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@MIT, MIT Energy Club
For more information, contact:
Elsa Olivetti
elsao@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@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@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@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@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@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@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@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@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@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
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