MIT
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Automobiles on Steroids: Product Attribute Trade-Offs and Technological Progress in the Automobile Sector
Speaker: Chris Knittel (UC Davis)
Time: 2:30p–4:00p
Location: E52-244
Automobiles on Steroids: Product Attribute Trade-Offs and Technological Progress in the Automobile Sector
Web site: http://econ-www.mit.edu/files/5429
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Energy & Environmental Economics at MIT
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Where the Rubber Meets the Road: Why Chemomechanical Design of Materials is Critical to Sustainable Transportation Infrastructure
Speaker: Krystyn Van Vliet, Materials Science and Engineering
Time: 4:00p–5:00p
Location: 3-270
Transportation@MIT Seminar Series
In Spring 2010, the Transportation@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@MIT
For more information, contact:
Rebecca Fearing
transportation@mit.edu
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
What should we humans do about climate change?
Speaker: Thomas Malone and Robert Laubacher
Time: 6:00p–7:30p
Location: N51, MIT Museum
Professor Thomas Malone and Robert Laubacher of MIT?s Center for Collective Intelligence lead a hands-on, interactive session exploring how the collective intelligence of thousands of people (including you) can be harnessed to address global climate change.
Have a chance to play with the Climate Collaboratorium - an innovative on-line forum inspired by systems like Wikipedia and Linux - in which you can explore the impacts of proposed climate change policies, engage in on-line (and at the Museum, in-person) debates, and register your opinion on what we humans should do about global climate change.
The Collaboratorium is one project in MIT's Center for Collective Intelligence, whose primary research question is, How can people and computers be connected so that - collectively - they act more intelligently than any individuals, groups, or computers have ever done before? This event is in conjunction with the exhibition Sampling MIT.
Bring your laptop to use the system live. A limited number of MIT Museum computers will also be made available.
Web site:http://web.mit.edu/museum/programs/calendar.html#climate
Open to: the general public
Cost: free
Sponsor(s): MIT Museum
For more information, contact:
Josie Patterson
617-253-5927
museum@mit.edu
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Art in Action: How Artistic Projects Inspire New Perspectives in Planning
Speaker: Dietmar Offenhuber, Richard The, Sam Auinger, Bruce Odland
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.
How can we consider art-related views on urban space? What are the ways that artists help us relate to and understand public space? Can art foster public interaction and communication? In this session, we will focus on art about public space instead of art in public space. We will showcase two positions of individual artists who focus on the use and understanding of public space and the social impacts of art.
Richard The: Richard is a media artist and interaction designer working at the MIT Media Lab and as part of the design studio The Green Eyl in Berlin. In his talk, he will discuss his approaches to design for new social interactions and situations in public space.
http://rt80.net/
O+A: The two composers and sound artists Sam Auinger and Bruce Odland focus on the sonic space of the city. In their large-scale installations, they investigate the relationship between architecture, sound and perception. Currently they focus on issues related to the ?sonic commons?.
http://www.o-a.info/
Moderated by Dietmar Offenhuber, PhD Candidate in DUSP and Researcher at the Senseable City Lab
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Department of Urban Studies and Planning
For more information, contact:
Ezra Glenn
617-253-2024
eglenn@mit.edu
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
MIT Energy Seminar: "Toward an Innovation Centered Climate Change Strategy."
Speaker: Daniel C. Esty, Yale University.
Time: 3:00p–4:30p
Location: E19-319
Prospects for a global agreement on climate change to supplant the Kyoto Protocol are now badly bogged down. The success of the international negotiations is deeply intertwined with the U.S. domestic political conversation around climate change. Unfortunately, the current legislative efforts seem unlikely to win the necessary majorities in the House and Senate. It is now time to think about alternative strategies. In this talk, I will argue that we need to put innovation at the center of our approach to climate change. Critical to this strategy realignment is a focus on getting a clear price signal on greenhouse gas emissions and a package of additional incentives that help to engage the full creative spirit of the country and the world in the effort to advance energy efficiency, explore alternative sources of power generation, and establish whether carbon capture and storage can be done cost effectively. This talk will examine the policy process that will be necessary to put forward such an innovation-centered approach to climate change.
