Media Watch
The Top 20 Coolest Schools 2021
Sierra Magazine -
2. University of California, Irvine
The Anteaters are in their own category in that they've ranked among Sierra's top 10 Cool Schools for 12 years in a row. And for good reason: UCI offers more than 150 sustainability-related programs and initiatives, 21 buildings are LEED Platinum, and the campus Pump2Plug program has been so successful that this summer, Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh visited UCI to learn more about how to implement sustainable vehicle infrastructure. (Since the program's launch in 2016, more than 350 participants have switched to electric vehicles and the campus boasts almost 200 EV charging stations.) Read More
The Anteaters are in their own category in that they've ranked among Sierra's top 10 Cool Schools for 12 years in a row. And for good reason: UCI offers more than 150 sustainability-related programs and initiatives, 21 buildings are LEED Platinum, and the campus Pump2Plug program has been so successful that this summer, Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh visited UCI to learn more about how to implement sustainable vehicle infrastructure. (Since the program's launch in 2016, more than 350 participants have switched to electric vehicles and the campus boasts almost 200 EV charging stations.) Read More
UCI study of traffic sensors to use city of Irvine streets
The Orange County Register -
Several roadways and intersections in Irvine are on the verge of getting a lot smarter thanks to a study of emerging technologies being conducted by the UC Irvine Samueli School of Engineering and the city. … Twenty-five intersections in the city, including nine on the UCI campus, will be equipped with next-generation traffic sensors designed to collect data in real time, with the information being used to implement instant adjustments to the flow of traffic, … The advanced sensors will be able to detect the traffic flow and then respond by adjusting the length of time a traffic light stays red, green or yellow, UCI Engineering Professor Scott Samuelsen, the principal investigator of the study, said. [Subscription required, campus-wide access provided by UCI Libraries. Sign-up here: https://guides.lib.uci.edu/news/ocregister] Read More
Converging AI and microfluidics for innovative diagnostic solutions
NS Medical Devices -
The convergence of AI and microfluidics is opening new doors every day. A group of electrical engineers, computer scientists and biomedical engineers at the University of California-Irvine recently reported the development of a new lab-on-a-chip using AI, microfluidics and nanoparticle inkjet printing that can improve the study of tumour heterogeneity, potentially enabling new approaches for reducing resistance to cancer therapies. Read More
For Many, Hydrogen Is the Fuel of the Future. New Research Raises Doubts.
The New York Times -
Jack Brouwer, director of the National Fuel Cell Research Center at the University of California, Irvine, said that hydrogen would ultimately need to be made using renewable energy to produce what the industry calls green hydrogen, which uses renewable energy to split water into its constituent parts, hydrogen and oxygen. That, he said, would eliminate the fossil and the methane leaks. [Subscription required, campus-wide access provided by UCI Libraries. Sign-up here: https://guides.lib.uci.edu/nytimes] Read More
Cities in Japan, Southern California showing the world that hydrogen is the future
KABC-7 -
The University of California at Irvine is leading the way in understanding hydrogen and its many uses. "We are standing at the precipice of an important realization that the world is coming to," says Dr. Jack Brouwer, director of the National Fuel Cell Research Center at UCI. "If we really want to achieve zero emissions in all sectors of the economy, we absolutely need hydrogen to do it," he adds. [starts at 2:20] Read More
Iran water: What's causing the shortages?
BBC News -
The amount of rainfall in Iran's main river basins between September 2020 and July 2021 was, in most places, substantially lower compared to the same period last year …. Researchers in the United States have gathered data using satellite imagery. This data compares rainfall up to March of this year against the 40-year average. The first three months of 2021 were all well below that average, according to the Center for Hydrometeorology at the University of California Irvine. Read More
Just how much hotter and drier is Southern California’s ‘new normal’ weather?
The Orange County Register -
The timing of the hotter, drier conditions is particularly unfortunate for wildfire season. … “Those are perfect conditions for wildfires, definitely,” said Tirtha Banerjee, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at UC Irvine who studies how fires move. … The question needs to be, “How do we live with fire?” Banerjee said. “We cannot afford to lose lives or property, so how do we manage ecosystems better?” [Subscription required, campus-wide access provided by UCI Libraries. Sign-up here: https://guides.lib.uci.edu/news/ocregister] Read More
No ‘Easy Street’ to Create Hydrogen Economy in California
Natural Gas Intelligence -
The University of California, Irvine (UCI) has done extensive hydrogen engineering work in the National Fuel Cell Research Center. UCI’s Jack Brouwer [professor of mechanical engineering] directs the advanced power and energy program and the fuel cell center. UCI and its research engineers are touting their role in helping to meet California’s climate goals and “remain a leader in green technology,” he said. He emphasized that the state needs government, industry, and academia “working together toward a common purpose.” Read More
Nanostructures Enable Record High-Harmonic Generation From Ultra-Intense Laser Pulses
SciTech Daily -
Cornell researchers have developed nanostructures that enable record-breaking conversion of laser pulses into high-harmonic generation, paving the way for new scientific tools for high-resolution imaging and studying physical processes that occur at the scale of an attosecond – one quintillionth of a second. ... The research is detailed in the paper “Generation of Even and Odd High Harmonics in Resonant Metasurfaces Using Single and Multiple Ultra-Intense Laser Pulses,” published on July 7, 2021, in Nature Communications. Maxim Shcherbakov, who conducted the research as a Cornell postdoctoral associate before becoming an assistant professor [of electric engineering and computer science] at the University of California, Irvine, is the lead author. Read More
EDITORIAL: Environment: Water quality efforts deserve support
Yahoo News (The Free Press, Mankato, Minn.) -
After 15 years of study and some 90 reports, researchers have unearthed solutions to cleaning up the Le Sueur River and its tributaries. For so long, scientific disagreements or political divides made solutions elusive. … The latest study, by the University of Minnesota, University of Kansas and University of California-Irvine, showed the best and most cost effective way to reduce sediment and nitrogen runoff would be wetland restoration. Read More