News briefing and tech demos to showcase new home for CITRIS, its role in economy
Contact: Sarah Yang, Media Relations
(510) 643-7741
scyang@berkeley.edu
24 February 2009
ATTENTION: Technology, business and higher education reporters
WHAT
"CITRIS: Stimulating Ideas and the Economy," a press briefing to be held at the University of California, Berkeley, in advance of the official opening of Sutardja Dai Hall, the new headquarters for the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS). Reporters will hear why CITRIS and world-class university research is critical to the economic future of the state and country. They will see demonstrations of innovative research projects that promise to transform the way energy is consumed and how healthcare is delivered.
WHEN
12:30-1:30 p.m., Friday, Feb. 27. Following the briefing at 2:30 p.m. will be the public opening ceremony and ribbon cutting of the new headquarters. There will be tours of the building and interactive exhibits throughout the afternoon.
WHERE
Banatao Auditorium, Sutardja Dai Hall, at the northeast corner of campus. (A map of campus is online at: http://www.berkeley.edu/map).
WHO
Speakers will include:
- Robert Birgeneau, UC Berkeley chancellor
- Paul Wright, director of CITRIS and UC Berkeley professor of mechanical engineering
- Tim Simon, founder of Golden Power Manufacturing and a CITRIS industry partner
DETAILS
CITRIS combines the skills and talents of more than 300 researchers from four UC campuses - Berkeley, Davis, Merced and Santa Cruz - with those from private industry to develop and quickly move to the market innovative technology that tackles some of society's most pressing problems. It is one of four Governor Gray Davis Institutes for Science and Innovation - renamed in 2008 for the former governor of California in recognition of his instrumental role in their creation. The institutes, formerly known as the California Institutes for Science and Innovation, were established in 2001 by the governor's office in collaboration with the University of California and leading-edge businesses to develop the next generation of technologies that will be critical to sustaining California's economic growth and global competitiveness.