Web site: http://web.mit.edu/mitei/news/seminars/innovation-centered.html
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Initiative
For more information, contact:
Tim Heidel
energy-events@mit.edu
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
IDEAS Competition Information Session
Speaker: Samantha Cooper
Time: 7:00p–8:00p
Location: 4-231
The world has problems. You have ideas. We have $50,000.
Come learn about the IDEAS Competition and how you can win up to $8000 and make your innovative idea a reality!
The IDEAS Competition is an annual public service competition that provides an opportunity for members of the MIT community to develop creative ideas for projects that make a positive change in the world - locally, nationally or internationally.
Join us and learn more about the competition, how to enter, and how to write a strong proposal.
Web site: http://web.mit.edu/ideas
Open to: the general public
This event occurs on the 3rd of every month at 7:00p - 8:00p through March 3, 2010, and also on March 31, 2010 at 7:00p - 8:00p.
Sponsor(s): Public Service Center, Graduate Student Life Grants, MIT IDEAS Competition
For more information, contact:
Samantha Cooper
5-5474
coopers@mit.edu
Thursday, April 01, 2010
Energy 101: Nuclear Power
Speaker: Lara Pierpoint
Time: 12:00p–1:00p
Location: 37-212
Energy 101
Energy 101 is a lecture series put on by the MIT Energy Club focusing on the basic technology, policy, business, and economic issues surrounding many basic energy topics. Lectures will be held once or twice and month and are delivered by students.
Come hear a student who is an expert in nuclear power and the nuclear fuel cycle give a primer in nuclear power. Topics will include but are not limited to technology, economics, and regulation and policy surrounding this source of energy.
Food will be provided.
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Club
For more information, contact:
Tim Heidel
energy-events@mit.edu
Thursday, April 01, 2010
The Gutenberg Parenthesis: Oral Tradition and Digital Technologies
Speaker: Thomas Pettitt, University of Southern Denmark; Peter Donaldson, MIT Literature; James Paradis, MIT Writing
Time: 5:00p–7:00p
Location: 3-270
Is our emerging digital culture partly a return to practices and ways of thinking that were central to human societies before the advent of the printing press? This question has been posed with increasing force in recent years by anthropologists, folklorists, historians and literary scholars, among them Thomas Pettitt, who has contributed significantly to elaborating and communicating the version of this question named in the title of today's forum.
The concept of a "Gutenberg Parenthesis"--formulated by Prof. L. O. Sauerberg of the University of Southern Denmark--offers a means of identifying and understanding the period, varying between societies and subcultures, during which the mediation of texts through time and across space was dominated by powerful permutations of letters, print, pages and books. Our current transitional experience toward a post-print media world dominated by digital technology and the internet can be usefully juxtaposed with that of the period-- Shakespeare's--when England was making the transition into the parenthesis from a world of scribal transmission and oral performance.
MIT professors Peter Donaldson and James Paradis will join Pettitt in a discussion of the value of historical perspectives on our technologizing human present.
Web site: http://web.mit.edu/comm-forum/
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free
Sponsor(s): Program in Writing and Humanistic Studies, Communications Forum
For more information, contact:
Brad Seawell
617-253-3521
seawell@mit.edu
Thursday, April 01, 2010
MIT Energy Club Lecture: "Engineering Sustainable Electricity Services--The Key Role of Systems Thinking and Automation" Prof. Marija Ilic, CMU
Time: 5:00p–6:00p
Location: 4-237
In this lecture we pose the problem of sustainable electricity services as a novel systems engineering design problem. We briefly summarize today's operating and planning practices and explain why these need fundamental changing in order to enable qualitatively different electricity services. In particular, we suggest that many new resources have characteristics, which are not generally known to the system operators, and are, therefore, currently not relied on for managing supply and demand in an often-congested electric network. The new resources are also highly variable and, as such, do not lend themselves to static feed-forward scheduling without near-real time automated feedback. Instead, a transformation of this operating and planning mode into an interactive multi-temporal, multi-spatial and multi-contextual system management is needed to accommodate ever-changing system conditions, often driven by many distributed actions. In order to enable a complex system with often-conflicting functionalities, such as reliability, security, short- and long-term efficiency, and sustainability, one must rely on prediction, adaptation and adjustments by all.
We introduce a Dynamic Monitoring and Decision Systems (DYMONDS) framework as one such possible interactive framework in support of on-line sensing and decision making at various industry layers capable of meeting multiple metrics.
