[act-ma] Energy (and Other) Events

[George Mokray]

MIT

Tuesday, June 01, 2010

EARTH SYSTEM INITIATIVE YOUNG FACULTY SEMINARS

Speaker: Janelle Thompson, Doherty Assistant Professor of Civil &  
Environmental Engineering

Time: 4:00p–5:00p

Location: 54-915

LAND AND SEA: MICROBIAL PROCESSES FROM CORALS TO CARBON SEQUESTRATION

Microorganisms drive global cycles of carbon and energy and are  
integral to the health of living systems at scales from the  
microscopic to the geologic. Research in our Microbial Ecology and  
Engineering Lab aims to understand how microbial communities influence  
the integrity of perturbed environments at multiple scales. Our  
projects include exploring how shifts in microbial activity mediate  
the balance between health and disease in reef-building corals; and  
studying the nature and engineering applications of microbial  
populations isolated from subsurface carbon sequestration sites, which  
remarkably can grow in supercritical carbon dioxide conditions. We  
also are developing a model system of a well-characterized sea anemone  
and its? associated microbial community to help us understand the role  
microbes play in acclimatizing ?hosts? to different environments.  
These three unique ?problem spaces? are unified by our view of  
microbial systems as integral to the functioning of living systems at  
every scale.

NOTE: Reception to follow at 5pm

THE ESI YOUNG FACULTY SEMINARS is a series of occasional talks by our  
young faculty affiliates. The goal is to foster cross-departmental  
community and new collaborative research relationships by having them  
present their very latest work to colleagues in other departments.

Open to: the general public

Sponsor(s): Earth System Initiative

For more information, contact:
Kurt Sternlof

kurtster at MIT.EDU

(617) 253-6895

----------------------------
Tuesday, June 01, 2010
The National Science, Technology and Innovation Plan for Saudi Arabia
Speaker: Dr. Turki bin Saud bin Mohammad Al Saud (Vice President for  
Research Institutes, King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology)

Time: 4:00p–5:00p

Location: 3-270

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is embarking on a major effort to advance  
its position in science and technology in order to expand its economy,  
address problems of national importance, and improve the quality of  
life of its people. This is motivated by the desire to shift the  
economy of the Kingdom away from one based on natural resources  
towards one driven by knowledge and innovation, with strong knowledge- 
based industries that develop and make use of the Kingdom's human  
talent. This effort involves establishing an effective national  
innovation system that engages research and development (R&D),  
education, and economic institutions in a strategically coordinated  
and productive way. This led to the establishment of the National  
Science, Technology and Innovation Plan (NSTIP). The plan calls for  
the Kingdom to join
the technologically advanced industrialized nations by 2025. The  
responsibility of planning and managing the execution of NSTIP was  
assigned to the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology  
(KACST). KACST is both the Saudi Arabian national science agency and  
its national laboratories. KACST is an independent organization  
administratively reporting to the Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia.

Open to: the general public

Cost: Free

Sponsor(s): ASO, ESD

For more information, contact:
Arab Students Organization
arab-comm at mit.edu

--------------------------

Thursday, June 03, 2010

Current Status & Development of Biofuel in China

Speaker: Prof. LIU Dehua, Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua  
University

Time: 3:00p–4:30p

Location: 3-343

MIT CEER China Energy and Environment Talk Series

The world is actively seeking alternatives for highly in-demand  
petroleum. Biofuel, as a renewable energy, has been drawing more and  
more attention in recent years. China's total energy consumption  
already occupies the second place in the world and Chinese central  
government pays special attention to the development of biofuels.  
According to the "Mid and Long Term Development Plan of Renewable  
Energies", by 2020, the annual consumption of bioethanol and biodiesel  
will reach 10 million tons and 2 million tons respectively in China.  
This lecture will focus on the current status and development of  
biofuel in China. Prof. Liu?s group is taking the leading role in the  
research of biofuel (especially biodiesel) in China and some research  
progress from his group will be shared.


Dr. Dehua Liu received his Bachelor degree and Ph.D degree in 1986 and  
1991 respectively in the Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua  
University. He worked as a postdoctoral fellow in the Institute of  
Process Engeering, Chinese Academy of Science from 1991 to1993, and  
visited Purdue University from 1994 to1995 as a visiting professor.  
Since1999, he has been working in the Department of Chemical  
Engineering, Tsinghua University as a full professor. Currently his  
group is mainly engaged in biorefinery of renewable resources for the  
production of biofuel and bio-based products.


Web site: http://ceer.mit.edu

Open to: the general public

Sponsor(s): MIT China Energy and Envrionment Research Group

For more information, contact:
LIU Hengwei
liu.ccs at gmail.com

---------------------------------

Friday, June 04, 2010

The Need for Cost-Reducing, Low-Carbon Technologies in the post- 
Copenhagen World

Time: 3:15p–5:00p

Location: 10-250

Join this panel for an invigorating update on the energy activities  
happening at MIT. Hear from faculty as they share their dreams for the  
world?s energy future. Alumni not attending reunions are welcome to  
attend, but seating is limited. Please email alumnienergy at mit.edu if  
you?d like to attend. Or, register for Tech Reunions online no later  
than midnight tonight.

Panelists: Daniel Enderton PhD ?09, Executive Director, Sustainable  
Energy Revolutions Program, MIT, Moderator; Professor Jeff Grossman,  
Carl Richard Soderberg Associate Professor of Power Engineering;  
Professor Sarah Slaughter, Coordinator, MIT Sloan Sustainability  
Initiative; and Professor Mujid Kazimi, Professor of Mechanical  
Engineering, TEPCO Professor of Nuclear Engineering and Director,  
Center for Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems (CANES).

