News Release
Renewable Energies Take Center Stage During Research Expo 2010
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| UCSD engineering students are using several cutting edge tools such as a total sky imager to determine the efficiency of solar power. Check out their renewable energy project, along with others, at the annual Research Expo April 15. |
San Diego, CA, April 13, 2010 -- From a new solar concentrator design to balancing robots and wireless heart and brain sensors, UC San Diego graduate engineering students are developing next generation technologies and therapies to address the environmental, health and computing needs of society. These students will present their cutting edge projects at the 29th Annual Jacobs School of Engineering Research Expo on April 15. The theme of this year’s Expo is “Renewables and America’s Energy Future.” Register for Research Expo 2010 here. Directions and parking information is here.
At Research Expo 2010, more than 250 M.S. and Ph.D. engineering students from all six departments will present their research at a huge poster session from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. An electrical engineering Ph.D. student will showcase a solar concentrator design that cuts the number of required photovoltaic cells and could lead to less expensive and more environmentally friendly solar installations. Meanwhile, mechanical engineering graduate students will highlight their efforts to use satellites and ground sensors to better understand solar power electricity production.
Computer scientists will describe their work on the new UCSD Energy Dashboard, which was unveiled recently and will help the UCSD community reduce energy consumption. Read about these and other exciting engineering student projects here. Browse the full list of engineering projects here. (Research Expo registrants have access to full abstracts.)
“The Jacobs School of Engineering continues to be a leader in developing sustainable solutions for society,” said Jacobs School Dean Frieder Seible.
Following the Research Expo poster session, from 3:00 p.m to 4:30 p.m., 10 Jacobs School faculty engaged in renewable energy research will give talks geared to a tech-savvy general audience. One of the faculty presentations will be “Advanced Modeling and Large-Scale Simulation of Wind Turbines,” by structural engineering professor Yuri Bazilevs, who will explain how wind turbines harvest wind energy and convert it to electricity and power. His work addresses current modeling deficiencies and focuses on developing an advanced geometry modeling and simulation framework for large-scale computational analysis of wind turbines.
Another faculty presentation, “Materials Challenges for Electric Energy Storage & Conversion,” by nanoengineering professor Shirley Meng, will describe the new and improved materials for energy storage that are urgently required to make more efficient use of our finite supply of fossil fuels, and to enable the effective deployment of renewable energy sources. Meng will explain development and optimization of new nanomaterials for low cost, high energy, and more reliable electric energy storage.
The Research Expo keynote address “Renewables and America’s Energy Future” by Larry Papay, CEO of PQR and co-author of the National Research Council report America’s Energy Future is from 4:30 p.m. to 5:45 p.m. A networking reception from 5:45 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. will follow.
Jacobs School undergraduates also plan to showcase their cutting edge research during Research Expo at the EUReKA event.
Below is a video of the 2009 Research Expo.
Media Contacts
Daniel Kane
Jacobs School of Engineering
858-534-3262
dbkane@ucsd.edu
Andrea Siedsma
Jacobs School of Engineering
858-822-0899
asiedsma@soe.ucsd.edu