UC Santa Barbara (Video)

Decarbonizing our electricity and transportation sectors will require large deployments of wind, solar, and storage. Ranjit Deshmukh develops models for planning and operations of low carbon electricity grids and analyzes tradeoffs between economic, environmental, and social objectives for regions in the U.S., India, and Africa. These models optimize wind, solar, and other generation, demand, and storage resources for region-specific conditions including spatial and temporal variability of renewable resources. Series: "Institute for Energy Efficiency" [Science] [Show ID: 35165]

Elliot Hawkes’s research focuses on bringing together design, mechanics, and non-traditional materials to advance the vision of robust, adaptable, human-safe robots that can thrive in the uncertain, unstructured world. He shows two projects; gecko-inspired adhesives to make a climbing robot and vine-inspired robots to navigate in cluttered environments. Series: "GRIT Talks" [Science] [Show ID: 35267]

California's recent drought has highlighted the need for a reliable source of water. Peter Stricker of SeaWell presents a reverse osmosis (RO) system to address climate-driven drought which is an entirely new approach to water supply. The SeaWell buoy is a self-contained floating vessel, moored to the sea floor, with seawater intake and brine diffusion outfall. It contains reverse osmosis equipment, electric power and water piping, and can permeate water at a rate of 950–3,800 acre-feet/year. The implementation plan is to deploy pilot SeaWell Buoys at a water cost already below the cost of State water,initially partnering with water districts to deploy five water portals. Landing sites could be chosen based in previously disturbed areas, such as decommissioned oil receiving facilities and sanitary district outfalls. These deployments will augment new water reuse projects, and share siting and infrastructure. Series: "Institute for Energy Efficiency" [Science] [Show ID: 35163]

Rational choice theory states that individuals have coherent preferences over alternatives but this theory is being replaced by a new view rooted in psychology. Ignacio Esponda (Economics, UCSB) gives examples of economic experiments and contingent thinking. Series: "GRIT Talks" [Public Affairs] [Education] [Show ID: 35174]

Economist Aashish Mehta suggests the days of high manufacturing employment in this country are over. He explains data that show that it is increasingly hard for any wealthy country to compete in the global market — and for poorer countries to get rich by industrializing. He explores the affect of automation and off-shoring as he looks at the cause and potential solutions. Series: "GRIT Talks" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 35265]

Increasingly, Internet-of-Things (IoT) applications require energy efficiency, low-latency, privacy and security of code and data, and programming support that simplifies IoT software development and deployment. UCSB Professor of Computer Science Chandra Krintz presents a new distributed software platform and programming model that addresses these requirements for the next generation of IoT applications. Her research lab (the UCSB RACELab) develops novel approaches to code portability for heterogenous devices and IoT tiers, energy efficiency for resource-constrained execution, privacy and security control, and integration of IoT services (e.g. data analytics, machine learning, artificial intelligence, etc.), and automated, multi-tier application deployment and management at scale — which together enable write-once, run-anywhere software development for IoT. Series: "Institute for Energy Efficiency" [Science] [Show ID: 35162]

Since its beginning in 1999, the UCSB New Venture Competition provides a unique opportunity for UCSB students to learn how to start a business. This eight-month educational experience, with activities and curriculum spanning the entire academic year, culminates with the finals where the student teams present an investor pitch to a panel of judges for prize money. Series: "Innovator Stories: Creating Something from Nothing" [Business] [Show ID: 35006]

Arthur Szyk often said, “Art is not my aim, it is my means.” In this talk, Irvin Ungar exposes the viewer to the breadth and depth of the power, purpose, and persuasion of the artist Arthur Szyk who saw himself as a fighting artist, enlisting his pen and paintbrush as his weapons against hatred, racism, and oppression before, during, and after World War II. Series: "Taubman Symposia in Jewish Studies" [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 34901]

Stochasticity (randomness) is ubiquitous in biological systems. Linda Petzold explores some of the ways in which it arises and is used to advantage by biological systems, at a wide range of scales. Petzold is a professor in the UCSB Departments of Mechanical Engineering and Computer Science. Series: "Women in Science" [Science] [Show ID: 35173]

Understanding how the brain works has traditionally been undertaken by men and about men but cognitive neuroscientist Emily Jacobs argues that diversity of researchers and their research is what drives science innovation. She discusses several studies undertaken in her lab so that questions about the brain can benefit women and men equally. Series: "Women in Science" [Science] [Education] [Show ID: 35172]