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Club
For more information, contact:
MIT Energy Club
energyclub@mit.edu
Thursday, April 01, 2010
Social Venture (Entrepreneurship & Financing)
Speaker: Una Ryan, Bill Rodriguez, David Steinmiller
Time: 5:00p–7:00p
Location: E25-117
Global Health at MIT
Featuring the perspectives of physicians, engineers, and non-profit-sector directors, this panel discussion about the inception,
development, and funding of a health-related start-up focusing on patients in the developing world will provide insights into the importance of product design criteria, intellectual property considerations for products being sold
in the developing versus the developed world, and business model adoption, underscoring the tension between ethical and financial considerations in this sector.
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Global Health at MIT, Graduate Student Life Grants, MIT Public Service Center
For more information, contact:
Michael Goldberg
michaelg@mit.edu
Thursday, April 01, 2010
Goldstein Lecture in Architecture, Engineering, and Science
Speaker: David MacKay, "Sustainable Energy--without the hot air," Physicist and Chief Scientific Advisor, Dept of Energy and Climate Change, London; Professor of Natural Philosophy, Cambridge
Time: 6:30p–8:30p
Location: 34-101
Co-sponsored by the Department of Architecture and the MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI)
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free
Sponsor(s): Department of Architecture
For more information, contact:
617-253-7791
Editor's Comment: A lot of people are looking forward to hearing David MacKay. This may be a very informative event.
Friday, April 02, 2010
Arundhati Roy in Conversation with Noam Chomsky
Speaker: ARUNDHATI ROY with Noam Chomsky
Time: 3:30p–5:00p
Location: 26-100, Video overflow room 34-101
Please join us for a conversation with Arundhati Roy, author of The God of Small Things and Field Notes on Democracy, and MIT professor of Linguistics and Philosophy Noam Chomsky, author of Hegemony or Survival and the forthcoming book, Hopes and Prospects, as they discuss the threats to democracy in the United States, India, and worldwide.
THERE ARE NO LONGER ANY TICKETS AVAILABLE FOR THIS EVENT. WE WILL, HOWEVER, HAVE VIDEO OVERFLOW ROOMS SET UP. PLEASE SEE OUR WEBSITE FOR FURTHER INFORMATION. NO ONE WILL BE ADMITTED TO 26-100 WITHOUT A TICKET. THANK YOU.
Web site: web.mit.edu/tac
Open to: the general public
Cost: n/a
Tickets: cenglish@mit.edu
Sponsor(s): The Technology and Culture Forum at MIT, MIT Program in Women's and Gender Studies
For more information, contact:
Patricia-Maria Weinmann
617-253-0108
weinmann@mit.edu
Friday, April 02, 2010
Reception: Water Walkers: Portraits of Ghana's Street Vendors
Time: 4:00p–6:00p
Location: 7-238, Rotch Gallery (Rotch Library)
Photos by Melissa Haeffner (G). Through digital storytelling, this project presents the daily experience of water vendors as they negotiate their way through spatial dimensions of traffic and market, home and school.
Haeffner's self-published book of the same title will be sold at the reception. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to Pure Home Water, to continue distribution of clean water in Ghana.
Exhibit on view April 1-30.
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MIT Libraries
For more information, contact:
Jolene de Verges
617/258-5593
jdeverge@MIT.EDU
Harvard
Art, Public Space and New Media
WHEN
Mon., Mar. 29, 2010, 4 p.m.
WHERE
Room 133, Barker Center, 12 Quincy St., Cambridge, MA
TYPE OF EVENT
Art/Design, Humanities, Presentation/Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR
Humanities Center
SPEAKER(S)
Artists Tobias Putrih (Boston-Ljubljana); Michael Meredith, and Helidon Gjergji (New York-Naples-Tirana). Moderated by Svetlana Boym.
COST
Free and open to the public
http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~humcentr/
Climate Change & the Media: "Techno-Optimism or Pessimism? 'Fixing' the Planet's Climate Problems"
WHEN
Wed., Mar. 31, 2010, 1 – 2:30 p.m.
