News & Events

John Arroyo is one of CoLab Radio's original contributors. His first blog series enabled L.A. artists living and working along the L.A. River to draw their visions for this 52-mile concrete-encased river on a map. KCET has now published the fascinating history of John's family, the origins in Mexico, and their relationship to East L.A. dating back to 1919.

Link: http://www.kcet.org/socal/departures/landofsunshine/arrival-stories/arrival-story-john-arroyo.html

On March 28, 2012 the Baltimore City Paper published an article titled "A new oral history project highlights the residents of Reservoir Hill". The article describes the work residents of that neighborhood are doing to tell their collective story. The residents are publishing their stories one by one on CoLab Radio. The project is called Voices on the Verge, and describes a neighborhood where people have chosen to face obstacles (a degraded main street, race relations, et cetera) and struggle towards a better future together.

Link: http://citypaper.com/arts/stage/primary-sources-1.1291203

On Friday, March 2nd, the MIT Energy Club, sent two teams of students to compete in a case competition for the President's Better Buildings Challenge. Nineteen universities traveled to the Washington, DC, to propose innovative strategies for reducing energy use in commercial buildings by 20% by 2020. Both MIT teams won awards for their proposed casestudy recommendations.

CoLab congratulates DUSP students Elena Alschuler, Brendan Wesley Look, McEwen, Nikhil Nadkarni, and Christopher Jones, who partnered with Patrick Flynn (Sloan), Kate Goldstein (Building Technology), Zack Mallow (Sloan), Neheet Trivedi (Sloan), and Nan Zhao (Media Lab), to take home the following accolades:

• Best Proposal, NYC Office Building
• Most Innovative Proposal, Walther Reed Army Medical Center

Congratulations also to Harvey Michaels, principal investigator for the MIT Energy Efficiency Strategy Project, who coached the student teams.

For photos and more details see:
http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2012/better-buildings-case-competition.html
http://energy.gov/articles/houston-we-have-solution-university-teams-tackle-efficiency-s-barriers
http://energy.gov/articles/secretary-chu-announces-winners-student-competition-promote-energy-efficient-buildings-0

At an MIT panel on the future of black politics, scholars discuss the need for civic engagement at a time of economic stress.

By Peter Dizikes, MIT News Office

Link: http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2012/future-of-black-politics-0309.html

MIT CoLab staff, students, and alumni publish ACEEE white paper on innovative local solutions for energy efficiency. The four authors are current or former researchers for the MIT Energy Efficiency Strategy Project, led by Research Scientist Harvey Michaels. The paper summarizes three years of research about the community solutions to carbon emissions reduction through building efficiency.

Link to white paper: http://aceee.org/white-paper/the-role-of-local-actors

Press coverage of the final presentation of a 'new model of conservation' to representatives of the Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico and community members who participated in the project. Also present were Jon Borschow of the Foundation for Puerto Rico, Mike Soto of the Center for the New Economy, and many other allies interested in developing inclusive programming within the Piedras River watershed.

Artículos de prensa sobre la presentación final del 'nuevo modelo de conservación' al Fideicomiso de Conservación de Puerto Rico y representantes de comunidades quienes participaron en el proyecto. También presentes, Jon Borschow de la Fundación para Puerto Rico, Mike Soto del Centro para la Nueva Economía, y otros aliados interesados en el desarrollo de programación inclusiva en la cuenca del río Piedras.

Link: http://www.elnuevodia.com/alianzaparaquelacomunidadseapoderedelriopiedras-1182207.html#.Ty2BOIBrIVQ.facebook