seminal work delineating how the laser can perform subcellular surgery on chromosomes. Read More
UCI researchers create method for paying for things with a high-five
Spectrum News 1 -
Some scientists in Irvine have created a flexible fabric that could help unlock doors without the use of a key or badge and make a payment with a wave of a hand or even a high-five. "It's technology at the tip of our hand to use it on demand," said Amir Hajiaghajani, a PhD candidate at the University of California, Irvine, who helped create the technology. … UCI electrical engineering and computer science [Assistant] Professor Peter Tseng … said it has the potential to measure and transmit a patient's vital signs with their invention in a hospital gown …. Read More