WHERE
Bell Hall, Belfer 5th floor, Harvard Kennedy School
TYPE OF EVENT
Environmental Sciences, Presentation/Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR
Harvard Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy
SPEAKER(S)
Bryan Walsh, Time Magazine; Jeff Goodell, author of "How to Cool the Planet: Geoengineering and the Audacious Quest to Fix Earth's Climate"
COST
Free to the public
CONTACT INFO
Cristine_Russell@hks.harvard.edu
NOTE
Refreshments will be served.
http://www.hks.harvard.edu/presspol/news_events/calendar.html
MIT
Leonardo Bonanni Thesis Defense—A Collective Framework for Sustainable Design
Monday, March 22, 2010 | 1:00pm - 3:00pm
Speaker:
Leonardo Bonanni
Participant(s)/Committee: Hiroshi Ishii, Chris Csikszentmihályi, William J. Mitchell, Gregory Norris
E14-633
For a timely answer to the problem of sustainability, or how to provide for future generations, there needs to be shared accounting of our social and physical resources. Global supply chains touch countless people, each a potential contributor to our collective understanding. Unleashing this information could engage many more people in the invention of long-term solutions, or sustainable design.
This thesis proposes a framework for shared resource accounting through the democratization of sustainable design. Open communication channels make it possible to extend teaching, tools and information to a vast number of potential decision-makers. Contributing design solutions to a shared medium can build a collective assessment of resource flows and help to spread successful strategies.
As part of this research, a collective platform was built to support sustainable design. The web tool, Sourcemap.org, was evaluated in partnership with students, designers, businesses and governmental organizations. Pilot studies revealed the potential of this platform to help visualize social and environmental sustainability, to support discussion and diagnostics, and to provide valuable communications functionality.
The field studies informed a framework rooted in transparency and extensibility to foster trust in a collective pursuit. A symmetric interface offers multiple points of entry while providing consumers with the same capacities as content producers. A flexible architecture motivates a crowd-sourced approach to auditing. The framework informs and is informed by a partnership approach, where collaborative development extends useful features and information to novices and experts alike.
Harvard
Islamic Finance: A Comparative Study of Regulation
WHEN
Mon., Mar. 22, 2010, 4 – 6 p.m.
WHERE
Pound 335, Harvard Law School
TYPE OF EVENT
Business, Law, Presentation/Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR
Islamic Legal Studies Program
SPEAKER(S)
Jiyoung Yang, 2009-10 ILSP Visiting Fellow, associate deputy director, Financial Supervisory Service, South Korea
COST
Free and open to the public
CONTACT INFO
ilsp@law.harvard.edu
NOTE
Followed by a reception
LINK
http://www.law.harvard.edu/programs/ilsp/events/
Radcliffe Institute Dean’s Lecture Series: "Freakonomics and Beyond"
WHEN
Mon., Mar. 22, 2010, 4 – 6 p.m.
WHERE
Radcliffe Gymnasium, 10 Garden Street, Radcliffe Yard
TYPE OF EVENT
Presentation/Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR
Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study
SPEAKER(S)
Steven D. Levitt, William B. Ogden Distinguished Service Professor of Economics, University of Chicago
COST
Free
CONTACT INFO
617.495.8600
NOTE
Hear the latest research and musings from the economist who brought us the best-selling "Freakonomics" and "SuperFreakonomics."
LINK
www.radcliffe.edu
Tuesday, March 23
2:30pm - 4pm
Bell Hall -Belfer Building Harvard Kennedy School 79 JFK St. Cambridge, MA
"Prices vs. Quantities, Yet Again: Allowance Reserves and Banking." William A. (Billy) Pizer, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Environment and Energy, U.S. Treasury.
Contact Name: Louisa Lund louisa_lund@hks.harvard.edu
Goldsmith Career Award for Excellence in Journalism
WHEN
Tue., Mar. 23, 2010, 6 – 7:30 p.m.
WHERE
JFK Jr. Forum, Harvard Kennedy School, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge MA
TYPE OF EVENT
Award Ceremonies, Social Sciences, Special Events
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR
Shorenstein Center
SPEAKER(S)
David Fanning, executive producer of FRONTLINE
COST
Free and open to the public
CONTACT INFO
617.495.1329
NOTE
There will be a related panel discussion on Wed., March 24.
Goldsmith Seminar, "The Present and Future of Investigative Reporting"
WHEN
Wed., Mar. 24, 2010, 9 – 11 a.m.
