Media Watch
100 x 100 Beaches Project to measure changes in SoCal
Spectrum News 1 -
A team of students at the University of California, Irvine is working to document how much the beaches have narrowed using just pictures of the beach. One of the students is Victoria Lee, third-year civil engineering major. … She is part of the university’s 100 by 100 Beaches Project. Lee explained that it's a “project where we measure beach change over 100 years, every 100 meters.” The focus, according to Lee, is beach erosion. … Daniel Kahl is a graduate student helping the team of undergrads. Read More
South Asia’s scorching heat wave comes as climate action stalls
The Washington Post -
“Heat waves happen more frequently now and they are spread around throughout the year,” Amir AghaKouchak, a University of California, Irvine professor [of civil and environmental engineering and Earth system science], told my Capital Weather Gang colleagues. “This is the new normal and most likely it will only get worse in the future unless we take serious actions.” [Subscription required, campus-wide access provided by UCI Libraries. Sign-up here: https://guides.lib.uci.edu/news/post] Read More
Hydrogen Is Every U.S. Gas Utility's Favorite Hail Mary Pass
Bloomberg -
In addition, hydrogen behaves differently with certain metals and as result it can degrade and embrittle steel pipelines that are typically found in the nation’s high-pressure gas transmission system, said Jack Brouwer, director of the Advanced Power and Energy Program at the University of California, Irvine. Compressor stations designed to move natural gas don’t work well with hydrogen either, Brouwer said, so those would also need to be upgraded. Read More
Advanced Casting Research Center opens new metal process facility
Modern Casting -
The Advanced Casting Research Center (ACRC) unveiled its new state-of-the-art metal processing lab at University of California-Irvine on March 3. Researchers, professors, and leading metallurgists from around the country gathered for the grand opening event. Read More
Temperatures top 110 in Delhi as punishing heat wave builds in India
The Washington Post -
While this part of the world is no stranger to extreme heat, scientists say conditions have been worsened because of climate change. “Heat waves happen more frequently now and they are spread around throughout the year,” said Amir AghaKouchak, a professor [of civil and environmental engineering and Earth system science], at University of California, Irvine, in an email. “This is the new normal and most likely it will only get worse in the future unless we take serious actions.” [Subscription required, campus-wide access provided by UCI Libraries. Sign-up here: https://guides.lib.uci.edu/news/post] Read More
Climate change is making India’s brutal heat waves worse
MIT Technology Review -
“It’s part of a broader climate-change signal,” says Amir AghaKouchak, [professor of civil and environmental engineering and Earth system science], a climate researcher at the University of California, Irvine. India’s average annual temperature increased at a rate of 0.62 °C per 100 years between 1901 and 2020, according to data from the World Bank. And maximum temperatures have climbed even more quickly, at a rate of 0.99 °C every 100 years. “People think a degree or two might not matter,” AghaKouchak says, but when average temperatures increase by even small amounts, it means extreme events are becoming more likely. Read More
Who’s the boss? At Musk’s companies he is, but also young loyalists.
The Washington Post -
At Tesla’s Austin headquarters, [Elon] Musk has put his confidence in Omead Afshar, a 34-year-old biomedical engineering major from UC Irvine [‘09], according to one of the former employees who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Afshar, whose LinkedIn profile says he was a part-time ski instructor at Mammoth Mountain, came from pharmaceutical company Abbot, where he was a manager in “High Voltage Operations and Operations Business Systems.” Now, he lists his job on LinkedIn simply as “Office of the CEO” at Tesla. [Subscription required, campus-wide access provided by UCI Libraries. Sign-up here: https://guides.lib.uci.edu/news/post] Read More
MWD Declares Drought Emergency & Snow Survey Shows Improved Snowpack
KPCC -
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is declaring a drought emergency, restricting outdoor watering to once a week starting June 1. Water districts throughout the area will be affected by this resolution, giving us a clearer picture of the current status of our record drought. … Today on AirTalk, we talk to water resource manager at the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California Brad Coffey, … and Amir AghaKouchak, professor of civil and environmental engineering [and Earth system science] at UC Irvine. Read More
Jeremiah Abraham on opening doors for more AAPIs in Hollywood, one movie at a time
GMA News Online -
If there is one Filipino who is trying to help AAPIs (Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders) to be recognized more and get into Hollywood, it is Jeremiah Abraham. Born in Manila and with a degree in computer engineering from the University of California Irvine and a masters of communication from the University of Southern California, Abraham shifted his interest toward the entertainment industry after working several years in technology related jobs. Read More
Could hydrogen be the clean fuel of the future?
PBS Newshour -
As leaders around the world search for cleaner energy solutions to fight climate change, a question has emerged: Could hydrogen be the clean fuel of the future? … Jack Brouwer is director of the National Fuel Cell Research Center at the University of California, Irvine. He is convinced a future that runs on hydrogen … is finally around the corner. … “You could actually design a fuel cell engine that can be just as fast as any battery engine,” [said Brouwer]. Read More