MIT
Monday, January 11, 2010
Mass Energy Trek
Time: 8:00a-5:00p
Location: Meet in E51 Tang Lobby at 8am
Mass Energy Trek is a three-day trek in the second week of January during IAP. It’s is the Energy component of MIT Tech Treks organized jointly by Sloan E&E, Media Tech, and MIT. We will visit innovative companies in and around the energy space at different stages of maturity.
No enrollment limit but advance sign up required. Contact jluong@MIT.EDU to sign up.
Open to: the general public
Cost: $50 Trek Fee, $100 Values @MIT deposit
This event occurs daily through January 13, 2010.
Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Initiative, Sloan Energy and Environment Club
For more information, contact:
James Luong
jluong@MIT.EDU
Monday, January 11, 2010
High-Performance Rechargeable Batteries for Sustainable Transportation and Large-scale Storage of Electric Power
Speaker: Professor Donald Sadoway
Time: 11:00a-12:00p
Location: 32-155
The road to sustainability is paved with advanced materials. Advances in rechargeable batteries would enable widespread adoption of practical electric vehicles taking us beyond hybrids and obviating the need for fuel-cells. The reduction in greenhouse gas emissions plus the freedom from reliance on overseas sources of petroleum with attendant geopolitical implications give special value to an all-electric fleet. Innovation in stationary electrical energy storage at high amperage would enable us to store off-peak power from the grid for subsequent delivery on demand during high usage periods. Adoption of wind or photovoltaic generation hinges to a large extent on the advent of proper storage technology: renewables are enabled by colossal batteries. Examples of innovation in both portable and stationary energy storage will be presented.
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Initiative
For more information, contact:
Jennifer DiMase
jdimase@mit.edu
Mon Jan 11,
12-02:00pm
7-238, Rotch Library, Meet in Rotch Conference Room
Shigeru Ban: An Architect for Emergencies (2007 – 52 min)
Jolene de Verges
Japanese architect Shigeru Ban (1957-) is usually referred to as an “ecological architect.” His reputation has grown steadily in recent years, not only because of the heightened concern about global ecology and the increased practice of recycling, but also because he is interested in the development of prefab, low-cost housing for the victims of natural disasters and other emergencies, of which there have been many.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Tour of MIT Cogeneration Plant
Speaker: Roger Moore, Seth Kinderman, Peter Cooper
Time: 2:00p-3:30p
Location: 42, Meet at plant front door, Building 42 (59 Vassar St.)
Tour of Central Utility/Cogeneration Plant will be conducted by plant engineering staff. Energy flow, equipment and systems as well as the Cogeneration development history will be presented, followed by tour of the 20MW gas turbine, heat recovery steam generator, boilers, chillers and plant controls.
Enrollment is limited to 25: RSVP to alva@plant.mit.edu by 1/11 at 10am
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Initiative, Department of Facilities
For more information, contact:
Luzette Alvarado-Ortiz
alva@plant.mit.edu
Monday, January 11, 2010
How to run a great event at the Cambridge Science Festival
Time: 2:00p-4:00p
Location: N52, MIT Museum at 265 Massachusetts Avenue
Planning an event for CSF 2010? This two hour workshop will introduce you to other event sponsors and science educators, outline resources available to you, give you a crash course in science communication, and offer an opportunity to troubleshoot the plans for your event.
Recommended for approved Cambridge Science Festival 2010 presenters.
Web site: http://web.mit.edu/museum/prog…
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MIT Museum
For more information, contact:
617-253-5927
museum@mit.edu
Monday, January 11, 2010
Fantasy Electricity Markets Game I
Speaker: Mar Reguant-Rido, Nidhi Santen
Time: 2:00p-5:00p
Location: 32-141
Learn about electricity economics, markets, and firm bidding strategy while still having fun! Join a one week-long fantasy electricity markets game designed to teach real electric power sector competitive bidding strategy and market behaviors. The activity will adopt the ?Electricity Strategy Game,? developed by Severin Borenstein at UC Berkeley. Most game playing will occur via internet, once a day, between Monday and Friday. Session I is an introductory session to the topics and game. Participants are encouraged to bring their laptops to the first session for the tutorial. Session II is a debriefing where game winners will be announced and questions will be addressed.
