[act-ma] Energy (and Other) Events
George Mokray
gmoke at world.std.com
Sun Mar 7 18:26:05 PST 2010
MIT
Monday, March 08, 2010
Building Technology Lecture Series/Next Generation Structural Design:
Lightweight and Bionic Structures in Research and Education
Speaker: Annette Boegle, Dr.-Ing., Assistant Professor, Institute of
Structural and Conceptual Design, TU-Berlin
Time: 12:30p–2:00p
Location: 7-431, AVT
Building Technology Lecture Series
Next Generation Structural Design: Lightweight and Bionic Structures
in Research and Education
Globalization, environmental challenges, and computing have a large
impact on society and increasingly require new solutions from
engineers. Lightweight and bionic structural concepts like the first
carbon fiber stress ribbon bridge or the bionic principle of the
FinRay are such new solutions currently being developed at the
Institute for Structural and Conceptual Design at TU Berlin. But as
important as new solutions derived from research in new materials and
advanced design tools is a new creative way of thinking in structural
design, which in turn also demands new concepts in education. TU-
Berlin has developed a new approach to teaching conceptual and
structural design based on the following skills: perception,
communication and criticism.
Annette Boegle is closely collaborating with the engineering company
Schlaich Bergermann und Partner Berlin. She is Vice President of the
German Society for the Art of Engineering, member and author in the
committee for Historic Signs of the Art of Engineering of the German
Federal Engineering Society and curator of the exhibition, "High
Energy ? Ingenieurbaukultur, J?rg Schlaich and Rudolf Bergermann? at
the National Academy of Arts, Berlin, Germany. She holds an
engineering diploma and PhD degree from the Univ of Stuttgart.
Recently she was a Fulbright scholar at Princeton Univ, Dept of Civil
and Environmental Engineering.
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free
Sponsor(s): Department of Architecture, MIT Building Technology, MIT
Civil and Environmental Engineering
For more information, contact:
Alexandra Mulcahy
617 253 0463
amulcahy at mit.edu
Monday, March 08, 2010
ACT Lecture Series: Peter Schumann with John Bell, moderator
Speaker: Peter Schumann with John Bell, moderator
Time: 7:00p–9:00p
Location: E15-070
The Theatrical / The Performative / The Transformative
The Theatrical. The Performative. The Transformative. is a lecture
series introducing key figures whose artistic practice is situated at
the intersection of performance art, avant garde dance, and activist
theater. Focusing on time-based and ephemeral formats that navigate
between art, film, theater and dance, the series juxtaposes speakers
of different generations and backgrounds who share an interest in
feminist discourses and politics.
The series this spring is dedicated to Joan Jonas, a pioneer in video
and performance art, and the 2010 recipient of the Gyorgy Kepes
Fellowship Prize presented by the Council for the Arts at MIT on April
15, 2010.
The lecture series is directed by Associate Professor Ute Meta Bauer,
Director of the MIT Program in Art, Culture and Technology (ACT) in
collaboration with Professor Joan Jonas, and Lecturer Amber Frid-
Jimenez.
The Bread and Puppet Theater
Peter Schumann with John Bell, moderator
Peter Schumann, legendary founder of The Bread and Puppet Theater will
present a short ?fiddle lecture? illustrated with cantastoria banners.
Moderator John Bell, long-time collaborator of Bread and Puppet
Theater, will discuss with Schumann the theater?s use of public space,
technology, the concept of progress, and the relations between puppet
theater and modernism. The evening will end with a drum and fiddle
performance. John Bell, a fellow at MIT Program in Art, Culture and
Technology, is a puppeteer, scholar, and teacher.
