Energy (and Other) Events is a weekly mailing list published most Sundays covering events around the Cambridge, MA and greater
Boston area that catch the editor's eye.
Hubevents http://hubevents.blogspot.com is the web version.
If you wish to subscribe or unsubscribe to Energy (and Other) Events email gmoke@world.std.com
What I Do and Why I Do It: The Story of Energy (and Other) EventsGeo
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Details of these events are available when you scroll past the index
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Index
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Monday, August 14
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1:30pm The Equipped Explorer: Virtual Reality as a Medium for Learning
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Tuesday, August 15
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3pm How to Lobby: A Science Champions Online Training
6pm Free Farmers’ Market
6pm Boston New Technology August 2017 Startup Showcase #BNT80 (21+)
6pm Smart Cities - Transportation
7pm An Eclipse for Everyone
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Wednesday, August 16
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7:30am Boston Sustainability Breakfast
10am City Sprouts Summer Garden Expos
5:30pm Community Self Defense Workshop
6pm ProfDev: Socially Responsible Investing
7pm Ghost of the Innocent Man: A True Story of Trial and Redemption
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Thursday, August 17
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10am City Sprouts Summer Garden Expos
10am The Chemistry Research Network
11am Thesis Defense: The Role of Wavenumber One and Two in the Development of Sudden Stratospheric Warmings
11am Public Webinar: Concrete Sustainability Hub
6:30am TECH AND...THE NEW WORKFORCE
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Friday, August 18
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2pm Final Doctoral Thesis: Block Copolymer Self-Assembly: Lithography, Magnetic Nanofabrication, and Optimization
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Saturday, August 19
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12am MA Pirate Party Surveillance Cameras Mapping
2pm X-Position with Phil Zimmermann: Digital Secrets in a Wiretapped World
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Sunday, August 20
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9am SWAPFEST
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Monday, August 21
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1:30pm Observing the Solar Eclipse
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Tuesday, August 22
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6pm Free Farmers’ Market
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My rough notes on some of the events I go to and notes on books I’ve read are at:
The Bed of Procrustes
In Search of the Warrior Spirit
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Monday, August 14
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The Equipped Explorer: Virtual Reality as a Medium for Learning
Monday, August 14
1:30pm — 3:30pm
MIT Media Lab, E15 - 050 (Bartos), 20 Ames Street, Cambridge
Committee: Pattie Maes, Professor of Media Arts and Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Christopher M. Schmandt, Principal Research Scientist, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Albrecht Schmidt, Professor of Human-Computer Interaction, University of Stuttgart
What opportunities does virtual reality offer to improve the way we learn? In this thesis, I investigate the ways that constructivist approaches, in particular exploratory and experiential learning, can be uniquely supported by immersive virtual worlds. Against the background of these learning theories, I introduce a design framework that centers around defining a medium of virtuality that is fundamentally social, and uses capture of movement and interaction as a key means for creating interactive scenarios and narrative. Within the world conjured by this medium, the Equipped Explorer learns, reviews, creates and communicates using tools that I propose and classify according to a taxonomy. A series of prototypes and design explorations are used as proofs of concept for aspects of the design framework. Experimental studies are used to investigate foundational questions concerning the learning benefits of using VR over 2D interactive media, and the viability of social interaction and collaboration in VR. I reflect on the implications of this framework and my experimental results to extrapolate how they might impact the future classroom and the practice of learning and discovery more broadly. Finally, I discuss what kinds of research might be needed to maximize that impact moving forward.
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Tuesday, August 15
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How to Lobby: A Science Champions Online Training
Tuesday, August 15
3:00-4:00 p.m. EDT
Webinar
Science Champions is the new initiative for UCS supporters to resist the Trump administration's efforts to sideline science from decisions that affect us all. This August, we want Science Champions like you to meet with your members of Congress and discuss why you care about funding science-based policies that will help design the next generation of cleaner cars, help understand the impacts of climate change, and more.
As a constituent, you have a powerful voice in your legislators' ears. Even if you've never met with an elected official before, it's easier and more powerful than you think. We've got the tools you need to succeed.
Please register today and join us on August 15 to learn how you can lobby in defense of science.
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Free Farmers’ Market
Tuesday, August 15
6 - 7:30pm
Riverside Press Park, 393 River Street at Memorial Drive, Cambridge
Whole Foods, Food for Free, and the Boston Area Gleaners are bringing fresh produce and other foods to a FREE farmers’ market.
Contact Joe Deignan at 617-868-4858, extension 210 or jdeignan@homeownersrehab.org
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Boston New Technology August 2017 Startup Showcase #BNT80 (21+)
Tuesday, August 15
6:00 PM to 8:30 PM
LogMeIn, 333 Summer Street, Boston
Cost: $10
This event is 21+. Show security your valid photo identification at the door. Enter the lobby and come to our check-in table. Type the first few letters of your first or last name on the screen and tap your name to print your name tag.
Come learn about 6 innovative and exciting technology products and network with 100+ attendees from the Boston/Cambridge startup community! This event is 21+, due to alcohol being served. Valid photo identification is required. Buy your ticket now and save 50% - price rises to $20 on August 8th.
Each presenter gets 5 minutes for a product overview & demonstration and 5 minutes for Q&A.