WHERE
Fifth floor, Taubman Building, Harvard Kennedy School, 79 JFK St., Cambridge MA
TYPE OF EVENT
Award Ceremonies, Social Sciences, Special Events
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR
Shorenstein Center
SPEAKER(S)
Panel discussion with the Goldsmith Award Finalists for Investigative Reporting: Sean P. Murphy, The Boston Globe; Mark Greenblatt, David Raziq, Keith Tomshe, KHOU-TV (Houston); Raquel Rutledge, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; J. Andrew Curliss and Steve Riley, The News & Observer (Raleigh, NC); A.C. Thompson, ProPublica in collaboration with Gordon Russell, New Orleans Times-Picayune; and Joe Stephens and Lena H. Sun, The Washington Post
COST
Free and open to the public
CONTACT INFO
617.495.1329
Does Thoreau Have a Future? Reimagining Voluntary Simplicity for the 21st Century
WHEN
Thu., Mar. 25, 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)
Lawrence Buell, Powell M. Cabot Professor of American Literature in Harvard’s Department of English and American Literature and Language. A response will be given by Diana Eck, professor of comparative religion and Indian studies in Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences and member of the Faculty of Divinity.
COST
Free; registration required
CONTACT INFO
617.495.4476, resterson@hds.harvard.edu
NOTE
Part of the "Ecologies of Human Flourishing" lecture series. Reservations are required for this event. Register online athttps://www.hds.harvard.edu/cswr/events/registration.cfm
LINK
https://www.hds.harvard.edu/cswr/events/theme.html
Saturday, March 27, 2010 & Sunday, March 28, 2010:
9th Harvard University Forum on Islamic Finance on "Building Bridges across Financial Communities," presented by the Islamic Finance Project. For more information on this event, please visit the IFP website at http://www.ifp.harvard.edu/ or contact IFP director Nazim Ali at ifp@law.harvard.edu.
Brandeis
Changing people in a changing climate?
Tuesday, March 23
2- 5pm
Rapaporte Treasure Hall, Goldfarb Library Brandeis University Waltham, MA
"The Ethical Implications of Climate Disruption." A conversation with Michael Appell (International Business School), Bernadette Brooten (Near Eastern and Judaic Studies, Women’s and Gender Studies, and Classics), Cristina Espinosa (Sustainable International Development, Heller School), and Tory Fair (Fine Arts.
http://www.brandeis.edu/ethics/events
Contact Name: Charles C. Chester charles.chester@gmail.com 617.304.9373
Other
Monday, March 22, 2010 at 7:00 PM (ET)
Where
Microsoft NERD Center
1 Memorial Dr
Cambridge MA, 02142
The Afterlives of Artificial Life
How should one tell the biography of the field of Artificial Life, first framed
by that name in 1987 by Chris Langton? Anthropologist Stefan Helmreich, whose
1998 book, Silicon Second Nature: Culturing Artificial Life in a Digital World,
examined the cultural meaning of research done in first decade of ALife, will
turn his analytic attention to the social meaning of ALife since 2000,
examining the simultaneous vanishing and proliferation of ALife ways of
thinking and doing.
Bio
Stefan Helmreich is an associate professor of anthropology at MIT.
Helmreich's research examines the works and lives of contemporary biologists puzzling through the conceptual boundaries of “life” as a category of analysis. He has written extensively on Artificial Life, most notably in Silicon Second Nature: Culturing Artificial Life in a Digital World.
Hosted By
Grey Thumb
About Grey Thumb:
Grey Thumb is a group of scientists, engineers, hackers, artists, and hobbyists in the Boston metro area with a strong interest in artificial life, artificial intelligence, biology, complex systems and other related topics.http://www.greythumb.org
RSVP: http://greythumb220310.eventbrite.com/
March 26th - 27th, 2010
Friday and Saturday - 8:00 AM - 6:00 PM
The largest robotics competition in Boston and the largest regional competition in FIRST history -- In 2009, over 6000 attendees watched more than 1000 high school students competing. Free and Open to the Public!