Web site: http://visualarts.mit.edu/about/lecture.html
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MIT Program in Art, Culture and Technology, Council for
the Arts at MIT
For more information, contact:
Meg Rotzel
617.253.4415
mrotzel at mit.edu
Tuesday, March 09, 2010
Steward Pickett: "The Creation and Use of Ecological Space: A
Biologist's Perspective from the Wild to the Urban"
Speaker: Steward Pickett
Time: 12:00p–2:00p
Location: E14-633
Steward Pickett's work has spanned a wide variety of ecological
systems, ranging from the dynamics of abandoned agricultural fields,
natural disturbance in old-growth forest, landscape ecology, and two
decades of urban ecology. This talk explores the conceptual unity in
this wide array of topics: the generation and significance of spatial
heterogeneity in the function of ecological systems. Urban ecological
research is the most complex expression of this interest, and is
poised for deeper integration with urban design and planning.
Following the talk, join us for a brief reception.
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Department of Urban Studies and Planning
For more information, contact:
Ezra Glenn
617-253-2024
eglenn at mit.edu
Tuesday, March 09, 2010
Transportation in Contemporary Society: A Complex Systems Approach
Speaker: Joseph Sussman, Civil and Environmental Engineering
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
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
New Orleans: Post Katrina | Is the Planning Profession Colonizing the
Gulf Coast?
Time: 12:30p–2:00p
Location: 9-450
DUSP Speaker Series
Weekly Lecture Series of the Department of Urban Studies and Planning.
Light lunch served.
The New Orleans module of the DUSP Speaker Series, entitled 'Cambridge
and the Gulf Coast: Assessing Planning's Effectiveness and Envisioning
the Future,' is an initiative led by an informal group of students at
MIT who have worked, lived, or are interested in the region and call
themselves NOLA at MIT (NOLA = New Orleans, Louisiana). Among other
things, the group attempts to compile MIT's work in the Gulf Coast,
from across the Institute, here:http://nola.mit.edu/wiki/Main_Page.
The Speaker Series module is from March 3 - March 10, and will serve
as an opportunity to reflect on MIT's engagement, as we near the five
year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, and envision the role of
planning going forward. The Series will also serve as a lead-in to the
American Planning Association (APA) Conference in New Orleans in April
of this year. The event is free and open to the public.
Web site: http://nola.mit.edu/wiki/Main_Page
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Department of Urban Studies and Planning
For more information, contact:
Ezra Glenn
617-253-2024
eglenn at mit.edu
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
"Blended Learning Revisited", a MacVicar Day Presentation by Dr. John
Seely Brown
Speaker: John Seely Brown, Ph.D.
Time: 2:15p–4:00p
Location: 32-141
Each year, MacVicar Day honors the memory of Margaret MacVicar '64,
Sc.D. '67, MIT's first Dean for Undergraduate Education and Student
Life, by recognizing the significant achievements made at MIT to
enhance undergraduate education and by exploring the next steps forward.
Dr. John Seely Brown (http://www.johnseelybrown.com/) describes his
presentation: "Blended learning hints at an interesting ontological
shift that shifts the emphasis from acquiring knowledge to indwelling
-- an important construct for honoring the tacit. However, we want to
extend this shift even more and discuss how looking at learning
through the combined lenses of homo sapiens,homo faber and homo ludens
suggests a learning milieu that might be particularly well suited for
a world of constant flux such as the digital age has brought us."
Professor John Belcher (Physics) and Professor Dava Newman
(Aeronautics & Astronautics) will offer responses to the presentation,
followed by time for audience Q&A.
All are welcome!
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MacVicar Fellows, Office of the Dean for Undergraduate
Education, Teaching and Learning Laboratory
For more information, contact:
Dan Nocivelli
3-2850
book at mit.edu
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Last Interglacial Sea Level: A new assessment and implications for the
next millennium
Speaker: Dr. Bob Kopp
Time: 4:00p–5:00p
Location: 54-915
EAPS Department Lecture Series
Web site: http://eapsweb.mit.edu/news/dls.html
Open to: the general public
Cost: 0.00
Sponsor(s): Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
For more information, contact:
Jacqui Taylor
253-2127
jtaylor at mit.edu
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
IEEE Spring 2010 "Moving Toward a Smarter Electric Grid"
Time: 6:00p–9:30p
Location: MIT Lincoln Laboratory Cafeteria, 244 Wood Street,
Lexington, MA
IEEE Moving Toward a Smarter Electric Grid Lecture Series
The IEEE Boston Section and MIT is organizing "Moving Toward a Smarter
Electric Grid" Session 2:Smart Grid Entrepreneur-ing.