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Smart Cities - Transportation
Tuesday, August 15
6:00 PM to 8:30 PM
CDM Smith, 75 State Street, Suite 701, Boston
Welcome to our first of a series of events focusing on Smart Cities - this one covers Transportation. The next generation of smart vehicles, including autonomous ones, requires wholly new infrastructure and a new approach to urban planning. Innovators who are startup founders, urban planners, infrastructure builders, and policy makers will share their observations on how to support the movement of people, fleets, and goods in a smart city. Stay tuned for more updates!
Agenda:
6:00-6:30pm Mix & Mingle with food & refreshments
6:30-7:30pm Presentations from corporates and startups panel members (~5 minutes each), followed by Q&A
7:30-8:30pm Organizer announcement + 30 sec shout-outs, followed by networking
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An Eclipse for Everyone
Tuesday, August 15
7:00 PM – 8:00 PM EDT
Boston Public Library, 700 Boylston Street, Johnson Building, Central Library, Boston
On August 21, 2017, millions of Americans will witness the first total solar eclipse to cross the continental United States in 99 years. As in all total solar eclipses, the Moon will block the Sun, revealing the Sun’s outer atmosphere in an incredible spectacle.
Join us for a conversation with Sky and Telescope’s Janine Myszka as we learn what we’ll be able to see in the Boston area, why the total eclipse is happening now, and how to safely view the eclipse. We’ll also share a preview of NOVA’s upcoming Eclipse Over America film and will be giving away special NOVA eclipse glasses!
Speaker bio: Janine Myszka recently joined the team at Sky & Telescope as their Digital Content Strategist. She earned a B.S. in Astronomy & Astrophysics from Villanova University and an MSc in Science Communication from Imperial College London. Before moving to Boston from Orlando, FL this spring, she blew things up on stage for a living, helped guests peer through telescopes, organized activities for the Venus transit and Planet Palooza, and created hands-on workshops for visitors to the Orlando Science Center. She has a deep and abiding love for puns and cats, and recently experienced the wonders of goat yoga (which doesn’t actually have to do anything with her qualifications as an eclipse expert, she just wanted to tell you that). She’s excited to see the partial solar eclipse on August 21st and thinks you should be too!
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Wednesday, August 16
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Boston Sustainability Breakfast
Wednesday, August 16
7:30 AM – 8:30 AM EDT
Pret A Manger, 101 Arch Street, Boston
Join us every month for Net Impact Boston's informal breakfast meetup of sustainability professionals for networking, discussion and moral support. It's important to remind ourselves that we are not the only ones out there in the business world trying to do good! Feel free to drop by any time between 7:30 and 8:30 am.
For our June sustainability breakfast, we'll be co-hosting with WISE (Women Investing for a Sustainable Economy) as we continue the discussion from our May 24th event - No Food to Waste.
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City Sprouts Summer Garden Expos
Wednesday, August 16
10am
Rindge Avenue Upper School or Putnam Avenue Upper School
Want to see firsthand the difference that school gardens make for young people? This summer is your chance! Take a tour of a school garden led by middle schoolers who have spent the summer learning not only how to grow and cook their own food but also how to help their communities.
We're hosting expos at Cambridge Upper Schools in July & August. All expos run from 10-11am.
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Community Self Defense Workshop
Wednesday, August 16
5:30 PM – 7:00 PM EDT
Copley Plaza Great Lawn, Boston
At Healthworks Fitness, we encourage all women to lead with their best self: through physical/mental strength and the ability to handle any situation. Please join us for a complimentary self defense class in partnership with IMPACT to give you the tools and training to stand up against violence.
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ProfDev: Socially Responsible Investing
Wednesday, August 16
6:00 PM to 8:30 PM
The NonProfit Center, 89 South Street, Boston
We will be on the second floor in the large conference room.
Cost: $15.76 /per person
Uncertain how to work towards a secure financial future while living out your values? Join Socializing for Justice for a ProfDev on Socially Responsible Investing on Wednesday, August 16, 6:00 - 8:30 PM.
Fee: $15 advance/$30 door
Limited space - register ahead of time by RSVPing yes.
Credit cards accepted online and at the door (if space available).
Newcomers always welcomed!
How do we manage our savings to best sustain ourselves and support our vision of a more just economy? Whether you’re investing now, informing yourself for the future, or organizing a divestment or financial campaign, this is a chance to learn investment basics and discuss all those questions with a local progressive activist and finance professional. No prior knowledge expected: we'll start with basic terms and concepts, and also cover political choices and investment strategies. Participants gain a more intuitive sense of how to use investments and ideas about how to research and choose between different financial tools without checking your politics at the door.
ABOUT OUR PRESENTER
Joby Gelbspan is a lifelong progressive activist who has dedicated her career to "translating finance for activists." She holds a Master's in Accounting and an MBA, with financial and management experience ranging from non-profit organizations to the investment management industry. She has served on several nonprofit Boards and as CFO and Financial Consultant for grassroots, progressive organizations. She currently coordinates strategic corporate and financial research to support Corporate Accountability International's grassroots campaigns challenging the World Bank and some of the world's largest corporations to halt their abusive practices.
SCHEDULE
6:00-6:30 Socializing - bring your own dinner
6:30-8:30 Training and Q&A
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Ghost of the Innocent Man: A True Story of Trial and Redemption
Wednesday, August 16
7:00 PM
Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Harvard Book Store and Mass Humanities welcome local debut author BENJAMIN RACHLIN for a discussion of his new book, Ghost of the Innocent Man: A True Story of Trial and Redemption.
