2025 Media Watch Archives
Battery scientist shares honest review after one year of driving Tesla Model Y — here's what she had to say
The Cool Down -
Battery scientist Jill Pestana's Tesla Model Y has somehow improved itself during the first year she has owned it, as the expert shared in a glowing review on TikTok. … Pestana is a battery engineer who obtained her Master of Science in materials science and engineering at the University of California, Irvine, according to her LinkedIn profile. Read More
Iran Faces Widespread Land Subsidence Amid Escalating Water Emergency
Forbes -
Amir AghaKouchak, a professor of civil and environmental engineering and earth system sciences at the University of California, Irvine, told me in an interview that because land subsidence occurs in increments, the crisis is usually overlooked. “It lacks the dramatic visibility of acute disasters like earthquakes and floods, allowing authorities to underplay its risks,” says AghaKouchak. In Iran, “this invisibility is a key reason land subsidence remains on the sidelines in national disaster planning, despite its profound long-term consequences,” he adds. Read More
Shoring up coastal rail
LAist -
Suzie Whitelaw, president of Save Our Beaches San Clemente said sand is the best solution for creating a long lasting buffer, adding ”the wide sandy beaches protected the tracks for 130 years until they got too narrow.” The beaches along the rail got so narrow that there was no dry beach left, but sand replenishment efforts by the San Clemente City Council, she said, has now resulted in some dry sand in North Beach. Researchers at UC Irvine have previously told LAist that sand is the natural defense against strong waves. The stabilization measures include sand, but it’s not coming soon. Read More
Can You Outsource Motivation?
Psychology Today -
“As physicians, we know that many of the most common diseases could be prevented—or even reversed—through sustained behavior change. Behavior change is far more complex than medical adherence—it requires motivation, consistency, and long-term effort”, writes Hamid Djalilian M.D., professor of otolaryngology, neurosurgery, and biomedical engineering and Director of Otology and Neurotology at the University of California, Irvine. Read More
School Ties
Orange County Business Journal -
On March 10, aerospace manufacturing firm Pratt & Whitney announced it would help establish a center of excellence for solidification science and materials science at UCI, to be housed in the Henry Samueli School of Engineering. … The center will focus on the metal and material processing challenges in the manufacturing of critical jet engine components, such as single-crystal turbine blades …. Diran Apelian, UCI Distinguished Professor of materials science and engineering, will be the center’s inaugural director. Read More
A student accidentally created a rechargeable battery that she says could last 400 years
Upworthy -
UCI doctoral candidate Mya Le Thai has developed a nanowire-based technology that allows lithium-ion batteries to be recharged hundreds of thousands of times. … After playing around in the lab, she made a discovery that could lead to a rechargeable battery that could last up to 400 years. That means longer-lasting laptops and smartphones and fewer lithium ion batteries piling up in landfills. A team of researchers at UCI had been experimenting with nanowires for potential use in batteries, but found that over time the thin, fragile wires would break down and crack after too many charging cycles. Read More
More big fires will come. Our new newsletter series will help you prepare
Los Angeles Times -
Engineers at UC Irvine found that “very high wildfire density” hot spots were increasing. Data from 1920 to 1999 showed only one such hot spot: Los Angeles County. Data from 2000 to 2019 showed several. “In the past 20 years, that designation has expanded greatly in Southern California to include Ventura County, portions of Riverside, San Diego and San Bernardino Counties,” according to the report published in 2021. Read More
Buying a home in California? Here’s how seriously you should take Zillow’s climate risk data
San Francisco Chronicle -
“Flooding is probably one of the toughest hazards to get right,” said Brett Sanders, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at UC Irvine. He and his colleagues developed a detailed flood model for Los Angeles that highlighted much higher flood risk than indicated in federally defined floodplains. In a 2024 study, Sanders and colleagues reported that just 20% of the Los Angeles properties their model identified as having a high risk of flooding overlapped with First Street’s predictions. Read More
Engineers Week Features Community Lecture On AI And Engineering By Pramod Khargonekar Feb. 19
Los Alamos Reporter -
The community is invited to celebrate Engineers Week with a public lecture by Pramod Khargonekar of the University of California, Irvine, on Wednesday, Feb. 19 from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Fuller Lodge in Los Alamos. Khargonekar, the vice chancellor for research and professor of electrical engineering and computer science, will present “Future of Work and Workers in the AI Era.” Read More
Landslide fears mount in Orange County communities built on hillsides as heavy rain is expected
KABC -
Orange County communities built on hillsides are preparing for a powerful winter storm to move through Southern California. The moisture could trigger landslides …. "You can imagine soil gets muddy, and it's much easier for one layer on top of the other to slide off a slope," civil engineering professor at UC Irvine Anne Lemnitzer said. Watch More