Smart Grid Entrepreneur-ing is the first of several detailed technical
meetings in our Moving Toward a Smarter Electric Grid series which
will culminate in a special event, September 2010 at the IEEE
Conference on Innovative Technologies for an Efficient and Reliable
Electricity.
Web site:http://www.ieeeboston.org/edu/class_room/2010_spring/smart_grid.html
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MIT IEEE
For more information, contact:
Linda Scott
l.scott at ieee.org
Thursday, March 11, 2010
MIT Energy Club Lecture Series: Adam Hirsch Dave Boettcher, Next Step
Living - Energy Audits
Time: 6:00p–7:00p
Location: 4-370
The MIT Energy Club Lecture Series presents Adam Hirsch and Dave
Boettcher from Next Step Living. They will give a presentation on the
technical aspects of residential energy audits.
Brief outline of lecture:
"A Home as A System"
-Building envelope/Stack effect & the role of energy efficiency &
weatherization
-Blower door & Infrared camera: working in conjunction, mechanics, and
quantifiable insights and action
-Energy usage software model: quantifying appropriate next energy
efficiency steps and estimating savings
-Next Step Living: where we are and where we're going
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Club
For more information, contact:
MIT Energy Club
energyclub at mit.edu
Friday, March 12, 2010
Computation Lecture: Reflexive Architecture Machines
Speaker: Omar Khan
Time: 12:30p–2:00p
Location: 3-133
Computation Lecture Series
This lecture is part of the Computation Lecture Series at the
Department of Architecture.
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Computation Group Events
For more information, contact:
Daniela Stoudenkova
danielas at mit.edu
Friday, March 12, 2010
Buddhism and the natural environment - FREE DINNER and enlightened
discussion
Speaker: Applied Nichiren Buddhism staffs
Time: 6:00p–7:30p
Location: 56-191
Come find out about Buddhist perspectives on environmental
preservation and also how we as individuals can change ourselves and
in doing so, change the fate of our environment and society as a whole.
Web site: https://sites.google.com/site/appliedbuddhism/
Open to: the general public
Cost: free!!!
Sponsor(s): Applied Nichiren Buddhism
For more information, contact:
Chanikarn Wongviriyawong
applied.buddhism at mit.edu
Friday, March 12, 2010
A Discussion on LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL DISASTER RELIEF
Speaker: Dan Wieland
Time: 7:00p–8:00p
Location: 66-110
DAN WIELAND, American Red Cross Disaster Response and Volunteer
Specialist of Massachusetts Bay will discuss the relief efforts of the
American Red Cross both on a local and international scale. He will
also touch upon the current relief efforts in Haiti.
A Q&A session will follow the presentation, along with a Finale's
dessert reception. A suggested donation of $5 will go towards the
American Red Cross Disaster Services of Mass Bay.
Web site: web.mit.edu/arctan
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): American Red Cross Team and Network, UA Finboard
For more information, contact:
ARCTAN
arctan-exec at mit.edu
Harvard
Reality Check: How the Facts of Life on a Tough New Planet Shape Our
Choices
WHEN
Mon., Mar. 8, 2010, 5:15 – 7 p.m.
WHERE
Sperry Room, Andover Hall, 45 Francis Ave.
