[act-ma] Energy (and Other) Events

[George Mokray]

MIT

Monday, February 22, 2010

MIT Energy Club Lecture Series: Towards a sustainable metals future -  
closing the loop for technology metals
Speaker: Dr. Christina Meskers, UMICORE Precious Metals Refining

Time: 12:00p–1:00p

Location: E51-145

The devices and services used in every day life largely depend on the  
specific functionality of technology metals: platinum group metals in  
catalysts, precious metals in electronics, indium in displays, as well  
as in photovoltaics together with gallium, selenium or tellurium; and  
cobalt and lithium in batteries. In future these devices and the  
metals will become more important as they contribute to renewable  
energy generation and energy storage, clean air and more efficient  
production processes among others.
The other side of the coin is that these metals are not abundant,  
leading to intense discussions about metal scarcity: When are we  
running out? and What can be done to prevent this?. Recycling of  
metals from end of life devices is an important contributor to the  
future metal supply. The opportunities and challenges in recovering  
technology metals from electronics, catalysts, batteries and PV  
applications will be discussed from a holistic, life cycle  
perspective. Besides the technical factors also other aspects are  
taken into account, in the context of the People - Planet - Profit  
perspectives for sustainable development.

Open to: the general public

Sponsor(s): Sustainability at MIT, MIT Energy Club

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


Monday, February 22, 2010

How to build a CleanTech Company: Elise Zoli of Goodwin Procter
Speaker: Elise Zoli

Time: 12:00p–1:00p

Location: E51-335

MIT Energy Club Industry Series
The Energy Club hosts energy company infosessions on campus to give  
members an insight into the energy industry and to provide job  
opportunities for its members.

What are the unique challenges in forming and leading a successful  
cleantech business, from early stage ventures to public companies?  
Given typical capital requirements and venture fund lives, what are  
strategies for successful scaling? What is the importance of  
technology vs. business model innovation? What is the value of  
government funding or other alternative funding sources, at the seed  
capital through the initial deployment stage? Ms. Zoli will address  
the challenges of forming and scaling business in the storage, grid,  
and water sectors. She will also address unique challenges related to  
the Chinese market. She will draw insights from her extensive  
experience advising venture capital and private equity clients in the  
energy, environment, and clean tech sectors.

Open to: the general public

Sponsor(s): MIT Sloan Energy and Environment Club, MIT Energy Club

For more information, contact:
Chris Walti
energy-events at mit.edu



Monday, February 22, 2010

"Can nature be recomposed? A few issues in cosmopolitics"

Speaker: Bruno Latour with an introduction by Vincent Antonin Lepinay  
and a response by Mark Jarzombek

Time: 6:30p–7:45p

Location: 3-133

HTC Forum Spring 2010: REASSEMBLY
Aviaries, missiles, icons, and satellites. This semester's HTC Forum  
takes apart and reconfigures objects, environments, publics, and  
matters of concern.

It is now clear thanks both to the work of anthropologists like  
Descola and the various ecological crises, that the notion of nature  
had the great defect of unifying too quickly the composition of the  
common world. Is there an alternative that pays full justice to the  
reality of nature without bypassing the work of assembling it?

Bruno Latour is Professor and vice-president for research at the  
Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris. In his books, he explores the  
consequences of science studies on traditional topics in the social  
sciences. He has curated the exhibitions Iconoclash beyond the image  
wars in science, religion and art, and Making Things Public The  
atmospheres of democracy (with Peter Weibel). Vincent Antonin Lepinay  
is Assistant Professor at MIT?S Program in Science, Technology, and  
Society. Mark Jarzombek is Professor of the History and Theory of  
Architecture, and Associate Dean of MIT?s School of Architecture and  
Planning.

This is the HTC Thomas Beischer Lecture, co-sponsored with the MIT  
Program in Science, Technology, and Society.

Web site:http://architecture.mit.edu/htc/community/events/forum/index.html

Open to: the general public

Sponsor(s): History, Theory and Criticism of Architecture and Art,  
Department of Architecture

For more information, contact:
Kate Brearley
258-8439/8
htc at mit.edu


Tuesday, February 23, 2010

ChemE Dept. Seminar: Microfluidic Fuel Cells as Power Sources and  
Analytical Platforms

Speaker: Dr. Fikile Brushett, Chemical Engineering, University of  
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Time: 3:00p–4:00p

Location: 66-360, reception at 2:45pm

Chemical Engineering Department Seminar Series
See speakers, talk titles, and dates at http://web.mit.edu/cheme/news/seminar.html

