[act-ma] Events

Sun Jan 17 18:23:19 PST 2010

MIT

Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Recycling Facility Tour
Speaker: Jarrod Jones

Time: 10:00a–1:30p

Location: Depart from NW62

Take a tour of the Casella Recycling Facility in Charlestown and see  
how Single Stream materials are sorted. Transportation to the facility  
and back to MIT will be provided. Sign up is required. Each tour is  
limited to 15 people. RSVP to recycling at mit.edu.

Open to: the general public

This event occurs daily through January 21, 2010, except January 20,  
2010.

Sponsor(s): Department of Facilities, MIT Energy Initiative

For more information, contact:
Jarrod Jones
recycling at mit.edu

Tue Jan 19,
12-01:30pm,
E51-145, brown bag lunch; refreshments
Climate Change Challenges in Developing Countries: Low Carbon Economic  
Development Options for Indonesia
Dr. Gary Kleiman Sr. Environmental Policy Analyst, World Bank Office,  
Jakarta
The Government of Indonesia recognizes that climate change is a key  
economic development issue, and also that early action to address  
mitigation and adaptation concerns will be strategically beneficial.  
Indonesia is studying options to address climate change mitigation  
without compromising development objectives. This talk will review the  
overarching goals of the study and present early findings across  
several sectors.

Tue Jan 19,
02-04:00pm,
E51-335
Climate Change 101: Introduction to Climate Change Economics and Policy
Valerie Karplus and Jennifer Morris

No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event

Concerned about climate change, but unsure how our policy options  
stack up? Come learn enough to hold your own at a cocktail party on  
current climate policy topics! From the basic economics to the pros  
and cons of different policy options to the status of international  
negotiations on a global agreement, this course will be a tour de  
force of current issues in climate change economics and policy. This  
discussion will provide helpful background for the upcoming session on  
recent developments in U.S. climate policy legislation.
Contact: Tony Tran, E19-411, (617) 253-7492, tones at mit.edu
Sponsor: Joint Program/Science and Policy of Global Change

Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Introduction to Nuclear Power
Speaker: Benoit Forget, Paul Romano, Jacob DeWitte
Time: 2:00p–3:30p

Location: 4-149

Enrollment limited to 50 participants: first come, first served
Participants requested to attend all sessions

Course 1: Historical perspective of nuclear fission. Overview of  
radioactive decay and nuclear fission. Basic concepts of a nuclear  
power reactor.
Course 2: Introduction of nuclear reactor safety. Discussion of  
reactivity and feedback mechanisms. Overview of defense in depth  
concepts. Discussion of Chernobyl accident.
Course 3: Overview of the fuel cycle. From mining to waste disposal,  
this course will discuss ore processing, enrichment, spent nuclear  
fuel and long term disposal.
Course 4: Overview of closed-fuel cycles possibilities such as Pu  
recycling and Minor actinides recycling. Introduction to fast reactors.

Open to: the general public

This event occurs daily through January 22, 2010.

Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Initiative, Nuclear Science & Engineering

For more information, contact:
Benoit Forget
bforget at mit.edu

Wed Jan 20,
11:15am-12:30pm,
NW17-218
Dancing with the Stars: Quest for Fusion Energy
Abhay Ram
How do our earthly efforts to generate fusion energy compare with  
nature's working fusion reactors? This highly illustrative talk will  
compare and contrast the approach to fusion from a laboratory  
perspective with that taken by nature in forming and operating the  
Sun. The progress towards energy's holy grail will be part of the  
presentation.

Wed Jan 20,
02-04:00pm,
E51-149
Climate Change 102: Recent Developments in U.S. Climate Policy  
Legislation
Jennifer Morris

No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event

U.S. climate policy is on the move—the Waxman-Markey Bill passed the  
House last spring, and before you could say Kerry-Boxer the Senate had  
a bill too! Wondering what these landmark bills are made of, but don’t  
have time to sift through 1,400 pages of legalese? Come learn about  
the substance and potential impacts of these recent developments in  
U.S. climate policy.
Contact: Tony Tran, E19-411, (617) 253-7492, tones at mit.edu
Sponsor: Joint Program/Science and Policy of Global Change

Wed Jan 20,
05-07:00pm,
32-155
Conscious Capitalism with Bud Sorenson
Kenneth C. Zolot, Ralph Z. Sorenson

Enrollment limited: advance sign up required (see contact below)
Signup by: 18-Jan-2010
Limited to 125 participants.
Single session event

With special guest Ralph “Bud” Sorenson, member of the Board of  
Directors of Whole Foods Markets, moderated by Ken Zolot.

Today, the laissez faire concept of capitalism espoused by Milton  
Friedman is under siege. This workshop will focus on whether there is  
a way to retain capitalism as a powerful positive force for creating  
jobs, wealth, and innovation, while at the same time making it more  
responsive to the interests of all stakeholders, not just shareholders.

It will explore the concept of “Conscious Capitalism” that is based on  
the proposition that the primary goal of corporate leaders and  
entrepreneurs should be to optimize the returns to all stakeholders:  
customers, employees, supply chain partners, communities, the  
environment and, of course, shareholders.