About Ghost of the Innocent Man
During the last two decades, more than two thousand American citizens have been wrongfully convicted. Ghost of the Innocent Man brings us one of the most dramatic of those cases and provides the clearest picture yet of the national scourge of wrongful conviction and of the opportunity for meaningful reform.
When the final gavel clapped in a rural southern courtroom in the summer of 1988, Willie J. Grimes, a gentle spirit with no record of violence, was shocked and devastated to be convicted of first-degree rape and sentenced to life imprisonment. Here is the story of this everyman and his extraordinary quarter-century-long journey to freedom, told in breathtaking and sympathetic detail, from the botched evidence and suspect testimony that led to his incarceration to the tireless efforts to prove his innocence and the identity of the true perpetrator. These were spearheaded by his relentless champion, Christine Mumma, a cofounder of North Carolina's Innocence Inquiry Commission. That commission—unprecedented at its inception in 2006—remains a model organization unlike any other in the country, and one now responsible for a growing number of exonerations.
With meticulous, prismatic research and pulse-quickening prose, Benjamin Rachlin presents one man's tragedy and triumph. The jarring and unsettling truth is that the story of Willie J. Grimes, for all its outrage, dignity, and grace, is not a unique travesty. But through the harrowing and suspenseful account of one life, told from the inside, we experience the full horror of wrongful conviction on a national scale. Ghost of the Innocent Man is both rare and essential, a masterwork of empathy. The book offers a profound reckoning not only with the shortcomings of our criminal justice system but also with its possibilities for redemption.
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Thursday, August 17
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City Sprouts Summer Garden Expos
Thursday, August 17
10am
Cambridge Street Upper School or Vassal Lane Upper School
Want to see firsthand the difference that school gardens make for young people? This summer is your chance! Take a tour of a school garden led by middle schoolers who have spent the summer learning not only how to grow and cook their own food but also how to help their communities.
We're hosting expos at Cambridge Upper Schools in July & August. All expos run from 10-11am.
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The Chemistry Research Network
Thursday, August 17
10am
Jon Gregg Gordon. A webinar. Presentation and discussion of new worldwide, online community for chemistry research and the intersection of chemistry and other sciences.
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Thesis Defense: The Role of Wavenumber One and Two in the Development of Sudden Stratospheric Warmings
Thursday, August 17
11:00am to 12:00pm
MIT, Building 54-915, 21 Ames Street, Cambridge
A public presentation of the thesis will be given by the candidate, Andreas Miller
CHAIR OF DEFENSE:
Prof. Paul O'Gorman, MIT, EAPS
THESIS COMMITTEE:
Prof. R. Alan Plumb, MIT, EAPS, Advisor
Prof. John Marshall, MIT, EAPS
Professor Thomas Birner, Colorado State University
Copies of the thesis may be obtained from the EAPS Education Office (54-912). All interested faculty, staff and students are invited to attend.
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Public Webinar: Concrete Sustainability Hub
Thursday, August 17
11:00am to 12:00pm
Webinar at http://tinyurl.com/CSHubBuildingLCAWebinar
Life cycle assessment (LCA) seeks to quantify environmental impacts over the infrastructure life cycle by identifying the costs during each phase. This webinar will present a detailed look at MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub research on building LCA.
Editorial Comment: the carbon footprint of concrete is significant.
Controlled self-assembly of block copolymer particles from emulsions : Combined study of experiment, theory, and simulation
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TECH AND...THE NEW WORKFORCE
Thursday, 17 August
6:30 – 8 pm EDT
GA Boston, 125 Summer Street 13th Floor, Boston
Justin Kang, VP of Strategy & Growth , Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce
Sarah Sherburne Case, Associate Director, Educational Programs & Workforce Development, New England Venture Capital Association
Damon Cox, Senior Director of Economic Development and Entrepreneurship, The Boston Foundation
Mike Keller, Director of Talent Acquisition, Placester, Inc.
About This Event
How are companies adapting to a new workforce? Part of the answer lies in emerging tech.
Overview: How are companies and organizations adapting to today’s tech-driven world? How can we alleviate the growing skills gap between workforces and new business needs? For many, the answer lies in reskilling their employees.
Join us for a panel event featuring thought leaders from companies fueling the next generation of the workforce. They will discuss how they've been impacted by the rise of tech, ways they’ve adapted and innovated along the way, and how they adapt to today’s changing business demand.
What You’ll Take Away: Our panel of speakers from both corporate and municipal backgrounds will:
Share their challenges and successes in addressing today’s changing workforce.
Offer innovative ways they train and reskill employees.
Explore how the rise of tech has impacted how they set and reach goals.
Discuss hiring nontraditional candidates to meet new needs.
Featured Experts: Leaders in the community will break down the biggest challenges and opportunities they face with the rise of new technology, and explain how their teams adapt to the fast pace of innovation.
Why It Matters: The omnipresence of technology has rapidly transformed lives over the last decade. Now, it’s rare to go about a regular day without interacting with tech in some way. Staying ahead of the innovation curve and being able to predict the future of tech in various industries has never been more important.
