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UCSD Near You Topics 2008 |
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Steve Kay, Ph.D.
Dean of Biological Sciences
You've seen headlines like "Food versus Fuel Debate Heats Up." Rising oil prices, combined with an increased awareness of global warming, have spurred a race to develop alternative energy sources, including biofuels.
Biofuels – fuels derived from biological materials like corn kernels – have potential to decrease our dependence on oil, but challenges still remain to making biofuels a reality at the local pump.
If algae-based biofuels are done right, we could be filling our vehicles with clean, renewable, homegrown energy in the not-so distant future. Unlike electricity, hydrogen, and ethanol, algae-based fuel could be inserted directly into current engines…our cars would not have to change. It could be refined in existing factories and pumped through existing infrastructure to our filling stations. Producing algae-based biofuels also helps reduce carbon dioxide in the environment. The requirements for farming algae are fairly straightforward – we can do it almost anywhere in the world where there is sunshine. Algae, it turns out, is the most efficient organism in the world at converting sunlight into lipids, and lipids are hydrocarbons, just like oil.
Join us for a hosted reception and learn more about the latest research and exciting promise of algae-based biofuels, as UCSD Near You makes a stop in the Bay Area on October 28 and 29.
Presentation: “Hope, Hype and Hydration” (PDF)
SILICON VALLEY
DATE: OCTOBER 28, 2008
LOCATION: PALO ALTO HILLS GOLF COURSE AND COUNTRY CLUB
SAN FRANCISCO
DATE: OCTOBER 29, 2008
LOCATION: MISSION BAY CONFERENCE CENTER, UCSF
 SPEAKER INFORMATION
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Shahrokh Yadegari, Ph.D. '04
Director of Sound Design, Department of Theatre and Dance
Over a decade ago, musical inspiration came to Iranian-American musician Shahrokh Yadegari, Ph.D. '04, from a jasmine tree behind his Santa Monica home. In the tree, a mockingbird had built its nest, singing beautifully every night. Yadegari, an expert in computer music and traditional Persian music, recorded the bird's beautiful songs and played the sound back to the bird. The result was magical. "The bird was so excited to hear its own singing...it was like a totally new world," explains Yadegari. "Everything changed: his energy, his performance, his song."
Translating his experience into the world of music, Yadegari developed a software program called Lila to replicate the effect for acoustic musicians. Today, Yadegari-a professor of sound design at UC San Diego's top ranked Department of Theatre and Dance-uses Lila to sample and transform a musician's acoustic material. Just as with the mockingbird, Yadegari plays notes back to the musician for more improvisation, which can then be layered to make innovative and groundbreaking new music and sounds. This melding of technology and art has yielded remarkable results in the evolution of theatrical sound - from UC San Diego to Carnegie Hall.
Join us for this one-night-only hosted reception with Shahrokh Yadegari, Director of the Sound Design Program in the Department of Theatre and Dance, to hear, first-hand, how the revolutionary program is changing the world of music and theater.
DATE: OCTOBER 28, 2008
LOCATION: TRATTORIA DELL'ARTE
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK
SPEAKER INFORMATION
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Sir Clive W.J. Granger, Ph.D.
Research Professor and Nobel Laureate, UC San Diego
Robert Engle, Ph.D.
Research Professor and Nobel Laureate, UC San Diego
Professor of Finance, New York University
"UCSD Economics has always been more technically advanced, grounded in math and computing, using innovative econometrics and finance techniques and models. Assets like these make us a local and global resource in forecasting growth, for example, and enable us to launch exciting initiatives that will continue to make UCSD a magnet for the best researchers, visiting scholars, and students." – Sir Clive W.J. Granger
The Economics Department at UCSD has the most Nobel Laureates of any academic area on campus. UCSD’s Economics graduate program is ranked 10th in the country. This is up from 17th in 2001 and second only to UC Berkeley in public universities. UCSD is by decades the youngest of the top ten economics PhD programs. The department received special recognition as a leader in econometrics, ranking second in this category (right after The Massachusetts Institute of Technology).