Web site: http://web.mit.edu/mit-esrg/www
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Club, MIT Energy Initiative, MIT Electricity Student Research Group
For more information, contact:
Nidhi Santen
nrsanten@mit.edu
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Virtual tour of energy & sustainability features in new Sloan & Koch buildings
Speaker: Walt Henry and Peter Cooper
Time: 11:00a-12:00p
Location: 32-155
Energy Features of the new Sloan Building and Koch Institute will be presented. Sloan is on track to be the most efficient building MIT has ever built and KI to be the most efficient lab building. Features incorporated to achieve this will be presented as well as the integrated design process employed.
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Initiative, Department of Facilities
For more information, contact:
Jennifer DiMase
jdimase@mit.edu
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
The Space Nanotechnology Laboratory: from Nanometers to Gigaparsecs
Speaker: Dr. Ralf K. Heilmann
Time: 2:00p-2:40p
Location: 37-252, Marlar Lounge
The Space Nanotechnology Lab (SNL) develops advanced lithographic and nano-fabrication technology for building high performance space instrumentation, as well as nanometer-accuracy metrology and assembly technology. Two current efforts are the development of an X-ray spectrograph for the International X-ray Observatory, using novel nanofabricated transmission gratings, and the development of high-precision focusing X-ray mirrors. These instruments should help find the missing baryons in the Cosmic Web and reveal the secrets of dark matter. A tour of the facility for a limited number of guests will immediately follow the presentation.
Web site: http://student.mit.edu/searchi…
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Space Nanotechnology Lab, MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics & Space Research
For more information, contact:
Gregory Prigozhin
Tue Jan 12,
2-04:00pm
Climate Science I: Paleoclimate to the Present
Kat Potter and Tim Cronin
E51-149
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
This talk will cover paleoclimates: variations in the climate over longer time periods from millions of years to the recent past, and the history and development of climate science. The event is open to everyone and no advance sign-up is required. It stands alone from Session II.
Contact: Tony Tran, E19-411, (617) 253-7492, tones@mit.edu
Sponsor: Joint Program/Science and Policy of Global Change
Cosponsor: Center for Global Change Science
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
U.S. Electricity Transmission Policy Panel Discussion
Speaker: Nidhi Santen, Andrew Whitaker, Jordan Kwok
Time: 3:00p-5:00p
Location: 32-141
Electric transmission system infrastructure in the United States must be upgraded and improved, but who will shoulder the costs? Should investments be targeted at building a more reliable, efficient system, or is it more important to focus on inte
grating renewable energy sources such as wind and solar, regardless of other considerations? This panel discussion will address these and other issues critical to the future of United States electricity infrastructure.
Panelists include executives and representatives of ISO New England, New York ISO, Dominion Resources, and Virginia Power. Discussion will be moderated by MIT Visiting Professor, Ignacio Perez-Arriaga. Light refreshments will be served.
Web site: http://web.mit.edu/mit-esrg/IA…
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Initiative, MIT Energy Club, MIT Electricity Student Research Group
For more information, contact:
Nidhi Santen
nrsanten@MIT.EDU
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
PATHWAYS TO SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: Co-optimizing Economic Welfare, Energy Supply and Demand, Environment, and Employment
Speaker: Nicholas Ashford
Time: 5:00p-7:00p
Location: E51-145
Seeing Green: Approaching Any Field from the Sustainable Perspective
Nicholas Ashford, Professor of Technology and Policy, and the Director of the MIT Technology and Law Program, will speak as part of Energy Week during Independent Activities Period.
Both environmental and employment concerns must be seen as essential goals of sustainable transformations, focusing simultaneously on co-optimizing improvements in economic welfare, environment, and employment in an integrated, rather than merely coordinated, manner by fashioning winning forces and scenarios through both regulation and providing the correct incentives. This involves (1) broadening and opening up the policy agenda beyond environmental concerns; (2) removing perverse incentives for unsustainable practices; (3) avoiding lock-in and agenda/government capture by incumbent industry and other stakeholders; and (4) government acting a trustee for industrial transformations, not merely a referee of competing interests. Finally, the necessary and sufficient conditions for change must be addressed in policy initiatives: willingness, opportunity/motivation, and capacity for the private sector, government, and people to change.
