A team including multiple Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering faculty members received a $5.7 million climate action seed grant from the University of California. Assistant Professor Patricia Hidalgo-Gonzalez and a team of researchers from UC Santa Barbara, UC Berkeley, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and Professor Jan Kleissl secured $2 million to fortify distribution networks against climate change impacts, with a special focus on supporting underserved communities. Professor Shengqiang Cai, alongside teammate Professor Renkun Chen and researchers from UC Davis, received $1.7 million to create affordable hydrogels from agricultural waste, which will serve as a self-sustaining solution to help small-scale farmers retain water more efficiently during times of drought. These grants align perfectly with the state’s mission to fortify climate resilience and champion social equity in hard-hit regions, resonating deeply with UC’s commitment to battling the effects of climate change head-on. The projects employ a fusion of cutting-edge technology and a community-first approach to address climate change.
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