Mobile Millennium

The Mobile Millennium is a prototype traffic monitoring system that uses GPS information gathered from cell phones.

July newsletter online

This recent newsletter has stories on (1) Cory Hall Testbed project through i4Energy, which installed a network of
monitoring equipment to track the flow and use of electricity, and (2) a new program, Cleantech to Market, that is
partnering with CITRIS to help select suitable clean energy projects and bring them to
market.

Making Clean Energy Real: C2M

A new Haas School of Business program, called Cleantech to Market (C2M), is partnering with CITRIS to help select suitable projects and bring them to market.

Teaching a Computer to Win Human Friends and Influence People

UCSC scientist Marilyn Walker has been looking hard at how humans express themselves, not just at what they say–but also at how they say it–in an effort to develop algorithms that will enable computer animations to employ those same techniques to express themselves more richly and compellingly.

Online Constellation of Opinions

Opinion Space, launched on the Department of State’s main website on March 15, is an analysis and visualization tool  that employs dimensionality reduction algorithms to depict thousands of opinions on several issues in one simple, two-dimensional animated illustration.

Research Exchange: Real-time Monitoring of Managed Aquifer Recharge

California is highly dependent on groundwater to satisfy fresh water demands, but supplies are increasingly stressed and groundwater in many basins is overdrafted, leading to resource degradation and loss of storage. Managed aquifer recharge (MAR) is strategy by which excess surface water is infiltrated into the ground in natural or engineered structures, often as part of a broader effort to conjunctively manage and enhance linked surface water and groundwater resources.

i4Energy Seminar: Printed Energy Storage Devices for Micro-power Supplies

As electronic devices become smaller in volume and more specialized in functionality, a paradigm shift in energy storage design and manufacture is beginning to emerge and can be realized with the development of simple, low-cost, solutions-based processing methods to incorporate custom energy buffers directly onto a device.

i4Energy Seminar: Legal implications of Climate Modeling

This presentation discusses the uses and limitations of these models for courts and agencies. Climate scientists have created a unique institutional system for assessing and improving models, going well beyond the usual system of peer review. Consequently, their conclusions should be entitled to considerable credence by courts and agencies.

Research Exchange: Advancing Health Through Technology: The Vision of the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at UC Davis

A nurse leader, educator and scientist and a nationally-recognized expert in gerontological nursing and rural health care, Heather M. Young was appointed Associate Vice Chancellor for Nursing at UC Davis Health System in 2008. She also serves as the founding Dean of the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at UC Davis.

i4Energy Seminar: The Challenges of Solar Forecasting: Reducing the Cost of Solar Power Through Research

The Solar Forecasting Laboratory at the University of California Merced has collected over 15 months of high quality horizontal and direct normal irradiance measurements at different wavelengths (UV, IR and visible) with the primary objective of developing, calibrating and benchmarking novel and more accurate forecasting models for solar irradiance at the ground level. Without effective forecasting methodologies, neither solar nor wind power plants cannot be effectively connected to the power grid, which presents a major obstacle for high-penetration utilization of intermittent sources.

i4Energy Seminar: Simulating California’s High Renewables Future

California ISO operates much of the California power grid. The ISO works with federal regulators, State agencies and market participants to conduct grid planning, improve system operations, and adapt wholesale markets for energy and ancillary services in anticipation of achieving a 20% renewable portfolio standard (by about 2013) and then a 33% renewable portfolio standard by 2020.

Research Exchange: Molecule Counting Technology for Personalized Healthcare

Knowledge is power. Knowing of the quantities of specific molecules present in a biological system is fundamental to understanding systems level operation. This understanding is critical for translating basic knowledge of specific molecules into applied medical, agriculture, forensic, and drug development assays, and has created a need for methods that more accurately quantify an ever-increasing number of newly identified analytes with greater precision.

i4Energy Seminar: Legal issues in Energy Policies and Climate Change

Although the Smart Grid promises to help meet goals of energy efficiency and renewability, incorporating IT into the electric grid poses new and substantial risks to individual privacy. At the same time, Smart Grid deployment is proceeding along a path that could make it difficult for individuals to control the flow of information about their energy use while also raising barriers in the market for in-home smart devices.