TYPE OF EVENT
Environmental Sciences, Ethics, Humanities, Presentation/Lecture,
Religion
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR
The Center for the Study of World Religions at Harvard Divinity
School, the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, the Harvard
University Center for the Environment, and the Initiative on Religion
in International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School
SPEAKER(S)
Bill McKibben, scholar in residence at Middlebury College and American
environmentalist and writer who frequently writes about global
warming, alternative energy, and the risks associated with human
genetic engineering. A response will be given by Daniel Schrag,
professor of earth and planetary sciences and director of the Harvard
University Center for the Environment.
COST
Free; registration required
CONTACT INFO
617.495.4476, resterson at hds.harvard.edu
NOTE
Part of the "Ecologies of Human Flourishing" lecture series.
Reservations are required for this event. Register online at https://www.hds.harvard.edu/cswr/events/registration.cfm
Film Screening: "Who Killed the Electric Car?"
WHEN
Mon., Mar. 8, 2010, 8 – 9:35 p.m.
WHERE
Aldrich 107, Harvard Business School
TYPE OF EVENT
Environmental Sciences, Film, Science, Special Events
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR
HBS Green Living Program
COST
Free
CONTACT INFO
carol_healy at harvard.edu
NOTE
"Who Killed the Electric Car?" is a 2006 documentary film that
explores the creation, limited commercialization, and subsequent
destruction of the battery electric vehicle in the United States,
specifically the General Motors EV1 of the early 1990s. The film
explores the roles of automobile manufacturers, the oil industry, the
U.S. government, the Californian government, batteries, hydrogen
vehicles, and consumers in limiting the development and adoption of
this technology.
LINK
http://www.green.harvard.edu/hbs/green-living
Wednesday, March 10, 6:00 pm
JFK Jr. Forum, Harvard Institute of Politics
Digital Governance -- From the State House to the White HouseAneesh
Chopra: United States CTO; Ann Margulies: CIO, Commonwealth of
Massachusetts; Teri Takai: CIO, State of California Event Moderator:
Jerry Mechling: Lecturer in Public Policy, HKS
The Berkman Center will co-sponsor a panel discussion with chief
technology officers and information officers from the White House,
State of CA, and State of MA. Panelists include:
• Aneesh Chopra: United States CTO;
• Ann Margulies: CIO, Commonwealth of Massachusetts;
• Teri Takai: CIO, State of California
• Event Moderator: Jerry Mechling: Lecturer in Public Policy, HKS
Event CoSponsors: Berkman Center for Internet & Society, Rappaport,
Taubman Center, Gov 2.0 PIC, Asian-Pacific American Caucus, ALANA,
Shorenstein Center
Boston University
Water and Life: The Role of Energy"
We have all been taught that water has three phases: solid, liquid and
vapor. But it was recently uncovered what appears to be a fourth
phase. This phase occurs next to water-loving (hydrophilic) surfaces.
It is surprisingly extensive, projecting out from the surface
sometimes by up to millions of molecular layers. Of particular
significance is the observation that this fourth phase is charged.
Pizza served at 11:45 AM
Speaker(s): Gerald H. Pollack, University of Washington
When
Monday, Mar 8, 2010 at 12:00pm
Where
Metcalf Science Center, 590 Commonwealth Avenue (SCI 352)
Who
Open to General Public
Admission is free
wsomers at bu.edu
Tufts
March 11, 3:00 PM to 4:15 PM
Soft Robots by Design
Location: Medford/Somerville Campus
Anderson Hall
Nelson Auditorium
Description: Senior Lecturer, Gary Leisk of Tufts Mechanical
Engineering Department will present on "Soft Robots by Design".
Harvard Coop Bookstore
3/9/2010
This Will Change Everything
Discussion with Contributors from
This Will Change Everything: Ideas that will Shape the Future.
Seth Lloyd, Moderator is a quantum-mechanical engineer at MIT,
Dimitar Sasselov is a Professor of Astronomy at Harvard,
Neil Gershenfeld is a physicist at MIT,
Sherry Turkle is a Professor of the Social Studies of Science
&Technology at MIT,
Frank Wilczek is a professor of physics at MIT & Irene Pepperberg is a
research associate in psychology at Harvard.