The amazing Agganis Arena at Boston University
925 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA
Watch The Live Webcast at http://www.thebluealliance.net/boston09/
Thanks to Fred Hapgood's Boston Lectures on Science and Engineering list and best wishes for a quick, complete recovery with as little pain as possible
http://fhapgood.fastmail.fm/site02.html
MIT
Monday, March 15, 2010
Israeli Cleantech Innovation and Tech Transfer
Speaker: Larry Loev
Time: 8:00a–10:30a
Location: E51-345
Featuring Larry Loev, the Director of Business Development (Physical Sciences) at Ramot, the technology transfer company of Tel Aviv University.
Israel is ranked 1st in the world for number of start-ups per capita and 3rd in the world for Venture Capital availability. As Director of Business Development at Ramot, Mr. Loev works with entrepreneurs and industrial partners to commercialize a portfolio of 100 technologies related to cleantech, medical devices, communications, optics, and electronics. Drawing from his Israel experience, Mr.Loev will share about the challenges and keys to success in commercializing energy and cleantech technology.
Agenda:
8:00-8:15am Networking & Intros (Breakfast and Coffee)
8:15-9:00am Presentation and Q&A
9:00-9:30am Member Announcements & Networking
Web site: http://www.meetup.com/boston-israel/calendar/12650421/
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MISTI, Center for International Studies, MIT-Israel, MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives (MISTI), MIT Energy Campus Events, Boston Israel Cleantech Alliance, Combined Jewish Philanthropies
For more information, contact:
David Dolev
617-324-5581
ddolev@mit.edu
Monday, March 15, 2010
Building Technology Lecture Series/THE FUTURE OF ARCHITECTURE IN A WARMING PLANET
Speaker: Norbert Lechner, Architect and Professor Emeritus, Auburn University, AL
Time: 12:30p–2:00p
Location: 7-431, AVT
Building Technology Lecture Series
THE FUTURE OF ARCHITECTURE IN A WARMING PLANET
Global warming is the greatest challenge humankind has ever faced in recorded history. Fossil energy must be replaced as quickly as possible by both clean renewable energy and energy efficiency. Since buildings are the main users of energy (about 48%), they must become much more efficient. Most of the energy used by buildings is for heating, cooling, and lighting all of which are very much impacted by the sun. Thus, a sustainable building must be a solar responsive building.
Buildings will not be sustainable just by being covered by solar collectors. The buildings itself must do most of the work in heating, cooling, and lighting itself. The ?Three Tier Approach? explains how this is accomplished, and solar responsive design is a major component of this approach.
However, a major obstacle to solar responsive design is the complexity of solar geometry. Furthermore, many accepted solar design principles are incorrect. For example, contrary to widespread belief, a fixed south overhang cannot fully shade the summer sun and fully harvest the winter sun, fins are not good shading devices on the east and west, and shading for north windows is not restricted to southern latitudes. Fortunately, powerful teaching and design tools called heliodons are available to bust these and other myths and make solar responsive design both easy and accurate.
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free
Sponsor(s): Building Technology Program, Department of Architecture
For more information, contact:
Alexandra Mulcahy
617-253-0463
amulcahy@mit.edu
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Wide Bandgap Devices for Energy Efficient Solutions
Speaker: John Palmour, Co-Founder, CREE
Time: 4:00p–5:00p
Location: 34-101
MTL Seminar Series
Refreshments at 3:30 p.m.
MTL hosts a series of talks each semester known as the MTL Seminar Series. Speakers for the series are selected on the basis of their knowledge and competence in the areas of microelectronics research, manufacturing, or policy. The series is held on the MIT Campus during the academic year on Tuesdays at 4:00 pm. For more information regarding the MTL Seminar Series, send e-mail to valeried@mit.edu.
Web site: http://www-mtl.mit.edu/seminars
Open to: the general public
Cost: free
Sponsor(s): Microsystems Technology Laboratories
For more information, contact:
Valerie DiNardo
253-9328
valeried@mit.edu
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Transportation@MIT presents Marta Gonzalez on "Modeling Human Mobility"
Speaker: Marta Gonzalez
Time: 4:00p–5:00p
Location: 3-270
Transportation@MIT Seminar Series
This semester, the Transportation@MIT seminar series will cover a variety of transportation topics including: Propulsion, Vehicles, Sources of Transportation Energy, Environmental Impacts and Climate Change, Logistics and Supply Chain Management, Urban Transportation, Automation, Transportation Networks, Dynamic System Control, and Behavioral and Economic Sciences.