In 2003, UCSD’s Clive Granger and Robert Engle received the highest honor possible in the field of research and science – the Nobel Prize – for their discoveries in the analysis of time series data. The work of Professors Granger and Engle has fundamentally changed the way economists think about financial and macroeconomic data.
DATE: APRIL 23, 2008
LOCATION: AMBROSE EMPLOYER GROUP
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK
SPEAKER INFORMATION
RECENT PRESS
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Making the Grade: How the U.S. is Catching Up in Math and Science Education |
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Mark H. Thiemens, Ph.D.
Dean, Division of Physical Sciences
In a recent international comparison of mathematical achievement sponsored by the National Academy of Sciences, U.S. 12th-graders scored only better than their peers in two countries – Cyprus and South Africa. Our nation’s students were outperformed by such countries that range from Lithuania and Slovenia to the Czech Republic and China.
Fifty years ago, the launch of Russia’s Sputnik satellite prompted the U.S. to invest heavily in science and mathematics research and education, making our nation the technological envy of the world. Today, a new “Sputnik Crisis” has emerged as California schools struggle to attract sufficient numbers of qualified math and science educators to cultivate future engineers and scientists. Our leadership in science and technology is eroding once again—not in a competition against a single military adversary, but against the rest of the world.
Mark Thiemens, Ph.D., dean of the UC San Diego Division of Physical Sciences outlines the critical issue and discusses how UC San Diego is working with local educators to solve the problem.
DATE: MAY 13, 2008
LOCATION: AMYLIN PHARMACEUTICALS, INC
LA JOLLA, CALIFORNIA
SPEAKER INFORMATION
RECENT PRESS |
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Eric Courchesne, Ph.D.
Professor of Neurosciences, UC San Diego School of Medicine
Director, UC San Diego Autism Center of Excellence
Autism is a global issue that needs to be addressed on a global level.
-Eric Courchesne, Ph.D.
Autism. It’s a disability that has increasingly appeared in the news. Even celebrity mothers Jenny McCarthy, Holly Robinson-Peete and Toni Braxton are speaking out in an effort to heighten public awareness of the disorder, its prevalence and the need for new treatments. In the U.S. alone, approximately two million have been diagnosed as autistic and an astounding one in every 150 births is affected with autism, making it the fastest-growing developmental disability with more prevalence than cancer, Down syndrome, cystic fibrosis and diabetes combined.
According to Eric Courchesne, Ph.D., director of UC San Diego’s Autism Center of Excellence and one of the world’s leading experts on the neurobiology of autism, finding effective therapies for autism relies first upon identifying the cause of the disorder. His groundbreaking research has uncovered early brain overgrowth during the first years of life as a key factor in autistic behavior. Here, Courchesne discusses how his findings underscore the importance of early intervention and identifying factors that put infants at risk for autism which may ultimately lead to new, more successful treatments.
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Jeffrey Remmel, Ph.D.
Professor of Mathematics and Computer Science, UC San Diego
Associate Dean, Division of Physical Sciences, UC San Diego
From Rainman to Ocean’s Eleven, you’ve seen the tables played to perfection. But is card counting just for the pros? Join us for an entertaining and enlightening evening of playing cards—and how you can count them—aboard John Wayne’s famed yacht, the Wild Goose, where Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr. and Bob Hope enjoyed their legendary poker sessions.
Jeffrey Remmel, Ph.D., one of the world’s premier experts on combinatorics—the area of mathematics that includes card counting—will discuss the secret strategies and tricks of the trade that make this intelligent game-play possible. In addition, he will discuss the origins of the practice, how you can manage the odds in your favor at the blackjack or poker table, and respond to the age-old question: How can I beat the house?
SPEAKER INFORMATION
RECENT PRESS
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UCSD Alumni Association Overview
The UCSD Alumni Association was formed in 1964 by a small group of early graduates, and has grown today to represent over 100,000 alumni. Our mission is to foster a lifelong, mutually beneficial relationship of alumni and students with UCSD. The Association works to provide alumni with continued access to the resources of the University, communicate UCSD news and happenings, and facilitate a network for alumni and student interaction. MORE
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