About the Speakers
Justin Kang, VP of Strategy & Growth, Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce
Sarah Sherburne Case, Associate Director, Educational Programs & Workforce Development, New England Venture Capital Association
Sarah Case is Associate Director of Educational Programs and Workforce Development at the NEVCA. She runs TechGen and Hack.Diversity, two programs aimed at enabling students to launch their careers in Boston's top tech and life science companies while simultaneously tackling talent shortages and the underrepresentation of minorities in these companies. Originally from the Bay Area, Sarah moved east for college and stayed for grad school. She is a proud Bostonian and lives in Scituate with her husband and their dog, Bugsy.
Damon Cox, Senior Director of Economic Development and Entrepreneurship, The Boston Foundation
Damon serves as the Senior Director of Economic Development at The Boston Foundation. In this role, Damon works to ensure that all Greater Boston residents have access to economic opportunity regardless of gender, race, ethnicity or socio-economic status.
Damon Cox joined The Boston Foundation in 2013 as Director of Economic Development, overseeing the Foundation’s portfolio of investments focusing on economic mobility and workforce development. Upon joining TBF, Damon introduced two additional areas of focus for the portfolio: entrepreneurship and innovation. The goal being to empower Boston residents who traditionally don’t have access to the social or economic capital to start a business, and to encourage more women and underrepresented minorities to participate in the Innovation Economy. Previously, Damon was the Director and Program Designer for the Boston Small Business Competition -- a competition designed to create and support business development opportunities for residents in Boston’s Roxbury, Dorchester and Mattapan neighborhoods. In addition, he served as Director for Capital and Evaluation for Boston Rising, a small private philanthropy with the mission of eliminating inter-generational poverty. In that role, Damon devised and managed Boston Rising’s Entrepreneurship Development Initiative, which provided capital and technical assistance to a growing network of burgeoning entrepreneurs in Boston’s inner city neighborhoods.
Damon also has over a decade of experience in marketing and communications in the entertainment and media business. He served as VP of Marketing and Promotions for Universal Music Group.
He currently serves on the boards of MassChallenge and The Venture Café, and is a member of Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh’s Task Force on Foreign-Trained Professionals.
Damon received a Bachelor of Science degree from The University of North Florida.
Mike Keller, Director of Talent Acquisition, Placester, Inc.
Michael Keller is the Director of Talent Acquisition for Placester, Inc. He started in the IT staffing industry and moved in to Talent Acquisition consulting for start ups in the Chicago area helping them with interview training, process implementation, growth planning, and building long term scalable hiring strategies. He has worked with clients like Hybris, Oracle Textura, and Grubhub among others. He is passionate about the connection between branding and staffing as well as building data driven hiring processes to minimize implicit bias to create high functioning teams.
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Friday, August 18
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Final Doctoral Thesis: Block Copolymer Self-Assembly: Lithography, Magnetic Nanofabrication, and Optimization
Friday, August 18
2:00pm to 3:30pm
MIT, Building 6-104, Chipman Room, 182 Memorial Drive (rear), Cambridge
Prof. YongJoo Kim, KI for NanoCentury, KAIST, KOREA
Shape-anisotropic particles have drawn significant attention as building blocks for colloidal superstructures. The anisotropic shape gives rise to unusual physical responses, such as interparticle capillary interactions, light-matter interactions, rheological behaviors under flow, and collective behaviors under external fields. Significant progress has been made in controlling the shape of inorganic nanoparticles, including rods, tetrapods, and ellipsoids. However, it still remains a challenge to develop anisotropic soft polymeric particles by solution processing, particularly in the size range of 100 nm to several micrometers.
Conventional methods for the fabrication of nonspherical polymeric particles are based on mechanical deformations which are either expensive and/or improper for large-scale production. Recently, rather simple method for generating nonspherical polymeric particles was developed using self-assembly of block copolymers (BCPs) confined in emulsion droplets, induced by evaporation of solvent from the interior phase of the emulsion. Due to the soft-confinement of BCPs within the emulsion droplet, anisotropic particle is generated to minimize the free energy of BCPs. Here, we introduce the shape-controlled BCP particles from emulsions depending on size of the emulsion, interfacial property, and evaporation rate of the solvent. Theory and simulation explain the self-assembly physics of BCPs under soft-confinement from the emulsion droplet.
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Saturday, August 19
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MA Pirate Party Surveillance Cameras Mapping
Saturday, August 19
12 am
Parkman Bandstand, Boston Common, Boston
The Massachusetts Pirate Party activists have mapped surveillance cameras in many cities and towns, but downtown Boston remains little explored. To fix that, our surveillance camera mapping picnic will be Saturday, August 19th. We will meet near the Parkman Bandstand on Boston Common starting at noon.
The schedule is:
noon-1pm: food and training;
1pm-2:30pm: map cameras;
2:30pm-3:30pm: come back and debrief.
We will show you how to map cameras using Open Street Map (OSM) software on your smart phone or on a paper map for later entry into OSM. We have tested
some mobile phone OSM software and will provide How To guides.
We plan to have these events in other cities before the Winter comes, so contact us at info@masspirates.org if you want to set one up in your community. To find out where people have mapped cameras so far, check out
We would appreciate it if you told us if you plan to attend:
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X-Position with Phil Zimmermann: Digital Secrets in a Wiretapped World
Saturday, August 19
2:00 PM – 3:00 PM EDT
1 Story Street #301, Cambridge
Join us for a conversation with Phil Zimmermann on the future of cybersecurity and privacy issues facing both individuals and governments.
