On Thursday, September 15 at 3 p.m., the Seminar on Computational Methods for Sustainability commences with Professor Sanjay Sarma speaking on Infrared Street Scanning. This new series, organized by Professor Brian Williams, Postdoctoral Fellow J. Zico Kolter and graduate student Youssef Marzouk, explores the role of computation in solving problems of sustainability, such as energy consumption, developing new chemical processes, and solving large-scale resource allocation problems.
The series will feature six talks presented by top researchers from MIT and other institutions. Upcoming talks include Professor Michael Caramanis speaking on Market Based Demand Response in Smart Grid Supported Power Markets on September 29, Dr. Ruben Juanes speaking on October 13 and Professor David E. Culler speaking on October 20. Through this series, the organizers hope to bring together researchers from various different backgrounds that can speak on the broad applications and crucial role of applying computational techniques to sustainability problems.
Sarma’s talk will discuss the retrofitting initiative now underway in the United States to help reduce energy consumption in buildings and homes. Sarma will tackle the problems often associated with weatherizing and offer a new method for solving these problems, infrared street scanning. Long-wave infrared (LWIR) scanning cannot only locate areas of a building in need of retrofitting, but can also be applied on a national scale.
All talks will be held on Thursdays from 3 p.m.-4 p.m. in the Star Conference Room (32-D463). For more information on the Computational Methods for Sustainability seminar series, visit http://projects.csail.mit.edu/compsust/seminar_f11/index.php.