Enrollment limited. Please sign up at the URL below
Web: http://iapcc.eventbrite.com
Contact: Kenneth C. Zolot, 32-386, x3-6481, zolot at mit.edu
Sponsor: Kenneth Zolot, 32-386A, 617 253-6481, zolot at mit.edu

Thursday, January 21, 2010
Recycling Facility Tour
Speaker: Jarrod Jones

Time: 10:00a–1:30p

Location: Depart from NW62

Take a tour of the Casella Recycling Facility in Charlestown and see  
how Single Stream materials are sorted. Transportation to the facility  
and back to MIT will be provided. Sign up is required. Each tour is  
limited to 15 people. RSVP to recycling at mit.edu.

Open to: the general public

This event occurs daily through January 21, 2010, except January 20,  
2010.

Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Initiative, Department of Facilities

For more information, contact:
Jarrod Jones
recycling at mit.edu

Thu Jan 21,
02-04:00pm,
E51-149
Climate Change 103: Issues in Climate Policy- Technological Change and  
Biofuels
Nidhi Santen and Suhail Ahmad

No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event

Part 1: Climate Policy-Induced R&D and Technological Change in the  
Energy Industry

This lecture provides an overview about climate policy-induced R&D,  
innovation, and technology change in the energy industry, with  
extensions about the state of important technological change  
considerations within climate policy models.

Part 2: Review of US Biofuels Policies and their Implications

In this talk, we provide an overview of the most prominent policies to  
date that impact the production and use of biofuels and biomass and  
outline their intended objectives and mechanisms. We focus on three  
economic sectors, electricity, transportation, and agriculture and  
attempt to describe the impacts of those policies on other sectors  
such as food production, energy and environment, infrastructure, and  
the economy at large.
Contact: Tony Tran, E19-411, (617) 253-7492, tones at mit.edu
Sponsor: Joint Program/Science and Policy of Global Change

Fri Jan 22,
01-04:45pm,
9-450A
Planning, Funding, and Implementing Transportation Projects in the  
Real World (or How It Really Works)
Kate Fichter, Eric Plosky

No limit but advance sign up required (see contact below)
Single session event

As a vital and complex element of any urban or regional environment,  
transportation infrastructure both affects and is affected by land use  
patterns, economic development policies, political power-brokering and  
environmental resources, and so offers a lens through which to study  
many of the choices and constraints available to today's planners.  
This seminar will offer a practice-oriented overview of the issues,  
players and trends most relevant to contemporary transportation  
planning, as taught by two MIT/DUSP alumni/ae currently working in the  
field.
Contact: Ezra Glenn, 7-337, x3-2024, eglenn at mit.edu
Sponsor: Urban Studies and Planning

Friday, January 22, 2010
Noam Chomsky Tribute Concert: Musical Tribute to Scientists
Speaker: several
Time: 7:00p–9:00p
Location: W16-109
The famous linguist, philosopher and MIT professor Noam Chomsky, who  
inspired the creation of musical compositions by Armenian-American  
Edward Manukyan, will be the spotlight of the MIT concert, to be held  
on January 22, 2010, at Kresge Auditorium. Professor Chomsky will be  
present with many family members, friends, and colleagues.

Violinist Sarita Uranovsky will perform a piece for solo violin,  
dedicated to Noam Chomsky on the occasion of his 80th birthday.  
Soprano Lyndi Williams will perform songs on words by Prof. Chomsky,  
and there will be other performances of Manukyan's chamber works,  
along with speeches by noted scientists and speakers, including  
Professor Pesetsky from MIT and Professor Chierchia from Harvard.

For more information visit: www.EdwardManukyan.com

For tickets visit:
http://sao.mit.edu/tickets/2010/musical-tribute

Web site:http://www.edwardmanukyan.com/concerts/chomsky_tribute.html

Open to: the general public

Cost: $3 for MIT community; $10 otherwise

Tickets: http://sao.mit.edu/tickets/2010/musical-tribute

Sponsor(s): Student Activities Office, GSC Activities

For more information, contact:
GSC Vice President
gsc-vp at mit.edu

BU

Tuesday, January 19, 2010
3:30pm (Refreshments at 3:15pm)
SCI 107, Metcalf Science Center, Boston University
Boston University Physics Colloquium
Magnetic Metamaterials: New Opportunities in Electromagnetism
Richard Averitt

Metamaterials are a new type of artificial composite with unique  
electromagnetic properties that derive
from their sub-wavelength structure. The canonical sub-wavelength  
“particle” from which metamaterials
are fashioned is the split ring resonator (SRR) which consists of  
nothing more than an inductive metallic
ring with a gap to provide capacitance. This seemingly innocuous  
particle has resulted in the emergence
of a new paradigm in classical electromagnetism during the past  
decade. Namely, it is possible to design
materials which are magnetically resonant at any desired wavelength  
from the microwave through the vis-
ible. This, in turn, has led to the realization that possibilities  
abound for creating effective materials display-
ing phenomena not exhibited by naturally occurring materials. This  
includes negative refractive index and
cloaking.

Following an introduction into these exciting developments, I will  
describe our work at far-infrared wave-
lengths. For example, through the judicious combination of  
metamaterials with MEMS technology we have
created micromechanically active metamaterials where the orientation  
of the individual SRRs – and hence
the magnetic response – can be precisely controlled. Such adaptive  
metamaterials are the starting point
for the development of a host of new functional electromagnetic devices.

Call: Winna Somers (wsomers at bu.edu)  (617) 353-9320
Host: William Klein

Events list also posted at http://hubevents.blogspot.com

Thanks to Fred Hapgood's Boston Lectures on Science and Engineering list
http://fhapgood.fastmail.fm/site02.html