Internet Hall of Fame inductee Phil Zimmermann has spent nearly four decades innovating in cybersecurity and working on issues of digital privacy. He is the creator of the encryption system PGP he and has been named one of the Internet's 50 most influential people by both PC World and Newsweek.
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Sunday, August 20
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SWAPFEST
Sunday, August 20
9:00a–2:00p
MIT, Albany Street Garage and Lots, Cambridge
MIT's monthly Hi Tech, Computer, Electronics and Ham Radio Fleamarket.
Buy Sell or Swap all things nerdly.
Held the third Sunday of each month April thru October.
Rain or Shine covered space is available for all sellers.
In the Albany St Garage and adjacent lot.
On Albany St between Mass Ave and Main St, Cambridge.
$6 Buyers admission from 9AM to 2PM.
Free for MIT and Harvard Undergraduates with current ID
Web site: http://www.swapfest.us
Open to: the general public
Cost: $6
This event occurs on the 3rd Sunday of every month through October 15, 2017.
Sponsor(s): MIT Radio Society, Electronic Research Society, MIT, UHF Repeater Assn. W1XM, MIT
For more information, contact: Mitchell Berger
617-253-3776
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Monday, August 21
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Observing the Solar Eclipse
Monday, August 21
1:30pm to 3:30pm
MIT, Kresge Oval, across from 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
View with us at MIT!
The viewing session at MIT is open to the MIT community and to the public. Sponsored by the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences at MIT, it will be held on the Kresge Oval, outside the MIT Student Center at 77 Mass. Ave. - http://whereis.mit.edu/?go=G8
Note: the eclipse will be partial as seen from the Boston area, and will be ongoing during this entire time. There is no one time when the eclipse will be “best”, so feel free to drop by anytime during 1:30 to 3:30pm. The eclipse will progress somewhat slowly. We will have eclipse glasses to use at the event, plus specially filtered telescopes to give you close-up views of the sun.
It has been nearly a century since a total solar eclipse traversed coast-to-coast across the USA. Everyone in North America will have a view of the Moon blocking at least part of the Sun (Partial Eclipse). But the spectacle of a lifetime is seeing the sun totally eclipsed by the moon. The narrow “path of totality” will stretch from Salem (Oregon) to Lincoln (Nebraska) to St. Louis (Missouri) to Charleston (South Carolina) on the east coast, the moon takes its first bite out of the sun at 1:28 p.m. eastern daylight time (EDT).
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Tuesday, August 22
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Free Farmers’ Market
Tuesday, August 22
6 - 7:30pm
Riverside Press Park, 393 River Street at Memorial Drive, Cambridge
Whole Foods, Food for Free, and the Boston Area Gleaners are bringing fresh produce and other foods to a FREE farmers’ market.
Contact Joe Deignan at 617-868-4858, extension 210 or jdeignan@homeownersrehab.org
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Upcoming Events
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Wednesday, August 23
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On the 90th Anniversary of their Execution: We Remember Sacco and Vanzetti in Boston!
Wednesday, August 23
6PM-8PM
encuentro 5, 9A Hamilton Place, Boston
Featuring:
Author *David Rothauser* - speaking on the completion of his historical novel "The Diary of Sacco and Vanzetti".
# Musician and historian, *Stephen Sanfilippo* - musical performance of Woody Guthrie's "Ballads of Sacco and Vanzetti".
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Envision Cambridge
Wednesday, 23
6:00-8:00 pm
Russell Youth Center, 680 Huron Avenue, Cambridge
Meeting of the Envision Cambridge Advisory Committee.
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Alex Trochut: Non-verbal Communication and the Written Medium
Wednesday, August 23
6:30 PM – 9:00 PM EDT
MassArt, 621 Huntington Avenue, Boston
Cost: $10
Alex Trochut
Non-verbal Communication and the Written Medium
Letter design is the non-verbal communication of the written medium. It is not what you say. It is how you say it. Style becomes the message. Letters are a flexible matter, a human creation in constant change. Similar to fashion or music, letters have a connection with identity and every typographic style will have its place and time in history.
Alex Trochut will explain his creative process — a mix of conveying the demands of the client’s brief and his personal take on typographic rules.
Presented by the Type Directors Club
Doors Open: 6:00 pm | Talk Starts: 6:30pm
Reception to follow.
This event is free for registered TypeCon2017 attendees.
Please bring your conference badge or ID to enter the event.
A $10.00 registration fee applies to the public.
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Thursday, August 24
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MIT Events Calendar: demonstration session
Thursday, August 24
12:00pm to 1:00pm
MIT, Building E17, Atlas Service Center, 40 Ames Street, Cambridge
Learn more about the new MIT Events Calendar. This demo session, presented by the IS&T Knowledge Management team, will give an overview of the new Events Calendar functionality with a focus on features designed for event creators. We will review how to set up a user profile, notifications, and privacy settings, and creating and managing events.
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Microgrids-as-a-Service: A New Approach to Solve Resiliency, Efficiency, Sustainability Challenges
Thursday, August 24
2:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time
This session will discuss how municipal, district, institutional, commercial campus or large buildings can benefit from a “Microgrid-as-a-Service” business model approach to stabilize their long-term energy costs and upgrade critical energy infrastructure without up-front capital.
Issues faced by Montgomery County, Maryland (and many other large facilities).