For more on these faculty please visit:
Professor Jeff Grossman http://dmse.mit.edu/faculty/faculty/jcg/
Professor Sarah Slaughter http://slaughte.scripts.mit.edu/
Professor Mujid Kazimi http://meche.mit.edu/people/?id=48

Open to: the general public

Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Initiative

For more information, contact:
Christine L. Tempesta
tempesta at mit.edu

-----------------------------

Harvard



Models of Global Health Education
WHEN
Wed., June 2, 2010, 2 – 4 p.m.
WHERE
Massachusetts General Hospital, Ether Dome, Bulfinch Building - 4th  
floor, 55 Fruit Street, Boston, MA 02114
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION
Education, Health Sciences, Science
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR
Center for Global Health
Massachusetts General Hospital
SPEAKER(S)
Neal Nathanson, associate dean for global health programs, University  
of Pennsylvania School of Medicine; David Henderson, MGH Division of  
Global Psychiatry; David Bangsberg, MGH Center for Global Health; Al  
Mulley
MGH Division of General Medicine; Pat Lee, MGH Division of General  
Medicine
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Other

Nerdnite May 31: beer n’ hackin’

Hello Boston nerds and friends of nerds,

Wrap up your Memorial Day grilling early and come out to the Middlesex  
for a nerdy kick-off to summer.  The Nerdnite barbecue is cookin’ up a  
ton of nerd-o-licious info about beer brewing and internet chicanery.   
We hope you’ll join us at 8pm on Monday May 31.  As always, musical  
entertainment will be courtesy of DJ Claude Money.

The talks:
1. Preparing for the next prohibition: a primer on brewing your own  
beer.
by Desika Narayanan

Desika likes snowboarding, playing basketball, brewing beer and doing  
astronomy. Unfortunately (for him), he sucks at the first three enough  
that he only gets paid to do the latter. Fortunately (for you), he  
practices the penultimate enough that he’s able to give this talk.  
He’ll tell you exactly how to put sugar, yeast and water in a bucket  
and turn it into the sweet, sweet, delicious alcohol that your brain  
loves so much. And the best part is that what comes out tastes like a  
million times better than bud light. (Disclaimer: This is coming from  
an Indian [dot not feather] bred in the south on natty light.)

2. Attack of the Packets!: A brief history of Internet Denial of  
Service attacks.
by Karthik Arumugham
Karthik has been active in the Internet network engineering community  
for the past 11 years, both in operations as well as research and  
development. He currently works as a consultant in the fields of IP  
networking and security, Unix systems engineering, and software  
development. Karthik strongly agrees with the notion of hosting geeky  
talks in the presence of good beer!

Be there and be square
Monday May 31 8pm
Middlesex Lounge
315 Mass Ave, Cambridge
$5
www.boston.nerdnite.com

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=52318050296

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Tuesday, June 1

Crawling to Collapse: Ecologically Unsound Ornamental
Invertebrate Fisheries

7 p.m. in the NE Aquarium's Harborside Learning Lab
Andrew L. Rhyne, Research Scientist, New England Aquarium and
Assistant Professor, Department of Biology and Marine Biology, Roger  
Williams University, RI

The invertebrate ornamental fishery in Florida, with increasing  
catches over a more diverse array of species, is poised for collapse.  
The last decade has seen aquarium hobbyists shift their display  
preference from fish-only tanks to miniature reef ecosystems that  
include many invertebrate species, creating increased demand without  
proper oversight. The once small ornamental fishery has become an  
invertebrate-dominated major industry supplying five continents.

Andrew L. Rhyne used eggs collected from queen triggerfish at the New  
England Aquarium in Boston, and copepod cultures to successfully rear  
four queen triggerfish to sub-adulthood, and all four are now feeding  
on dry food.

Register at http://support.neaq.org/site/Calendar/854720890?view=Detail&id=102601

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Where's the Bus 2.0?

	• Date: 6/3/10
	• Location: Microsoft New England R&D Center, One Memorial Drive,  
Cambridge, MA 02142
	• Time: 6-8pm
	• Audience: Developers, T Riders, Cool People
	• Description: On March 24th, MBTA General Manager Rich Davey  
announced that this summer the MBTA would be unlocking real-time bus  
location data for every bus in the MBTA system. On June 3rd at 6pm, we  
will be announcing our next steps as we unlock real-time bus  
information for developers and for riders.
Climate Legislative Panel Discussion
Cambridge Public Library, Central Branch- 449 Broadway, Lewis Room
Thursday, June 3rd
6:30 - 8:30 pm

Please join us for a discussion on federal climate policies currently  
on the table to regulate greenhouse gases and the potential impacts of  
these bills. Rob Garrity, the Executive Director of Massachusetts  
Climate Action Network (MCAN) will moderate a distinguished panel of  
experts who will break down potential climate bills, legislative  
regulatory tools, and how these bills would impact greenhouse gas  
emissions.

Sign up for this free event http://wheresthebus.eventbrite.com/

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Save the date for a follow up meeting on Thursday, June 10th at the  
Cambridge Public library, 6:30 - 8:30 pm.

The Climate Legislative Panel Discussion is sponsored by: Green Decade  
Cambridge, Cambridge Energy Alliance, and Cambridge-Somerville for  
Change.
------------------------------------

Cambridge River Festival
Saturday, June 5
on Memorial Drive from JFK Street to Western Avenue