I present the results of statistical analysis from extensive data sources coming from mobile phone communication and subway smart cards. Our goal is to gather information from the data to characterize individual travel behavior. For each individual we measure the frequency of visits to preferred locations and analyze the distances of travels and stay time distributions from the whole population. The obtained results are shown to be useful in modeling spreading of viruses at a country scale. Work in progress is shown, comparing individual travel patterns at metropolitan areas from three countries. In the second part of the talk I explore potential applications of data analysis to understand the interactions of individuals with space within urban environments, in particular multiplicative random processes are applied to model the distribution of locations of supply and demand in urban spaces to explain measured distribution of travel distances.
Web site: http://transportation.mit.edu/events.php
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Transportation@MIT
For more information, contact:
Rebecca Fearing
transportation.seminars@MIT.EDU
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Optimal Use of Solar Thermal Energy for Combined Power Generation and Water Desalination
Speaker: Dr. Amin Ghobeity, MIT, Dept. Mechanical Engineering
Time: 4:30p–5:30p
Location: 3-343
Center for 21st Century Energy - Reacting Gas Dynamics Laboratory Seminar Series
Seawater desalination is being increasingly considered as a viable method to address the global shortage of potable water. Conventional desalination methods are, however, energy intensive. Desalting seawater using renewable energy sources is a promising alternative, particularly for islands and remote areas. In this talk, I will present conceptual design, system-level simulation models and optimization of a novel process for combined power generation and seawater desalination using solar energy. The thermal energy collected in a salt pond is used downstream for seawater desalination and electricity generation. Physics-based system-level dynamic models are developed, which are detailed enough to allow for optimization of operation and design under various weather, location and operating conditions (e.g., partial-load, recharging, etc.). The optimization problem is formulated as a nonlinear program (NLP) with dynamics embedded, and a heuristic global optimization approach is used. Plant?s nominal operating conditions, found from the time-invariant optimization, are further improved through the time-dependent optimization of a seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) system, which is considered for seawater desalination in combination with multi-effect distillation (MED). Time-dependent optimization of SWRO is formulated as a mixed-integer nonlinear program (MINLP), allowing for periods of shut-down. The results of optimization will be presented and discussed.
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): RGD Lab
For more information, contact:
Patrick Kirchen
pkirchen@mit.edu
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
CTL Distinguished Speaker Series
Speaker: Chris Anderson, Editor-in-Chief, Wired Magazine
Title: The New Industrial Revolution: Why Atoms are the New Bits
Refreshments will be served and the talk will be videotaped.
> 5:30-6:30pm
> E14-633 (Media Lab Extension Building, 6th floor)
background reading http://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/01/ff_newrevolution/
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
If, When and How Social Science Can Contribute to National Security Policy
Speaker: Michael Desch, University of Notre Dame
Time: 12:00p–1:30p
Location: E40-496, Lucian Pye Conference Room
SSP Wednesday Seminar Series
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Security Studies Program
For more information, contact:
617-253-7529
valeriet@mit.edu
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
A Long Way From Home: The Environmental, Economic, and Social Impacts of a Lack of Affordable Housing
Speaker: Professor William M. Rohe, Boshamer Distinguished Professor of City and Regional Planning; Director, Center for Urban and Regional Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
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.
Weekly Lecture Series of the Department of Urban Studies and Planning.
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Department of Urban Studies and Planning
For more information, contact:
Ezra Glenn
617-253-2024
eglenn@mit.edu
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Materials Science and Engineering Seminar: Atomic Structure Details of Nano-Carbon Materials
Speaker: Professor Sumio Iijima (Faculty of Science and Technology, Meijo University; Director, Nanotube Research Center, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Japan)
Time: 4:00p–5:15p
Location: 66-110
Materials Science and Engineering Seminar Series
Seminars for the Materials Science community
Nanoscience and nanotechnology addresses the nano-scale structures of materials. Electron microscopy is a critical tool for knowing and controlling structures at the atomic level. Research examples in this talk will include latest results on structural characterization of carbon nanotubes, graphene, and boron nitride mono-layer films
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Center for Materials Science & Engineering, Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering, Materials Processing Center, Materials@MIT
Friday, March 19, 2010
MRS Lunch 'N Lecture Seminar: The "Materials Genome" Project at MIT -- Accelerated and Large-Scale Materials Discovery in the Energy Field
Speaker: Prof. Gerbrand Ceder, Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering, MIT
Time: 12:00p–1:00p
Location: 6-104, Chipman Room
The need for novel materials is the technological Achilles Heel of our strategy to address the energy and climate problem facing the world. The large-scale deployment of photovoltaics, photosynthesis, storage of electricity, thermoelectrics, or reversible fuel catalysis can not be realized with current materials technologies. The "Materials Genome" project, started at MIT, has as its objective to use high-throughput first principles computations on an unparalleled scale to discover new materials for energy technologies. I will show how several key problems such as crystal structure prediction and accuracy limitations of standard Density Functional Theory methods have been overcome to perform reliable, large scale materials searching.