Critical public safety facilities need 24/7 resilient power to ensure operational integrity
The cost of Infrastructure Modernization is a concern for any organization
The cost of electrical energy and heat needs to be stable over the long term for fiscal budget
Some organizations are credit-worthy, but Charter requirements limit the amount of debt
Non-profit organizations may require third-party ownership to realize Tax Incentives
Schneider Electric along with Duke Energy Renewables developed a unique “Microgrid-as-a-Service” approach for Montgomery County, Maryland to finance multiple Distributed Energy Resources (DERs), build two advanced microgrids, and support critical infrastructure upgrades, with no up-front capital. This industry-leading approach allows the partnership to focus on solving the issues faced by many large facilities: energy resiliency, infrastructure modernization, long-term stable energy cost, and third-party ownership, operation, maintenance and financing.
Speakers
Mark Feasel, Vice President, Electric Utility Segment & Smart Grid, Schneider Electric
Colleen Metelitsa, Grid Edge Analyst, GTM Research
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Sunny Cambridge Workshops
August 24
6:00-8:00 pm
Lesley University, Room 3-098, 1815 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Sunny Cambridge information sessions on how to go solar in Cambridge, including how to access solar financial incentives. For more information, contact Meghan Shaw, Cambridge Energy Alliance, mshaw@cambridgema.gov or 617-349-5323.
More information at https://www.energysage.com/sunnycambridge/
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Boston Climate Action Network Meeting
Thursday, August 24
6:00 PM – 8:00 PM EDT
First Baptist Church, 633 Centre St, Jamaica Plain
We're working towards fighting climate change through improved energy policy and education at the local level in Boston. The BCAN Action Team meeting is a great way to get directly involved in the effort to combat climate change in the era of Trump. We gather twice per month on the 2nd and 4th Thursday from 6-8pm at First Baptist Church in Jamaica Plain.
Come meet the Communications Team, the Arts Team, and other dedicated climate campaigners to learn how you can help us plan outreach for the Community Choice Energy campaign.
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Friday, August 25
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HGSE Freecycle
Friday, August 25
11:30 am–2:30 pm
Harvard Graduate School of Education, Gutman Commons Café, 6 Appian Way, Cambridge
Come by Gutman Café for the Graduate School of Education's bi-annual event to pick up something new-to-you or drop off items you no longer need, giving our community a chance to reuse rather than buy new.
Items you’ll commonly find include office, school and kitchen supplies, toys and clothing. We donate remainders to Harvard Recycling for future Freecycle events at the University or to be shared with other charitable organizations.
Films at the Gate Opening Night Reception
Friday, August 25
5:30 PM – 7:30 PM EDT
One Greenway, 66 Hudson Street, Boston
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/films-at-the-gate-opening-night-reception-tickets-36685484271-p
Please join ACDC for a celebratory reception to kick off the 14th annual Films at the Gate Festival. We will be joined by special guest, Kenneth Eng. Kenneth is a local filmmaker who has made waves nationally and overseas with his powerful documentary, My Life in China, which will be screened at the Chinatown Gate following the reception.
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Lead Halide Perovskites of Different Dimensionilities: Growth, Properties, and Applications in Optoelectronics
Friday, August 25
4:00pm to 5:00pm
MIT, Building 6-104, Chipman Room, 182 Memorial Drive (rear), Cambridge
Osman M. Bakr, Associate Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST).
Osman M. Bakr is an Associate Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at KAUST, Saudi Arabia. He holds a B.Sc. in Materials Science and Engineering from MIT (2003) as well as a M.S. and a Ph.D. in Applied Physics from Harvard (2009). The research group he founded at KAUST studies the design and self-assembly of hybrid organic-inorganic materials for breakthrough applications in solar energy harvesting and optoelectronic devices. Bakr was selected as a Young Scientist by the World Economic Forum (2016) and as an Emerging Investigator by the Journal of Materials Chemistry A (2016). He was awarded the SABIC Endowed Presidential Career Development Chair (2013), the Zasshi-kai Lectureship Award by the University of Tokyo (2016), and the Innovator Under 35 Award in the Arab World by the MIT Technology Review- Arab Edition (2016).
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Tuesday, August 29
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The Innovator's Playground
Tuesday, August 29
5:00 PM – 8:00 PM EDT
La Fabrica, 450 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Cost: $0 – $15
Come join us for an evening of collaborative play! Together we will celebrate as a community with design activities, interactive games, and delicious food!
The Innovator's Playground is an event presented by the Cambridge Educators Design Lab to promote design-based innovation with a focus on education.
It will bring together educators, students, designers and the surrounding community to foster local innovation, spark new ideas, and raise funds for future design solutions.
Families are welcome and children are free.
This fundraiser is hosted by the Center for Artistry and Scholarship.
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Free Farmers’ Market
Tuesday, August 29
6 - 7:30pm
Riverside Press Park, 393 River Street at Memorial Drive, Cambridge
Whole Foods, Food for Free, and the Boston Area Gleaners are bringing fresh produce and other foods to a FREE farmers’ market.