Fuel cells hold promise as highly efficient power sources for  
applications in, for example, portable electronics, back-up power  
generation, and automotive transport. Unfortunately, the widespread  
implementation of fuel cell technologies has been hampered by  
prohibitively high cost (e.g., catalysts), insufficient durability,  
and performance limitations (e.g., fuel crossover). Here I will  
present on the development of membraneless microfluidic fuel cells  
that exploit microscale transport phenomena, specifically laminar  
flow, to replace the stationary membranes employed in more  
conventional fuel cells. In these laminar flow fuel cells (LFFCs)  
water management and fuel crossover issues that plague membrane-based  
fuel cells can be avoided. Moreover, the dynamic fuel and electrolyte  
streams facilitate by-product removal and enable flexibility in fuel  
choice and operating conditions (e.g., pH). By expanding these single  
channel LFFCs to multichannel architectures, 20-300 W commercial  
prototype power sources have been developed.
In addition, my presentation will highlight a microfluidic hydrogen- 
oxygen fuel cell as an electro-analytical platform for detailed  
catalyst and electrode investigation.


Web site: http://web.mit.edu/cheme/news/seminar.html

Open to: the general public

Sponsor(s): Chemical Engineering Department

For more information, contact:
Melanie Miller
617-253-6500
melmils at mit.edu


Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Rebuilding Haiti

Speaker: Cherie Miot Abbanat, Michel DeGraff, Erica James, & Dale  
Joachim

Time: 4:00p–5:30p

Location: E15-Bartos Theater

MIT experts discuss how to help Haiti create a future different from  
the generations of misery it has known.

This event is free and open to the public.

About the speakers:

Cherie Miot Abbanat is a lecturer in the Department of Urban Studies  
and Planning and the Department of Architecture, and co-chair of DUSP? 
s Undergraduate Committee.

Michel DeGraff, a native of Haiti, is associate professor of  
linguistics at MIT.

Erica James is associate professor of
anthropology at MIT.

Dale Joachim is a visiting scientist at the MIT Media Lab, where he  
currently co-teaches the special project class New Media Projects for  
Haiti.

For more information click on the web link below.


Web site: http://web.mit.edu/cis/eventposter_haiti.html

Open to: the general public

Sponsor(s): Center for International Studies

For more information, contact:
starrforum at mit.edu



Wednesday, February 24, 2010

The Green Communities Act and Municipalities: Exploring Municipal  
Trends in All Things Green

Time: 12:00p–1:00p

Location: Boston Bar Association

The Green Communities Act, most notably through provisions creating  
the Green Communities Division at the Department of Energy Resources,  
encourages municipalities to maximize opportunities to save energy, to  
generate renewable energy, and to make other decisions that reduce  
their environmental impact and carbon footprint in order to help the  
Commonwealth become a hub of the 21st century clean energy economy.


Mark Sylvia, Department of Energy Resources, Green Communities  
Division, and Deborah Donovan, Energy Markets - Cambridge Energy  
Alliance, will be joining us at this brown bag lunch.

This brown bag will:
- highlight current initiatives of the Green Communities Division,
- feature on-the-ground? stories from the Cambridge Energy Alliance,  
which illustrate some of the creative initiatives implemented and  
challenges confronted by municipalities that go green, and
- discuss municipal trends generally in relation to all things green.


Web site:https://www.bostonbar.org/ebusiness/Meetings/EventDetail.aspx?ID=3721

Open to: the general public

Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Campus Events, Energy and Telecommunications  
Committee, Air Quality & Climate Change Committee, Real Estate Section

For more information, contact:
Christine Cheung
energy-events at mit.edu



Wednesday, February 24, 2010

The Future of Energy: Aubrey K. McClendon - Chesapeake Energy

Speaker: Aubrey K. McClendon

Time: 5:00p–7:00p

Location: Harvard University Science Center Lecture Hall D One Oxford  
Street Cambridge, MA

"Natural Gas: Fueling America's Clean Energy Future"

New drilling and completion technologies have allowed the U.S. natural  
gas and oil industry to develop resources in shale reservoirs that  
were previously considered uneconomic. Shale gas has quickly  
transformed the industry and provided consumers with reliable sources  
of supply and the ability to reshape the nation's energy policy.  
Natural gas is clean, affordable, and abundant. It is the most  
practical answer to our nation's growing need for clean energy and  
reduced dependence on foreign oil.