I will show successful examples of high-throughput calculations in the field of lithium batteries and radiation detectors and discuss our developments in other fields.
Please join us for refreshments at 11:40 AM in 6-104.
Web site: http://web.mit.edu/mrschapter/seminars.htm
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MRS Chapter at MIT, Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering
For more information, contact:
Tiffany Ziebell
tiffanyz@mit.edu
Friday, March 19, 2010
Seminar on Enviromental and Agricultural History
Speaker: Joseph E. Taylor, Simon Fraser University and University of Portland
Time: 2:30p–4:30p
Location: E51-095
"Pilgrims of the Vertical: Yosemite Rock Climbers and Modern Environmental Culture"
Web site: http://web.mit.edu/history/www/nande/modTimes.html
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): History Office, STS
For more information, contact:
Margot Collet
253-4965
history-info@mit.edu
BU
EWB BU is hosting its second speaker event in the speaker series. The lecture will take place as follows:
Pablo Suarez of the Red Cross/Red Crescent Climate Center
Tuesday March 16th
7pm
SED 130, on Two Silber Way, Boston
For the second event in our EWB/ONE Spring Speaker Series, we are hosting Pablo Suarez of the Red Cross/Red Crescent Climate Center.
Pablo Suarez got involved with the Red Cross/Red Crescent Climate Center as a technical advisor. His work as researcher and consultant focuses on the integration of climate information into decision making for reducing vulnerability, both at community level and through national and global policies.
Pablo will talk to us about work the Red Cross is doing to develop early warning and early action systems, including a pilot program in Sengal.
Other
Tuesday, March 16 at 7:00pm
Central Square Library, 45 Pearl St.
GreenPort Forum
The Leadership Campaign: Building a Movement for 100% Clean Electricity in Massachusetts by 2020
Between October 24th and December 7th, students and community leaders across the Commonwealth refused to sleep in housing powered by dirty electricity. Instead, calling on leaders to take the lead on climate legislation, they chose to camp out on the Boston Common and other prominent locations around the state. The Act to Create an Emergency Task Force to Repower Massachusetts was introduced at the beginning of this legislative session and is currently moving its way through the house.
Come learn about this growing movement and consider joining the first sleep-out on Cambridge Common, Sunday, March 28th!
For more information, contact Steve Morr-Wineman at swineman@gis.net
March 16, 2010 7:30 pm
Design Museum Boston Launch Party
West End Johnnies
138 Portland St.
Boston, MA
RSVP: http://designingamuseum.ning.com/profiles/blogs/prepare-for-a-launch-party
Green Jobs Program
The City of Cambridge has announced a green jobs training program. Through the Cambridge Green Jobs Program, individuals will receive training to become energy efficiency technicians through the Energy Efficiency Technician Apprenticeship Program (EETAP), or green building maintenance technicians through the Building Energy Efficient Maintenance Skills Program (BEEMS). Working in collaboration with the Asian American Civic Association (AACA), the City will offer training beginning in April 2010.
An orientation session will be held on March 17, 2:30 to 4:30, Cambridge City Hall Annex. Registration is encouraged.
For more details, see http://www.cambridgema.gov/deptann.cfm?story_id=2575.
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@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@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@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@MIT Seminar Series
In Spring 2010, the Transportation@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@MIT
For more information, contact:
Rebecca Fearing
transportation@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@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@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@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@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@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@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@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@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@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@hds.harvard.edu
NOTE
Part of the "Ecologies of Human Flourishing" lecture series. Reservations are required for this event. Register online athttps://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@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@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