Contact Joe Deignan at 617-868-4858, extension 210 or jdeignan@homeownersrehab.org
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Opportunity
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Greenfest Looking for Volunteers
10th Annual Boston GreenFest will be at Boston City Hall Plaza, August 11-13, 2017. It is the largest multicultural environmental music festival in the region featuring lots of local and international exhibits, performances, films, food, fashion and forums. Our goal is to educate and empower people to create a more sustainable, healthier world. We are actively building an interconnected, ever expanding network throughout our neighborhoods, city and region. From business to nonprofit, neighborhood association to academic institution, Boston GreenFest spans age, culture and industry. Celebrating our 10th anniversary, Boston GreenFest is excited to bring this wonderful free three-day festival to Boston City Hall Plaza as it is transformed into a fun interactive community classroom.
We are looking for volunteers to help throughout the weekend.
Please visit: http://www.bostongreenfest.org/
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New Climate CoLab Contests:
Adaptation
Buildings
Carbon Pricing
Energy Supply
Land Use Change
Shifting Attitudes & Behaviors
Transportation
More information at https://www.climatecolab.org/
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Discounted Solar for Somerville
As part of the State’s Solarize Mass program, local volunteers and the City of Somerville recently launched the Solarize Somerville campaign to make it easier and cheaper for residents and small businesses to install solar panels.
The program, which is offering information and guidance, free site consultations, and solar panel discounts through November, has set an ambitious goal to inspire at least 200 property owners to sign up for solar —and each of those private solar installations will also benefit the community directly. For every 400 kW in signed private contracts through the program, the program’s solar vendor SolarFlair will donate a system of up to 5 kW for a public or community purpose. All are invited to the program kickoff at a Meet the Installer event on Tuesday, July 26 at 6-7:30 p.m., 167 Holland St. Additional events on topics such as solar basics, financing, and solar for multifamily homes will be announced.
Unique to the program is its neighbor-to-neighbor approach: trained resident volunteers and a designated volunteer Solar Coach are available essentially as mentors. They can, for example, walk anyone through the process, provide general loan program and tax incentive information, and share their own solar experiences. The campaign’s webpage and blog offers useful information, tips, and a link to websites where you can estimate the solar potential of your home and roughly calculate how much solar could save you on your energy bills at www.somervillema.gov/sustainaville/solarize.
Somerville is one of the most urban communities ever to participate in Solarize Mass, which makes the neighbor-to-neighbor approach especially helpful due to some of the unique challenges here such as multi-family houses with more than one owner. Winter Hill resident Mary Mangan, the program’s volunteer Solar Coach, went through that process and is ready to share helpful tips.
"I'm excited to work with our eager volunteers to help our neighbors understand the benefits of solar power. As a co-owner of a two-family home with solar, I can also offer some insights about how that process went for us," said Mangan.
Also key to the program is the selection of a designated vendor, which allows the program to offer reduced cost installation through bulk purchasing. Through a competitive process, SolarFlair, based in Ashland, MA, was selected. They were also the selected installer for the communities of Arlington, Hopkinton, Mendon, Brookline, Carlisle-Chelmsford, Newton, and Quincy.
"We're excited to be the selected installer for Solarize Somerville, and look forward to speaking with any home or business owners that are interested in reducing their electric bills while also making a great investment," said Matt Arner, the owner and President of SolarFlair.
Quick facts:
Solar systems can be purchased outright (with a payback of about 4-5 years). The Mass Solar Loan program offers rates of 3.25% or less.
Or, for no money down owners can choose a power purchase agreement (PPA), where the system is owned and maintained by a third party, and residents buy back the electricity at a discounted price.
More on-site renewable energy is critical to reducing carbon emissions. It also saves money for residents.
Tax incentives for solar installations include:
Federal Tax Credit: A 30 percent federal Investment Tax Credit (ITC) is available for qualified residential and commercial projects
Massachusetts Personal Income Tax Credit: The lesser of 15% of the total cost of the solar electric system or $1,000, for qualified clean energy projects
Five-year Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System (MACRS): Business owners can depreciate solar electric systems over a five-year schedule
For more information or to sign up for a free site consultation:
Visit the Solarize Somerville webpage at www.somervillema.gov/sustainaville/solarize for
Helpful information and FAQs
To contact a volunteer or Solar Coach Mary Mangan to discuss solar options and incentives
To set up an appointment for a free site consultation directly with SolarFlair
To find out about events
To volunteer for Solarize Somerville
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Where is the best yogurt on the planet made? Somerville, of course!
Join the Somerville Yogurt Making Cooperative and get a weekly quart of the most thick, creamy, rich and tart yogurt in the world. Members share the responsibility for making yogurt in our kitchen located just outside of Davis Sq. in FirstChurch. No previous yogurt making experience is necessary.
For more information checkout.
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Free solar electricity analysis for MA residents
Solar map of Cambridge, MA
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Sunny Cambridge has just launched! Sunny Cambridge is the city-wide initiative that makes it easy for all types of residents to get solar power for their homes. Cambridge has lined up local solar installers through the EnergySage Solar Marketplace, which helps you request, receive, and compare solar quotes 100% online with support available every step of the way.
The City of Cambridge is working on many levels to reduce energy use and GHG emissions to make the city more sustainable. As a semifinalist in the nationwide competition for the $5 million Georgetown University Energy Prize, Cambridge Energy Alliance is encouraging residents to take actions to save energy, save money, and protect the environment. Get involved by signing up for a no-cost home energy assessment at the Cambridge Energy Alliance home page (www.cambridgeenergyalliance.org/winit)
and going solar at http://www.sunnycambridge.org
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"Greening Our Grid" Report Released April 24, 2017
MAPC is excited to announce the release of “Greening Our Grid,” a fact sheet and a case study detailing MAPC’s strategy to use municipal aggregation to help build new renewable energy in New England.