Open to: the general public
Cost: None
Sponsor(s): Sustainability@MIT, MIT Energy Initiative
For more information, contact:
Aaron Thom
athom@mit.edu
Editorial Comment: Nicholas Ashford knows his subject very well
Wed Jan 13
9:30am-12:00pm
E18-169
Home Repair Basics: Window Repair and Maintenance
Arthur Pitari
Enrollment limited: first come, first served
Limited to 20 participants.
Participants welcome at individual sessions (series)
Prereq: None
Come learn all there is to know about window repair and maintenance. This hands-on class will teach you what it takes to repair and maintain window glass and screens by one of MIT’s expert Glaziers.
Contact: Melody Craven, x2-2407, mcraven@plant.mit.edu
Sponsor: Department of Facilities
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
The Road from Copenhagen: A live, interactive role-play negotiation using the C-ROADS climate policy simulation
Speaker: John Sterman
Time: 10:00a-12:00p
Location: 4-153
MIT Professor John Sterman will present the C-ROADS model in a live, interactive session in which participants will have a chance to negotiate their own climate treaty. We?ll discuss what the current science tells us, what happened (and didn?t) in Copenhagen, and how the C-ROADS model is being used by senior policymakers in the US and abroad, before, during and after COP-15.
C-ROADS is a joint project of MIT, the Sustainability Institute, and Ventana Systems. For details, see http://climateinteractive.org.
Web site: http://climateinteractive.org
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Initiative
For more information, contact:
Jennifer DiMase
jdimase@mit.edu
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Recyclemania 2010 IAP Session
Speaker: Niamh Kelly
Time: 12:00p-1:00p
Location: 66-156
RecycleMania 2010 Planning & Information Session. RecycleMania is a national recycling competition to promote recycling & waste reduction.
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Initiative, Environment, Health, and Safety Office
For more information, contact:
Niamh Kelly
niamhk@mit.edu
Thursday, January 14, 2010
“Fuel Your Mind” — A Primer on Transportation Fuels, Current and Future
Speaker: William H. Green (MIT Dept. of Chem. Eng.), George Huff & Jim Simnick (BP Global Fuels Technology)
Time: 9:00a-4:00p
Location: 56-114
The goal of this short course is to gain a better understanding of fuels using a combination of video, photos, diagrams, text and audio. The material is based on seminars our fuels technology staff has given to automotive mechanics, as well as our marketing and advertising agencies. We have included four modules which deal with the most common topics that have been requested at these seminars. These include:
1. Refining, Supply and Pricing
2. Gasoline
3. Biofuels
4. Ethanol & E-85
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Initiative, Chemical Engineering Department
For more information, contact:
William Green
whgreen@mit.edu
Thursday, January 14, 2010
MIT Physics Lecture Series: Attaining the Thermodynamic Limits to Solar Cell Efficiency
Speaker: Dr. Bonna Newman
Time: 1:30p-2:30p
Location: 6-120
IAP Physics Lecture Series
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Current single gap photovoltaic solar cells are fundamentally limited to efficiencies less that 31%. However, laboratory demonstrated cells using novel architectures and materials have achieved efficiencies as high at 41%. In this talk, we will explore the physical origins of fundamental efficiency limits and look at theoretical models and ideas for attaining higher solar cell efficiency. Finally, we will discuss experimental efforts to build an intermediate band solar cell, one specific high efficiency concepts.
Contact: Nancy Boyce, 4-315, 253-4461, nboyce@mit.edu
Web site: http://student.mit.edu/iap/ns8…
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Physics Department
For more information, contact:
Nancy Boyce
617-253-4461
nboyce@mit.edu
Thursday, January 14, 2010
The New Energy Challenge: Think Green to be Green
Time: 5:30p-7:45p
Location: Offices of Bingham McCutchen LLP One Federal Street, Boston, MA 02110-1726
Format
5:30 registration & cocktails
6:00- 6:45pm – speaker’s remarks
6:45-7:00pm – Q & R
7:00-7:45pm networking
About the speaker
As President and Co-Founder of EnerNOC, David has guided the company’s execution since its inception in 2001. He currently oversees the organization’s regulatory affairs and international development efforts. In this capacity, David has taken an active role in helping to shape domestic and international demand response markets and pioneered efforts to make customer participation in these markets more effective through improved market rules, better data communications, and enhanced automation technologies. He regularly represents EnerNOC at public utilities commissions and at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), among other important forums.
