UC Merced shares bright ideas

School will tout solar projects at Capitol.

Published in paper on Tuesday, Mar. 04, 2008

Less than two weeks before St. Patrick’s Day, the University of California at Merced is taking its “green” aura all the way to the state Capitol.

The campus will present energy-saving research today in Sacramento, joining its sister campuses for the annual Alumni Association of the University of California Day.

Teachers, students, alumni and friends of all 10 universities in the system will use the time to emphasize to legislators how UC -- facing tough financial cutbacks — not only provides education, but contributes to the state’s technology and resources.

UC Merced will play off its reputation as a “green” university, focusing through its presentations on the school’s alternative energy research and practices.

Jeff Wright, dean of engineering, said students from his department will share information today about their work for nonprofit organizations. About 12 students are completing a project to bring a solar lighting system to the California State Mining and Mineral Museum in Mariposa.

“I think [the event] reflects the kinds of things we are doing on campus for education and energy in general,” Wright said.

Also on the schedule is a presentation about a working solar concentrator, part of a project developed by professor Roland Winston of the Engineering and Natural Sciences Department.

The concentrator is being tested for industrial and commercial uses. “It could be used at the hospital to create steam for a sterilizer,” explained Kevin Rico, a UC Merced management student and a contractor for SolFocus, a Bay Area company also involved with the project.

One solar unit is being tested at UC Merced’s research center near Castle Air Force Museum. It involves six tubes surrounded by mirrors to focus the sun’s energy into the tubes. The system can heat oil to 400 degrees, and that heat can be transferred to other uses, Rico said.

UC Merced is first in the University of California system to do research on this particular solar-concentrated thermal device, said Kevin Balkoski, a junior specialist for the university.