“Greening Our Grid” highlights MAPC's work with the City of Melrose as a case study for MAPC's innovative green municipal aggregation strategy. Melrose recently completed its first year of implementation. The city’s results demonstrate that economic and environmental goals can be met simultaneously, and provide a compelling example for others to follow.
The case study and fact sheet further describe the renewable energy strategy overall, why it can have a real impact on our electricity grid, and MAPC’s program to help other municipalities follow Melrose's lead. Arlington, Brookline, Gloucester, Hamilton, Millis, Somerville, Sudbury, and Winchester are poised to roll out their green aggregations within the year.
MAPC believes that municipal aggregation offers an opportunity for communities to leverage the collective buying power of their residents and businesses to transform our electric grid to cleaner sources of energy, while also providing cost savings and price stability for electricity. The fact sheet and case study will be useful tools for cities and towns that are exploring green municipal aggregation, as well as for those that already have active aggregation programs.
Check out “Greening Our Grid” today at http://www.mapc.org/greening-our-grid, and contact Patrick Roche, MAPC Clean Energy Coordinator, at proche@mapc.org for more information about MAPC's program.
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Cambridge Climate Change Game
Extending our work on face-to-face games, the MIT Science Impact Collaborative has developed a digital game on the health impacts of climate change that you can play alone on your computer or on your mobile phone. The game should take about 10-20 minutes. We would appreciate it if you could play the game at your convenience.
Play the game at http://www.doublecoconut.com/climate/
Any and all feedback on the game should be directed to Ella Kim at ella@mit.edu.
Thank you for your time and consideration!
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Sustainable Business Network Local Green Guide
SBN is excited to announce the soft launch of its new Local Green Guide, Massachusetts' premier Green Business Directory!
To view the directory please visit: http://www.localgreenguide.org
To find out how how your business can be listed on the website or for sponsorship opportunities please contact Adritha at adritha@sbnboston.org
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Boston Food System
"The Boston Food System [listserv] provides a forum to post announcements of events, employment opportunities, internships, programs, lectures, and other activities as well as related articles or other publications of a non-commercial nature covering the area's food system - food, nutrition, farming, education, etc. - that take place or focus on or around Greater Boston (broadly delineated)."
The Boston area is one of the most active nationwide in terms of food system activities - projects, services, and events connected to food, farming, nutrition - and often connected to education, public health, environment, arts, social services and other arenas. Hundreds of organizations and enterprises cover our area, but what is going on week-to-week is not always well publicized.
Hence, the new Boston Food System listserv, as the place to let everyone know about these activities. Specifically:
Use of the BFS list will begin soon, once we get a decent base of subscribers. Clarification of what is appropriate to announce and other posting guidelines will be provided as well.
It's easy to subscribe right now at https://elist.tufts.edu/wws/subscribe/bfs
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The Boston Network for International Development (BNID) maintains a website (BNID.org) that serves as a clearing-house for information on organizations, events, and jobs related to international development in the Boston area. BNID has played an important auxiliary role in fostering international development activities in the Boston area, as witnessed by the expanding content of the site and a significant growth in the number of users.
The website contains:
A calendar of Boston area events and volunteer opportunities related to International Development - http://www.bnid.org/events
A jobs board that includes both internships and full time positions related to International Development that is updated daily - http://www.bnid.org/jobs
A directory and descriptions of more than 250 Boston-area organizations - http://www.bnid.org/organizations
Also, please sign up for our weekly newsletter (we promise only one email per week) to get the most up-to-date information on new job and internship opportunities -www.bnid.org/sign-up
The website is completely free for students and our goal is to help connect students who are interested in international development with many of the worthwhile organizations in the area.
Please feel free to email our organization at info@bnid.org if you have any questions!
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Boston Maker Spaces - 41 (up from 27 in 2016) and counting: https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=zGHnt9r2pQx8.kfw9evrHsKjA&hl=en
Solidarity Network Economy: https://ussolidarityeconomy.wordpress.com
Bostonsmart.com's Guide to Boston: http://www.bostonsmarts.com/BostonGuide/
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Links to events at over 50 colleges and universities at Hubevents: http://hubevents.blogspot.com
Thanks to
Fred Hapgood's Selected Lectures on Science and Engineering in the Boston Area: http://www.BostonScienceLectures.com
MIT Events: http://calendar.mit.edu
MIT Energy Club: http://mitenergyclub.org/
Harvard Events: http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/harvard-events/events-calendar/
Harvard Environment: http://environment.harvard.edu/events/calendar/
Sustainability at Harvard: http://green.harvard.edu/events
Meetup: http://www.meetup.com/
Eventbrite: http://www.eventbrite.com/
Microsoft NERD Center: http://microsoftcambridge.com/Events/
Startup and Entrepreneurial Events: http://www.greenhornconnect.com/events/
Cambridge Civic Journal: http://www.rwinters.com
Cambridge Happenings: http://cambridgehappenings.org
Cambridge Community Calendar: https://www.cctvcambridge.org/calendar
Take Action MA: http://takeactionma.com
If you have an event you would like to see here, the submission deadline is 11 AM on Sundays, as Energy (and Other) Events is sent out Sunday afternoons.
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