Tackling Big Challenges
QI researchers develop solutions to environmental challenges, such as wildfires, erosion, drought, flooding and pollution. Teams are developing digital systems for monitoring and modeling the environment to transform the way we respond to these environmental threats. The creation of realistic digital “mirror worlds”—dynamic digital representations of the physical environment—can enable planners, response teams, and the public to better understand and take preventive measures against wildfire outbreaks, water shortages, and coastal damage. QI researchers continue to build on this technology and work with appropriate agencies, emergency response forces, and the general public to produce tools that will aid in real-time predictions, emergency response, and policy decisions.
Researchers at QI are also exploring the use of novel materials, new technologies and data-driven control systems to lower energy costs and reduce unnecessary use of water and other constrained resources.
“If you come to QI as a student or as a researcher, chances are you will be rubbing shoulders with somebody who didn’t take the exact same courses and doesn’t publish in the exact same journals as you do. And it is this combination that is going to be able to successfully address the most important problems that we face.”
Grants
QI awards and sub-awards granted for work in energy or the environment.
Adam Feist
UC Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory
- Joint BioEnergy Institute Phase IV Biofuels and Bioproducts Research and Development 10/1/2022 – 9/30/2027
Tara Hutchinson
California Emergency Management
- Earthquake and Fire — Following Earthquake Resiliency of Mid-Rise Cold Cormed Steel Buildings 3/11/2022 – 12/1/2026