Aubrey K. McClendon has served as Chairman of the Board and Chief  
Executive Officer since co-founding Chesapeake Energy in 1989.  
Chesapeake Energy is now one of the largest producers of natural gas  
in the nation and the most active driller of new wells in the U.S.  
Headquartered in Oklahoma City, their strategy is focused on  
discovering, acquiring and developing conventional and unconventional  
natural gas reserves onshore in the U.S., primarily in the "Big 4"  
natural gas shale plays: the Barnett Shale of north-central Texas, the  
Haynesville Shale of East Texas and northwestern Louisiana, the  
Fayetteville Shale of central Arkansas and the Marcellus Shale of the  
northern Appalachian Basin.

The Future of Energy lecture series is sponsored by the Harvard  
University Center for the Environment with generous support from Bank  
of America. All of the lectures are free and open to the public.

Open to: the general public

Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Campus Events, Harvard University Center for  
the Environment

For more information, contact:
Lisa Matthews
617-495-8883
lisa_matthews at harvard.edu



Wednesday, February 24, 2010

IDEAS Competition Spring Generator Dinner

Speaker: IDEAS Competition Staff

Time: 6:00p–9:00p

Location: 50, Morss Hall -Walker Memorial

Want funding for your innovative community service project?
Want to recruit new members or mentors for your IDEAS team?
Want to get involved, but don't yet have an idea?

Then come to the IDEAS Generator Dinner and get connected!

Please RSVP and let us know you are coming: ideas-rsvp at mit.edu

The IDEAS Generator is your chance to learn about the annual IDEAS  
competition, share your project ideas and skills, and meet potential  
team members. All types of projects, including for-profit ventures,  
are encouraged as long as they address the needs of an under-served  
community. It?s a fun, casual environment where great projects are born.

Participants will also have 60 seconds to pitch their projects and  
skills to the audience - make them professional, practiced, and to the  
point. Pitches can be made in two categories:
- Recruit The IDEAS Dream Team
- Get Yourself "Hired"

Open mic spaces are limited. RSVP by February 19 to ideas-rsvp at mit.edu  
to sign-up for a 60-second pitch opportunity.


Web site: http://web.mit.edu/ideas

Open to: the general public

Sponsor(s): MIT IDEAS Competition, Graduate Student Life Grants,  
Public Service Center

For more information, contact:
Sally Susnowitz
617-258-7344
ideas-admin



Thursday, February 25, 2010

Energy Discussions: Offshore Wind

Speaker: Kathy Arujo

Time: 12:00p–1:00p

Location: 4-145

Join members of the MIT Energy Club for a discussion of general and  
local issues in offshore wind. We will draw on our knowledge from the  
Energy 101 on Offshore Wind on 24 Feb (http://events.mit.edu/event.html?id=11605119 
) to explore how decisions are made about offshore wind, including the  
Cape Wind project here in Massachusetts. We hope you can attend both  
the Energy 101 and the Discussion, but please come to the discussion  
even if you cannot come to the Energy 101.


Web site: http://www.mitenergyclub.org/events-and-programs/discussion-series

Open to: the general public

Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Club

For more information, contact:
Rebecca Walsh Dell
rwdell(at)mit.edu


Harvard
Food24fps: "Dinner Rush," introduced by Chris Myers

WHEN
Mon., Feb. 22, 2010, 6 – 9 p.m.
WHERE
Adams House Pool Theatre
TYPE OF EVENT
Environmental Sciences, Film, Presentation/Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR
food at twenty four frames per second
SPEAKER(S)
Chris Myers
COST
Free admission
CONTACT INFO
food24fps_admin at googlegroups.com
NOTE
Introduced by Chris Myers (Myers+Chang, Radius, Via Matta). A good  
movie about backstage life at a slick restaurant, Danny Aiello is  
authoritative in what might be a very good Runyonesque version of Bill  
Buford's Heat. The film had the misfortune to be released the day  
after the attacks on the World Trade Center.
---
food24fps: A semi-regular series, located in Cambridge, Mass., of  
classic and obscure films about food. Films introduced by guest  
speakers from Cambridge, Boston, and other points exotic, and  
accompanied by appropriate refreshments when we can swing it. Open to  
all.
LINK
www.food24fps.com


 From Cooking Food to Cooking the Planet: Growing Constraints to Food  
Production
WHEN
Tue., Feb. 23, 2010, 6 – 7 p.m.
WHERE
Harvard Museum of Natural History, 26 Oxford St.
TYPE OF EVENT
Presentation/Lecture, Science
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR
Harvard Museum of Natural History
SPEAKER(S)
Samuel Myers
COST
Free and open to the public
NOTE
To keep up with the world’s food demand, it’s estimated that we will  
need to double agricultural production by year 2050. Samuel Myers,  
instructor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and a practicing  
physician, will discuss troubling trends that may stand in our way:  
rising temperatures, increasing water scarcity, changes in pests and  
pathogens, increases in natural disasters, loss of arable land, and  
many others. To achieve food security in the future will require new  
approaches to sustainable agriculture.
LINK
www.hmnh.harvard.edu


