Media Watch
Extended-range NFC fabric lets clothes "talk" to each other
New Atlas -
“If you’ve held your smartphone or charge card close to a reader to pay for a purchase, you have taken advantage of near-field signaling technologies," explains co-author Peter Tseng, [UCI assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer science]. "Our fabrics work on the same principle ….” … “With our fabric, electronics establish signaling as soon as you hover your clothes over a wireless reader, so you can share information with a simple high-five or handshake,” says lead author Amirhossein Hajiaghajani. “You would no longer need to manually unlock your car with a key or separate wireless device, and your body would become the badge to open facility gates.” Read More
A Female Engineer in Armenia
Armenian Weekly -
The first thing [Knar Baghdassarian] did this year after graduating from the University of California Irvine with a Bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering was head straight to Armenia to participate in the AYF Internship in Armenia program. “I chose my field of study knowing that I would one day use my education to contribute to the advancement of Armenia’s scientific and technological sectors.” Read More
Heavy rains in drought-stricken states could be dangerous
Popular Science -
Amir AghaKouchak, UCI professor of civil & environmental engineering and Earth system science writes, “I study cascading hazards like this, in which consecutive events lead to human disasters. Studies show climate change is raising the risk of multiple compound disasters, and it’s clear that communities and government agencies aren’t prepared. … With compound and cascading events likely to become more common in a warming world, being able to prepare for and manage multiple hazards will be increasingly essential.” Read More
Extreme rain heads for California’s burn scars, raising the risk of mudslides – this is what cascading climate disasters look like
Yahoo News (The Conversation) -
Amir AghaKouchak, UCI professor of civil & environmental engineering and Earth system science writes, “I study cascading hazards like this, in which consecutive events lead to human disasters. Studies show climate change is raising the risk of multiple compound disasters, and it’s clear that communities and government agencies aren’t prepared. … With compound and cascading events likely to become more common in a warming world, being able to prepare for and manage multiple hazards will be increasingly essential.” Read More
Help wanted: More sand for south Orange County’s shrinking beaches
Orange County Register -
UC Irvine Civil and Environmental Engineering professor Brett Sanders said coastal communities are thinking more about new ways to keep sand on the beaches, an important buffer between waves and infrastructure. … As a region, we’ve prioritized development over shoreline protection. One of the consequences of how we’ve developed land and drainage systems, we no longer transport sand to the coast the way it once was.” Coastal towns should also be working together to find solutions, Sanders said. [Subscription required, campus-wide access provided by UCI Libraries. Sign-up here: https://guides.lib.uci.edu/news/ocregister] Read More
Velodyne tech to improve UCI traffic
ITS International -
A Velodyne Lidar solution is to be equipped at 25 intersections as part of a University of California Irvine (UCI) study to improve traffic and road safety. The Horiba Institute for Mobility and Connectivity2 (HIMaC2) in the UCI Samueli School of Engineering will install Velodyne's Intelligent Infrastructure Solution at intersections in the University and the adjacent city of Irvine. The solution combines Velodyne’s Lidar sensors with artificial intelligence (AI) software to monitor traffic networks and public spaces. Read More
What Is “Clean Hydrogen”?
Slate -
Jack Brouwer, director of the Advanced Power and Energy Program at the University of California, Irvine, where he conducts research on a broad range of hydrogen applications, told Grist that commercially available power plant technology can currently burn a blend of up to 30 percent hydrogen gas and 70 percent methane. … For Brouwer, blending green hydrogen into the natural gas system, whether for power plants or homes, is still very much worth doing — not so much for the greenhouse gas benefits, but to create a new market for solar and wind power. Read More
Oil spill hints at broader threats to ocean health
Orange County Register -
“People have heard coral reefs are suffering, but they don’t know that the ecosystems in their own backyards are too,” said Kristen Davis, head of UC Irvine’s Coastal Dynamics Laboratory. … “Sea life is feeling the pressure of warming waters and sea-level rise, but we can’t see that,” Davis said. “If the oil spill can make people more aware of the other effects of fossil fuels, that would be helpful. This oil spill is just one of the threats.” Read More
Crews race to contain California oil spill
The Weather Channel -
Kristen Davis, UCI associate professor civil & environmental engineering and principal investigator, Coastal Dynamics Lab said, “The spill has a local effect, while that is a visible effect that we will be dealing with it for years, as far as wildlife and the cleanup, I also think it is important to realize that the effect of fossil fuels is much broader than the spill that we are seeing here today. And that we have a big challenge ahead of us as we go into the COP26 international climate talks in Glasgow next month. I hope that this spill is a wakeup call to get serious about getting off of fossil fuels.” Read More
Building An Alternative to GPS
IEEE Spectrum -
"There is an urgent need to find an alternative robust and accurate navigation system to GPS," says Zak Kassas, an associate professor [of engineering and ICS] at University of California, Irvine, and Director of US Department Transportation Center for Automated Vehicles Research with Multimodal AssurEd Navigation (CARMEN). "We are over-relying on these systems, despite their known limitations." Fortunately, Kassas and his colleagues have devised a novel substitute for GPS. Read More