[act-ma] Energy (and Other) Events

[George Mokray]

MIT

Monday, February 08, 2010
Dynamic Response to Environmental Regulation in Electricity Markets
Speaker: Joseph Cullen (Harvard)

Time: 2:30p–4:00p

Location: E52-244

Dynamic Response to Environmental Regulation in Electricity Markets


Web site: http://econ-www.mit.edu/files/5255

Open to: the general public

Sponsor(s): IO Workshop (Sponsored by Analysis Group)

For more information, contact:
Theresa Benevento
theresa at mit.edu



Tuesday, February 09, 2010

Sustainable Transportation/Accessibility: A Grand Challenge for the  
World ? and MIT.?
Speaker: John Sterman, Sloan School of Management

Time: 4:00p–5:00p

Location: 3-270

Transportation at MIT Seminar Series

In Spring 2010, the Transportation at MIT seminar series continues by  
drawing knowledge from MIT research that is applicable to  
transportation. Our goal is to strengthen the community of MIT  
researchers by sharing information in the following areas: airlines,  
automation, behavior and economics, energy sources, environmental  
impacts, logistics and supply chains, networks, propulsion, system  
control, urban challenges, and vehicles.


Web site: http://transportation.mit.edu/events.php

Open to: the general public

Cost: Free Admission to MIT and General Public

Sponsor(s): Transportation at MIT

For more information, contact:
Rebecca Fearing
transportation at mit.edu



Tuesday, February 09, 2010

MIT Food and Agriculture Collaborative Kick Off Meeting
Time: 6:00p–7:00p

Location: E51-145

We had a fabulous fall semester, full of dynamic discussions,  
provocative Food at MIT speakers, and a mapping of the ag ecosystem at  
MIT - it's clear that MIT students, staff, and faculty have a keen  
interest in these issues. At the MITFAC kickoff meeting we will be  
breaking into working groups to carry forward last semester's work.  
These include:

* MITFAC 2010 Speakers series
* Local Food Access
* MITFAC poster session
* Campus food systems
* Communication and web spaces
* A Monthly Food & Ag Happy Hour
* and more (insert your ideas here)!

Open to: the general public

Sponsor(s): MIT Agriculture Forum

For more information, contact:
Elizabeth McVay Greene
elizabeth.greene at sloan.mit.edu



Wednesday, February 10, 2010

MIT Energy Club lecture series: Solar Power Satellites
Speaker: Geoffrey Landis, NASA Glenn researcher

Time: 6:00p–7:00p

Location: 4-163

With the increases in energy cost and recent interest in finding ways  
to produce energy with reduced emission of greenhouse gasses, there  
has been renewed interest in the concept of producing power using  
solar panels in space, and then beaming this power downward to provide  
electrical power for use on the Earth. This concept, called the "Solar  
Power Satellite," was first proposed by Peter Glaser in 1968, and, in  
revised and updated form, has been proposed many times since as a  
possible solution to the energy crisis.
In the original concept, the power-generating satellite features a  
large (many square kilometer) solar array in geosynchronous orbit,  
which produces power at the multiple gigawatt level, and uses this  
power to generate a microwave beam to the surface of the Earth, where  
it is converted back into electrical power with a rectifying antenna  
("rectenna"). Some alternate versions use higher frequency  
electromagnetic beaming or lasers to transmit the power.
Does the concept make sense on the level of basic physics? Can it be  
implemented in a way that makes economic sense? The basic concepts  
behind satellite solar power for Earth will be analyzed and evaluated.

Open to: the general public

Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Club

For more information, contact:
Elsa Olivetti
elsao at mit.edu



Date: Friday, February 12, 2010
Research at Google
Speaker: Alfred Spector, VP of Research, Google
Time: 3:00PM to 4:00PM
Location: 34-401/Grier Room

Contact: Victoria Palay, 617.253.8924, palay at csail.mit.edu
Alfred Spector
VP of Research and Special Initiatives

Alfred joined Google in 2007 and is responsible for research across  
Google and also a growing collection of special initiatives, such as  
open source, health, university relations, and more. Alfred speaks  
widely on research and innovation, and spends much time helping Google  
connect to the university research community.

Previously, Alfred was Vice President of Strategy and Technology IBM's  
Software Business, and prior to that, he was Vice President of  
Services and Software Research across IBM. He was also founder and CEO  
of Transarc Corporation, a pioneer in distributed transaction  
processing and wide area file systems, and was an Associate Professor  
of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University, specializing in  
highly reliable, highly scalable distributed computing.

Alfred received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from Stanford and his  
A.B. in Applied Mathematics from Harvard. He is a member of the  
National Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of the American Academy of  
Arts and Sciences, the IEEE, and the ACM, and the recipient of the  
2001 IEEE Computer Society's Tsutomu Kanai Award for work in scalable  
architectures and distributed systems.



Tufts

February 11, 2010

Optimization of Concentrated Solar Power

Assistant Professor, Alexander Mitsos from the Mechanical Engineering  
Department at MIT

3:00 AM to 4:15 PM


Location: Medford/Somerville Campus
Anderson Hall
Nelson Auditorium


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

Links to greater Boston college and university lectures and events at http://hubevents.blogspot.com