Media Watch
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
Airlines have a recipe to reach zero emissions by 2050. The key ingredient: cooking oil
Los Angeles Times -
In the meantime, airlines that want to use more low-emission sustainable aviation fuel will have to pay up to four times as much for it as they pay for conventional fuel, which could mean higher airfares for everyone. “It’s not clear how we are going to get there,” said Jan Brueckner, a professor and chair of the economics department at UC Irvine’s Institute of Transportation Studies. “Maybe by 2050, it’s possible if a bunch of things come together.” [Subscription required, you can request an electronic copy of the article by sending an email to communications@uci.edu.] Read More
Who Is Austin Russell? How 'The Next Elon Musk' Made Billions
International Business Times -
Anew young billionaire has taken the mantle as the “world’s youngest self-made billionaire” after his self-driving technology company Luminar Technologies Inc. (LAZR) went public in December 2020. Some have taken to calling 26-year-old Austin Russell the "next Elon Musk." … The Newport Beach, California, native applied for his first patent at 13 and worked at a laser institute at the University of California at Irvine instead of going to high school. Luminar has a market capitalization of just over $6 billion. Shares of Luminar have taken a hit in the past year. On Dec. 29, 2020, shares of Luminar closed at $32.36. On Tuesday, shares of Luminar closed at $17.10. Read More
Luminar Tech founder devotes $70 million for new Orlando charitable fund
Orlando Sentinel -
Austin Russell, [founder and CEO of Luminar, which makes sensors for self-driving cars], the 26-year-old Orlando tech genius and billionaire, is plunging into the philanthropy sector with a personal donation of $70 million in stock to create a charitable fund in Central Florida …. He … attended classes at Beckman Laser Institute at the University of California, Irvine, as a high-school student. His goal, he said then, was to eradicate automobile accidents. Read More
Times OC newsletter
Daily Pilot -
Leave the wallet at home, soon you may be able to pay for items with a swipe of the sleeve. In a recently published paper, UC Irvine researchers detailed how they developed a flexible textile that allows clothing to communicate with nearby devices. The technology advances near-field technology, which is how people are able to use their smartphones to pay for items in a store. Aside from no-touch payments, the new technology could have a number of applications. People could no longer need a key or separate device to unlock their cars. Employees could also use their clothes rather than a badge to unlock facility gates. [Subscription required, you can request an electronic copy of the article by sending an email to communications@uci.edu.] Read More