SWE - Winter 2009 - (Page 57) ENGINEERING WORLD UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, IRVINE As part of a strategic growth initiative, the University of California, Irvine is establishing an Aerospace Engineering Program of Excellence, targeted to advance to top national ranking. The Program is building on the strength of the current aerospace faculty, which includes four members of the National Academy of Engineering and one member of the National Academy of Sciences. We are seeking to add two faculty members to our program. The first one will conduct research in the area of Aerospace Structures/Solids/Materials. The second will work either in Aerospace Structures/Solids/Materials or in Aerospace Systems. Sub-areas of particular interest are described below. Applicants must have an earned Ph.D. in aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, or a closely related field. Successful candidates will be expected to maintain an independent research program with major national and international impacts and to contribute to our B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. programs by teaching courses and performing other academic duties. They must show credentials that will strengthen and advance our Program of Excellence, as well as contribute to the local community of scholars. The two positions can be at the assistant or associate professor level, but exceptional more senior applicants will be considered. Aerospace Structures/Solids/Materials. We seek candidates with proven interest in conducting cutting-edge experimental research in one or more of the following areas: light-weight and multifunctional materials and structures, novel composite materials (including functionally graded materials), self-healing materials, damage tolerance and durability, multi-scale material and structural mechanics, structural health monitoring, nondestructive evaluation, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and/or micro aerial vehicles (MAV). Aerospace Systems. We seek candidates who have demonstrated leadership in the synthesis of a complex aerospace engineering system and have in-depth expertise in a traditional aerospace discipline. The synthesis could involve a single aerospace vehicle or a system of vehicles. Several examples are: a hypersonic vehicle that requires the integration of diverse advanced technologies, tensegrity structural systems for space, a long endurance and/or small scale uninhabited air vehicle (UAV/MAV) and systems thereof, and multi-vehicle coordination and guidance/control in complex missions. To ensure full consideration for the first round of interviews, applications should be received by January 31, 2009. The search will continue until the positions are filled. Candidates should submit a brief statement of teaching and research interests including the expected impacts, a resume, copies of three principal publications, and the names, addresses, emails, and telephone numbers of three references to: Professor Roger Rangel, Department Chair Aerospace Engineering Program of Excellence Search Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering S4200 Engineering Gateway University of California, Irvine Irvine, CA 92697-3975 Applications can be submitted electronically to aepe@uci.edu. Information about the department can be found at http://mae.eng.uci.edu. The University of California, Irvine is an equal opportunity employer committed to excellence through diversity, has an active Career Partners Program and a National Science Foundation ADVANCE gender equity program. SWE WINTER 2009 The World’s Largest Solar Project This could well be the world’s largest solar power project at a single location if all goes as planned. The U.S.-based William J. Clinton Foundation is in talks with the Gujarat government to set up an Integrated Solar City project with a capacity to generate 5,000 Mw over a period of time. The project, tagged as one of the largest foreign direct investments into the state, will also be a landmark project as the cost of power generation is likely to be 70 percent less than the conventional cost of generation, say sources close to the development. “The project envisages an integrated solar city wherein all the raw materials including glass and panels will be produced by them, bringing down the cost substantially,” said a senior government official. The cost of generation for thermal energy is about Rs 10-11 per unit. However, according to estimates of the Clinton Foundation, the power produced in the solar city will cost about Rs 4 per unit, going by the scale of the project and technology advancement they have on hand. “The Foundation, supported by the likes of GE Energy and Microsoft, already has a war chest of $12 billion, which it wants to utilize for green energy initiatives,” sources said. The world’s largest solar power plant is currently in the Mojave Desert of California with a capacity that will go up to 900 Mw in a few years. Could Grizzly Bears Teach Computer Scientists Something New? BY BILL STEELE, CORNELL CHRONICLE Could graph theory help a grizzly bear find a mate? Could a computer model help stabilize the tuna population? Can we compute how to transition to ethanol fuel without messing up food production? And, in the process, could grizzly bears and tuna teach computer scientists something new? Those are some of the questions tackled by computer scientists, applied mathematicians, economists, biologists, and environmental scientists affiliated with the new Institute for Computational Sustainability based at Cornell. The institute is being launched with a $10 million grant from the National Science Foundation under a program designed to pursue farreaching research agendas that promise significant advances in the computing frontier and great benefit to society. Directed by Carla Gomes, Ph.D., Cornell professor of computing and information science, the institute CONSERVATION FUND Forest corridors like this could connect separated habitats of endangered species to enhance their survival. Balancing the cost of the land against the best routes is a problem in computer optimization. 57 http://mae.eng.uci.edu
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