About EnerNOC
EnerNOC is a leading provider of clean and intelligent energy solutions, which include demand response services, monitoring-based commissioning energy efficiency services, energy supply management services, and emissions tracking and trading services. These solutions help optimize the balance of electric supply and demand, provide cost-efficient alternatives to traditional power generation, transmission, and distribution resources, and drive significant cost savings for its customers.
Web site: https://
www.babc.org/events/de…
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Campus Events, BABCNE
For more information, contact:
Urszula Wojciechowska
babcne@comcast.net
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Energy and Environment projects showcase
Time: 6:00p-7:30p
Location: 10, Lobby 10
An interactive poster session and reception highlighting sustainability, energy, and environment student groups and research projects. Light refreshments will be served.
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Initiative
For more information, contact:
Jennifer DiMase
jdimase@mit.edu
Friday, January 15, 2010
Low Carbon Emission Electricity Generating Technology Options
Speaker: Janos M. Beer
Time: 1:00p-3:00p
Location: 66-110
As CO2 emission control from fossil fuel based power generation is gaining increasing acceptance, high generating efficiency and CO2 capture and storage are becoming key concepts for both new and existing plants. State of the art technology options and those in R&D and Demonstration stages are discussed together with their timeline and the possibility of speeding up their deployment.
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Initiative, Chemical Engineering Department
For more information, contact:
Janos M. Beer
jmbeer@MIT.EDU
Friday, January 15, 2010
Wind Energy 101: Basics of the resource, technology, business and policy
Speaker: Katherine Dykes
Time: 2:00p-3:00p
Location: 32-124
Wind Energy 101 presents an overview for all audiences as the fundamentals of wind power resource and assessment, the different subsystems and components of wind turbines and their grid interconnection, a brief look at the business development process and economics, the state of wind energy in the US and the world, and finally a look at environmental, social and political issues affected by or that affect the technology.
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Initiative, MIT Energy Club, MIT Wind Energy Group
For more information, contact:
Katherine Dykes
dykesk@mit.edu
Friday, January 15, 2010
The Thorn in the Heart – a FREE Michel Gondry documentary
Time: 7:00p-9:00p
Location: 26-100
Filmmaker Michel Gondry turns from the playful semi-surrealism of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and The Science of Sleep to the personal story of a beloved family member in this documentary. Suzette Gondry is Michel’s aunt and a retired schoolteacher; she educated children in rural communities in France from 1952 to 1986. While Suzette was committed to the education of all her students, she was a particularly close with one in particular — her son Jean-Yves, with whom she’s had a loving but sometimes combative relationship. Michel accompanies Suzette on a journey in which she visits the many schools where she taught — or the sites where those schools once stood — and speaks of her experiences; she also meets some of her former students, and it’s clear they recall Suzette as a woman with a kind heart but a strong will, and her determination earned her the enmity of a few of her charges. L’Epine dans le Coeur (a.k.a. The Thorn in the Heart) was an official selection at the 2009 BFI London Film Festival.
Web site: http://lsc.mit.edu
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): LSC
For more information, contact:
MIT Lecture Series Committee
617-253-3791
lsc@mit.edu
Others
Monday January 11 @ 6 PM
FARM SHARE FAIR
Get healthy + local this year! Sign up for weekly fresh veggies!
Somerville Public Library @ 79 Highland Ave
presented by : Somerville Climate Action + Transition Somerville + Boston Localvores + Groundwork Somerville
FREE ADMISSION!
Monday, January 11
Harvard Book Store Presents
Raj Patel
6:00 PM
($5 tickets are on sale now at harvard.com, at Harvard Book Store, and over the phone at 617.661.1515. Visit Harvard Book Store’s website at www.harvard.com (link below description) for additional details, author bios, and complete ticket information.)
Raj Patel discusses The Value of Nothing: How to Reshape Market Society and Redefine Democracy with NPR’s On Point producer John Wihbey
Harvard Book Store is excited to welcome activist RAJ PATEL for a conversation about his new book, The Value of Nothing: How to Reshape Market Society and Redefine Democracy, with radio’s On Point producer, JOHN WIHBEY.
In The Value of Nothing, Raj Patel, a long-time visionary in issues of global development, points to the inadequecy of price as a measure of value, and urges us to look at the larger environmental, political, and social cost of the goods we consume. The book reveals that our current crisis is not simply the result of too much of the wrong kind of economics. While we need to rethink our economic model, Patel argues that the larger failure beneath the food, climate and economic crises is a political one. If economics is about choices, Patel writes, it isn’t often said who gets to make them. The Value of Nothing offers an accessible way to think about economics and the choices we will all need to make in order to create a sustainable economy and society.
