For many years, a federal ban on growing hemp, a nonpsychoactive type of cannabis, dimmed the promise it holds for sustainable construction materials, textiles, and many other products. While the 2018 Agricultural Act legalized industrial hemp, methods for processing hemp stalks are stuck in the past. Pulping, the process of extracting valuable cellulose fibers from...

News Release from Region 9 “LOS ANGELES – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded a Science to Achieve Results (STAR) grant of $784,743 to the University of California Riverside to advance research in understanding sources of air pollution from less studied sources such as wildland fires. “California’s universities have well-earned reputations as leaders in...

AUTHOR:HOLLY OBER July 15, 2020 The UC Riverside Marlan and Rosemary Bourns College of Engineering Center for Environmental Research and Technology, or CE-CERT, has received $1.1 million to help revitalize the Eastside neighborhood, one of Riverside’s oldest and largest residential neighborhoods. The funding is part of a $31.2 million Transformative Climate Communities and Affordable Housing...

Southern California region has among the worst congestion and air quality problems in the United States. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a significant reduction in economic and social activities locally and consequent changes in roadway traffic. These changes are impacting mobility, air pollution levels, and the environment in a variety of ways. To date, preliminary...

A number of recent popular media and peer-reviewed journal articles have reported a decrease in pollutant concentrations, particularly nitrogen dioxide (NO2) as observed by satellites, due to shelter-in-place orders in countries such as China, Italy, and the UK. The current expectation is that similar trends will be observed in the US, as a decrease in...

CE-CERT is honored to announce the 2020-2021 awardees of National Center for Sustainable Transportation Fellowship and Dissertation awards. Four graduate students were awarded $20,000 each, to support their research in sustainable transportation. The National Center for Sustainable Transportation (NCST) provides national leadership in advancing environmentally sustainable transportation through cutting-edge research, direct policy engagement, and education...

We would like to congratulate the Center for Environmental Research and Technology's 2020 undergraduate and graduate students on this major milestone. We especially celebrate these students for their resilience and dedication during a uniquely challenging time in history. Remember, this is not the end but only the beginning. Best of luck to our CE-CERT 2020...

AUTHOR:HOLLY OBER May 28, 2020 A group of UC Riverside faculty and student automobile engineers from UC Riverside won an Environmental Excellence in Transportation Award from the Society of Automotive Engineers International. Established in 2000, this award showcases the work of individuals and teams who through their ingenuity and dedication have made significant innovations in...

AUTHOR: HOLLY OBER May 21, 2020 UC Riverside’s Center for Environmental Research and Technology, or CE-CERT, has launched the Onboard Sensing, Analysis and Reporting, or OSAR, Consortium. Experts from academia, industry, and government agencies will come together under the OSAR Consortium’s banner to investigate the feasibility and efficacy of in-use emission regulations premised on reliable...

UC Riverside, Marlan and Rosemary College of Engineering - Center for Environmental Research and Technology (CE-CERT) has launched the Onboard Sensing, Analysis and Reporting (OSAR) Consortium. In partnership with academia, industry and government agencies, the OSAR Consortium program of research will investigate the feasibility and efficacy of in-use emission regulations premised on reliable on-board continuous...

CE-CERT is a proud member of the CalTestBed Program, testing a variety of new energy technologies such as Electric, Connected and Automated Vehicle testing, Sustainable Grid Initiative, Vehicle to Grid testing, and more. This membership provides access to diverse California communities and partnerships within the California Energy Commission's Innovation Ecosystem. CalTestBed offers a wide collection...

SAE International has awarded CE-CERT researchers Dr. Ziran Wang, Dr. Kanok Boriboonsomsin, and Dr. Matthew Barth the Vincent Bendix Automotive Electronic Engineering Award. Established in 1976, this award annually recognizes the authors of the best paper relating to automotive electronics engineering. Wang, the lead author of the paper “Cooperative Ramp Merging System: Agent-Based Modeling and...

Since social distancing measures to prevent COVID-19 have emptied freeways, businesses and beaches, Southern Californians have been treated to dazzling blue skies and the fluffiest, whitest clouds imaginable. The reason? Staying at home reduces emissions of nitrogen oxides, or NOx, which reduces air pollution. One UC Riverside air quality researcher thinks that’s both good news...

CE-CERT is proud to announce the recipients of the 2020-2021 Scholarship Awards. Nine students were awarded a total of $32,000 in recognition of their commitment to academic and research excellence. We would like to congratulate them on their hard work, and to thank our generous donors who made these awards possible. Graduate Awardees Khanh Do...

The Volvo Low Impact Green Heavy Transport Solutions (LIGHTS) project is a collaboration between 15 public and private partners, including CE-CERT, to demonstrate the viability of all-electric freight transportation in high-density traffic and urban areas. This project is comprehensive in the sense that it highlights innovative and takes a holistic approach to ensuring commercial reediness...

Life-long energy innovation leader Neal Richter’s legacy will live on through the G. Neal Richter Energy Innovation Scholarship. The scholarship established at the College of Engineering Center for Environmental Research and Technology (CE-CERT) at UC Riverside will provide financial assistance to undergraduate or graduate students studying alternative energies at CE-CERT. Dr. Richter spent his life...

Author: Holly Ober January 28, 2020 With the recent naming of Riverside as a top 50 Surge City, evidence is building that the city fills an important niche in the region’s startup ecosystem — and that niche is sustainable technology. The Inc. magazine ranking is one of several accolades for entrepreneurship Riverside has received recently...

Author: Holly Ober January 22, 2020 Driver assistance technology developed at UC Riverside that saves gas and reduces vehicle emissions took a road trip to the world’s most influential technology trade show in Las Vegas this January. Attendees at the Consumer Electronics Show, or CES, got to try out cooperative merging technology created at the...

In early 2019, UCR’s Chemical Engineering undergraduate students, Albert Fernandez, Zachary Lyons, and Matthew Marquis and graduate student, Priyanka Singh were awarded a $5,000 grant from non-profit organization VentureWell to support newly formed InnovaCan, a for-profit technology spin-off from UCR. Leading this team was UCR Adjunct Professor and Assistant Research Engineer at CE-CERT, Dr. Charles...

CECERT hosted the GEMS (Girls in Engineering Math and Science) conference on October 3, 2019, for 35 9th and 10th grade girls from across the Inland Southern California region. Leading the conference was Professor Sunni Ivey and 3 female grad students, Sahar Ghadimi, Priya Sengupta, and Xinyue Kan from UCR CE-CERT. The day’s objectives were...