Time: 07:00 PM-08:00 PM
Location: Level 3
Museum of Science
HOW TO MAKE (ALMOST) ANYTHING
Cahners Theater
With Neil Gershenfeld, director, MIT's Center for Bits and Atoms. This
presentation is part of the ongoing series DIY.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010 | 7:00 pm
Give ordinary people the right tools, and they will design and build
the most extraordinary things. That's the idea behind Fab Labs, an
idea hatched by star physicist and DIY enthusiast Neil Gershenfeld,
who teaches a wildly popular course at MIT called How To Make (almost)
Anything.
Fab Labs provide access to prototype tools for personal fabrication,
like a PC that can output functional objects instead of images on a
screen. The labs have spread from their start in inner-city Boston to
the bottom of Africa and the top of Norway, with projects tackling
applications in areas including healthcare, agriculture, housing, and
communications.
Join Dr. Gershenfeld for a peek at the science behind Fab Labs, an
introduction to machines that make machines, and a tour around the
world to see how these tools are transforming how people live, work,
and play.
Seating is limited. Passes are available in the Museum lobby beginning
at 5:45 p.m. on the day of the program. First come, first served.
Museum members may reserve a limited number of seating passes in
advance.
Top photo courtesy of Fab Lab Barcelona. Photo at right © Claus
Mroczynski.
At our March programs, check out homemade DIY kits by artist Lisa
Gross, founder of the Urban Homesteaders' League in Cambridge, MA.
Learn how to make your own yogurt, skincare products, natural cleaning
supplies, and more at home.
Fee: Free
This program is part of the DIY series, in which you can "Do It
Yourself" with new programs devoted to personal empowerment, good
health, and fresh food at your fingertips. Admission to this program
is free thanks to the generosity of the Lowell Institute. Additional
funding for this program provided by the National Endowment for the
Humanities Fund.
March 9-11, 2010
The Northeast Sustainable Energy Association Presents Building Energy10
Meet the Professionals in Sustainability and Whole Systems Thinking
Conference and Trade Show
Seaport World Trade Center Boston, 200 Seaport Blvd., Boston, MA 02210
telephone 800.440.3318
Tuesday, March 9, 6:00pm-8:00pm
Tabling starts at 5:00pm
Case Studies of the Way Forward: Creative Responses to the Coming Crises
Climate change, peak oil and economic turmoil got you down? Join the
discussion of successful strategies which are at work right now in
communities next door to your own. Our three panelists, author Sharon
Astyk, Transition Towns activist Tina Clarke, and building scientist
Linda Wigington show how creativity and practical action are choices
that work better for changing our future than resignation,
victimization and despair.
Our MODERATOR this year will be Mr. John Abrams, who's agreed to steer
the conversation for us. Our PANEL of three will focus on three
(concentric) circles of action and activism: community, home, and
practice.
Panelists:
Tina Clarke (Transition Towns US, www.transitiontowns.org, www.transitionus.org
)
Sharon Astyk (A Nation of Farmers, Independence Days)
Linda Wigington (The Thousand Home Challenge)
Join us in welcoming an important group of organizations that will be
present from 5:00pm-6:00pm and 8:00pm-9:00pm at the Public Forum.
Please visit their tables in the Amphitheater and the Mezzanine
lobbies of the Seaport World Trade center before and after the event.
Bikes Not Bombs
Boston Climate Action Network
Building Materials Resource Center
Cambridge Energy Alliance
Co-op Power
Emerging Green Builders - USGBC-MA
The Green Roundtable / NEXUS
Home Energy Efficiency Team (HEET)
Massachusetts Coalition for Healthy Communities
Metro Pedal Power
Students for a Just and Stable Future
Young Professionals in Energy - Boston
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