“As we confront the crisis in the worldview of orthodox economics, Raj Patel offers us a whole new way to think about price and value. Bracingly written and full of surprises, The Value of Nothing is itself invaluable, showing us a path out of the darkness of the economic woods.” -Michael Pollan, author of In Defense of Food and The Omnivore’s Dilemma
Date: 1/12/10
Location: Microsoft New England R&D Center, One Memorial Drive, Cambridge, MA 02142
Time: 6-8pm
Audience: Tech
Tech Tuesday
Event Details
Description: Join your fellow geeks, tech savvy professionals, DIY-ers, press, and other industry luminaries for this informal gathering. Bring your laptops, robots, OLPC XO’s, Amazon Kindles, new cell phones, gadgets, and other new-fangled devices. Got a great demo or YouTube clip? Bring it! LCD projector and wi-fi will be available for ad hoc show and tell. This event is free! Check out past Tech Tuesdays on Dan Bricklin’s blog at: http://danbricklin.com/log/
Weatherizing Your Home for Ultimate Energy Savings
Tuesday, January 12
from 6:30 to 8:30 p. m.
Cambridge Public Library
449 Broadway
Weatherizing Your Home for Ultimate Energy Savings,
presented by the Massachusetts Municipal Association in conjunction with the Cambridge Energy Alliance, is a free energy seminar stressing the importance of reducing heat usage by providing do-it-yourself sealing techniques, tips on hiring a contractor for in-depth alterations, and resources for home audits and financing alterations.
Come learn about:
Air sealing and insulation as the most cost-effective investment for reducing home energy costs
Programmable thermostats, CFL’s, low-flow showerheads
Rebates and grants to reduce the cost of home alterations and appliance purchases
Energy Star ratings as an indicator of product energy efficiency
MassSave home energy audits, enhanced audits, and the weatherization assistance program
Refreshments will be served and . Come visit the new public library building,
an example of the City of Cambridge’s commitment to energy efficiency.
To register for the event, sign up at: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/…
The Cambridge Energy Alliance (CEA) is a non-profit service sponsored by the City of Cambridge and NSTAR that helps residents and business owners invest in making their homes and buildings work smarter and more efficiently-saving energy, water and money.
Wednesday, January 13th
7:00 PM
Harvard Book Store
1256 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge
TICKETS:
This event is free; no tickets are required
JARON LANIER
explains why
You Are Not a
Gadget
Harvard Book Store is pleased to welcome computer scientist JARON LANIER for a conversation about his new book, You Are Not a Gadget.
Jaron Lanier, a Silicon Valley visionary since the 1980s, was among the first to predict the revolutionary changes the World Wide Web would bring to commerce and culture. Now, in his first book, written more than two decades after the web was created, Lanier offers this provocative and cautionary look at the way it is transforming our lives for better and for worse.
The current design and function of the web have become so familiar that it is easy to forget that they grew out of programming decisions made decades ago. The web’s first designers made crucial choices (such as making one’s presence anonymous) that have had enormous-and often unintended-consequences. What’s more, these designs quickly became “locked in,” a permanent part of the web’s very structure.
Lanier discusses the technical and cultural problems that can grow out of poorly considered digital design and warns that our financial markets and sites like Wikipedia, Facebook, and Twitter are elevating the “wisdom” of mobs and computer algorithms over the intelligence and judgment of individuals.
General Info:
617.661.1515
Media:
617.661.1424 ex.1
Email:
rbcass@harvard.com
Thur Jan14
GreenPort Incubator – Climate Congress Input
7 pm
Central Square Library, Lewis Room on the mezzanine.
Formulating GreenPort’s input to the final City of Cambridge Climate Emergency Congress Jan 23.
Notes from the first Congress are in HYPERLINK “http://www.cambridgema.gov/deptann.cfm?story_id=2457” http://www.cambridgema.gov/dep…
Draft recommendations to be considered by the next session are at HYPERLINK “http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AYI1AYfY2WohZDV3Mzdncl83Y2Jtc3FnNGg&hl=en” http://docs.google.com/Doc?doc…
