Green Open House on campus is this Saturday / April 16

The UC San Diego Green Open House is this Saturday.

There are a couple of related events on campus, that require registration (one is free the other is not) that look interesting.

Food Justice Forum

The forum will focus on “Cultivating University-Community Partnerships for a Healthier Society.” The event is FREE but separate registration is required at ssi.ucsd.edu.

Green Business Summit

Hosted by UC San Diego Extension, the event features networking opportunities and inspirational speakers on how social and environmental strategies are creating profitable business models. Separate registration and fee required. Learn more at extension.ucsd.edu/summit.

Jan Talbot / 2010 Academic Senate Distinguished Teaching Award

NanoEngineering, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science Professor Jan Talbot earned a 2010 Academic Senate Distinguished Teaching Award. Congrats!

This award recognizes a career of excellence in teaching both undergraduates and graduate students, mentoring graduate students, and contributing the development of educational curricula in her field.



According to Prof Talbot's Web page, her research interests include:

• Electrodeposition
  
• Electrophoretic deposition
  
• Information display screening technology
  
• Chemical mechanical polishing
• Solid state lighting materials
  
• Electrochemical transport phenomena
  
• Corrosion
  
• Materials science

The Zetabytes are Back!

Just when you think you're processing way more than your share of the bits in the digital deluge, UC San Diego's Roger Bohn and co come out with another study about zetabytes.

Today's zetabyte story, excerpted from the UC San Diego press release:

The world’s roughly 27 million computer servers processed 9.57 zettabytes of information in 2008, according to a paper to be presented April 7 at Storage Networking World’s (SNW’s) annual meeting in Santa Clara, Calif. The first-of-its kind rigorous estimate was generated with server-processing performance standards, server-industry reports, interviews with information technology experts, sales figures from server manufacturers and other sources. (One zettabyte is 10 to the 21st power, or a million million gigabytes.)

How much info is this? According to the press release, it's "the digital equivalent of a 5.6-billion-mile-high stack of books from Earth to Neptune and back to Earth, repeated about 20 times a year."

I wonder what kind of books...maybe the hard-copy encyclopedias that we don't look at any more.

Check out Gary Robbins' story on the topic in the San Diego Union Tribune:  "Business data could fill books reaching to Neptune and back."

Genomatica: Taking the Petrol out of Petrochemicals

NBC San Diego recently ran a TV story on Genomatica, a company that emerged from the Bioengineering Department here at UC San Diego. Check out the long list of press reports about Genomatica, including Xconomy, the Los Angeles Times, Forbes and the San Diego Union Tribune.

The NBC San Diego TV piece is neat because there is video footage from the labs, including bubbling brews derived from waste methane. In the piece, Christophe Schilling, Genomatica CEO and UCSD Bioengineering alumnus says that Genomatica is taking the petrol out of petrochemicals.

PNAS Paper / Gene Correcting does not Substantially Increase Stem Cell Mutations

The new paper published in PNAS includes four authors from the UC San Diego Department of Bioengineering: Athurva Gore, Zhe Li, Ho-Lim Fung and bioengineering professor Kun Zhang, who leads the Laboratory of Integrative Genomics at the Jacobs School of Engineering.

The press release from the University of Wisconsin-Madison: Study shows patient's own cells may hold therapeutic promise after reprogramming, gene correction

In the study, the researchers used a technique called episomal reprogramming to generate the induced pluripotent stem cells. In contrast to techniques that use retroviruses, episomal reprogramming doesn't involve inserting DNA into the genome. This technique allowed them to produce cells that were free of potentially harmful transgene sequences.

The scientists then corrected the actual retinal disease-causing gene defect using a technique called homologous recombination. The stem cells were extensively "characterized" or studied before and after the process to assess whether they developed significant additional mutations or variations. The results showed that the culture conditions required to correct a genetic defect did not substantially increase the number of mutations.

Brad Fikes from the North County Times covered the story:  Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Pass Gene Therapy Test

Coffee Grounds to BioDiesel

Jacobs School undergrads involved in the student group Engineers for a Sustainable World showed off their experimental coffee-grounds-to-biodiesel system on NBC San Diego (TV) this week.

Watch the two minute video on the NBC San Diego site.

Below is info about Engineers for a Sustainable World from their first ESW newsletter (PDF).

Engineers for a Sustainable World (ESW) is a student organization at UC San Diego devoted to promoting sustainability both at on campus and around the world through projects and community education. We are always looking for new and exciting ways to promote sustainability on the UC San Diego campus as well as in the broader community. Members of ESW are currently working on a number of projects promoting sustainability at UCSD and various locations around the globe.

As a student run organization, we appreciate investments that will help facilitate the development of future sustainable technologies. Engineers for a Sustainable World at UC San Diego welcomes new opportunities to work with professional companies to further our education and innovation. Any further questions or inquiries of investment can be sent to the ESW UC San Diego e-mail at esw.ucsd@gmail.com, or go to our website at http://esw.ucsd.edu.

QuEST is brand new organization for Queer Engineers, Scientists and Technical Professionals

All are welcome!

QuEST is brand new organization for Queer Engineers, Scientists and Technical Professionals from UCSD, the Scripps Research Institute, Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO), Burnham, Salk and local biotech companies. Come meet members of your community over free food and drinks in a beach-side atmosphere (catered by Eden in Hillcrest).

WHEN: Thursday, March 31, 5:30-9:00pm
WHERE: Surfside at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UCSD
           8622 Kennel Way, San Diego, CA 92037
COST: Free*

QuEST supports the careers of LGBTQ individuals in science, technology,
engineering, mathematics, and medical fields. Professionals of all career
levels are highly encouraged to attend. Find us at
http://www.sdquest.us/home or email at info@sdquest.us

*Sponsored by the Society of Fellows (TSRI) and the Graduate Student
Association (UCSD)