BU
February 25
3:30 – 4:00 Pre-seminar reception
4:00 – 5:00 Seminar
Climate Change: Integrating Science, Economics, Technology and Policy
Ron Prinn
MIT
Place:
Room 502 (5th floor)
725 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston


Tufts
February 25, 2010
3pm - 4pm
Enernet: Internet Lessons for Solving Energy
Nelson Auditorium, 112 Anderson Hall
Speaker: Dr. Robert Metcalfe
Host: School of Engineering Dean's Office
Abstract

ABOUT DR. ROBERT M. METCALFE:

In 1973, Dr. Robert Metcalfe invented Ethernet, the local-area  
networking (LAN) standard, while working at Xerox Palo Alto Research  
Center. In 2005, Dr. Metcalfe was awarded the National Medal of  
Technology for his leadership in Ethernet’s invention,  
standardization, and commercialization. Today, about 350 million new  
Ethernet ports are shipped annually.


In 1979, Dr. Metcalfe founded the 3Com Corporation. He worked at 3Com  
in various positions including chairman and CEO, until his retirement  
from the company in 1990. Through the end of the decade, Dr. Metcalfe  
followed a career as Internet pundit and online publisher, including  
serving as CEO of IDG’s InfoWorld Publishing Co. Beginning in 2001, he  
joined Polaris Venture Partners as a venture capitalist interested in  
understanding how the energy crisis can be addressed through lessons  
learned from networking technologies.



Other

Join us for "Science by the Pint" on Tuesday, Feb. 23rd at 7pm!
What do deep-sea worms have to do with global climate change? Come  
find out at SITN's next "Science by the Pint" at the Redline  
restaurant and bar in Harvard Square. Come meet Geoff Dilly from  
Harvard University who studies the animals and microbes that live near  
deep-sea hydrothermal vents. Geoff explores how these ocean dwellers  
can tolerate such high temperatures.

"Science by the Pint" is SITN's rendition of a nationwide project  
called "Science Cafes", a movement to provide more informal  
discussions between scientists and non-scientists on relevant  
scientific and social issues. Rather than the usual seminar format we  
provide during our fall lecture series, Science by the Pint will  
feature one or more leading researchers who give no more than a 5  
minute, conversation stirring, introduction to their work. The rest is  
up to you! After the short introduction, you may ask our researchers  
questions, bring up discussion points and see where it all leads.

When: Tuesday, February 23rd, 7:00 PM

Where: Redline restaurant and bar in Harvard Square (59 JFK St.,  
Cambridge MA), click here for a map

Read more about science cafes: http://sciencecafes.org/

Read more about Redline restaurant and bar: http://www.redlinecambridge.com/



A Workshop with Toby Hemenway: Permaculture Solutions for City and  
Suburb
Feb28Sun 10:00 AM
Location
The Democracy Center
45 Mt. Auburn St.
Cambridge, MA 02139
617-699-1221

NOTE: You need to reserve a spot at http://www.meetup.com/Urban-Homesteaders-League/calendar/12480514/
Sunday, February 28th, 10-3pm
Sliding Scale: $40-$80 (Full and partial scholarships available.)
Workshop with Toby Hemenway: Permaculture Solutions for City and Suburb
Sponsored by the Urban Homesteaders' League
Reserve a space here: https://www.brownpape...
Location: The Democracy Center
45 Mt. Auburn, Cambridge, MA 02138
How does permaculture work in urban and suburban places? Though land  
may be limited, cities are rich in other resources, especially social  
capital. This workshop will show how to find, harvest, and integrate  
the many resources in our cities in sustainable ways, including  
getting access to land for gardening, creating business guilds and  
networks, learning the pattern language of the city, creating public  
space in neighborhoods, and building urban ecovillages. We'll learn  
how permaculture's principles and design methods apply to the dense,  
rich environments of our cities, and how to leverage the special  
opportunities that cities provide.
Bio:
Toby Hemenway is a writer, university professor, and freelance  
educator based in Portland, Oregon. He is the author of "Gaia's  
Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture", which for the past seven  
years has been the world’s best-selling book on permaculture. Toby is  
an adjunct professor in the School of Graduate Education at Portland  
State University, and Scholar-in-Residence at Pacific University. His  
writing has appeared in publications such as Natural Home, Whole Earth  
Review, and WorldWatch, and he has taught workshops all over the  
continent and in many countries.

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