1. Professor Justin Kasper addresses Senate committee on solar threat to power grid.

    Mark Rivett posted February 27, 2019

    Solar storm congressional testimony: ‘The risk is real’

    Read Full Story on The Michigan Engineer New Center

    Watch Video Testimony Here

    A solar flare in 1859 engulfed Earth in a “magnetic tsunami”—spinning compasses, making the northern lights visible in the Caribbean and drawing sparks from telegraph lines that would remain inoperative for days.

    Today’s power and technology-reliant society could fare worse should a similar solar event occur, Michigan Engineering researcher Justin Kasper told U.S. senators today.

    Justin C. Kasper

    Justin Kasper, Associate Professor Graduate advisor Program: Ph.D. in Space & Planetary Physics
    Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering

    Kasper, an associate professor of climate and space sciences and engineering, testified before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and discussed how best to protect the power grid from space weather.

    “We need spacecraft closer to the sun providing earlier warning of Earth-directed events and their properties, better models of these eruptions and regional forecasts of geomagnetic disturbances,” Kasper wrote in his submitted testimony. “Most importantly, we need leadership with a mandate to coordinate and direct the research and operational components of space weather that are spread over multiple agencies.”

    Read Full Story on The Michigan Engineer New Center

    Watch Video Testimony Here


  2. Election security: Halderman recommends actions to ensure integrity of US systems

    Mark Rivett posted

    Read Full Story at The Michigan Engineer News Center

    In congressional testimony, professor urges $370M in federal funding to replace outdated machines.

    Prof J Alex Halderman

    Professor of Computer Science & Engineering, University of Michigan
    Director, University of Michigan Center for Computer Security and Society

    Prof. J. Alex Halderman testified today in front of the US House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Service and General Government, urging lawmakers to approve additional funding for election cybersecurity prior to the upcoming 2020 elections.

    “Unlike so many other cyber challenges, this is a problem where we can actually solve the problem,” Halderman, a professor of computer science and engineering, told the senators. “It’s going to take a little bit of money, but it’s not going to be decades of research. It’s not going to be billions of dollars. We have an opportunity for a cybersecurity win in election security.”

    Read Full Story at The Michigan Engineer News Center


  3. Michigan Ross Professor Testifies Before Congress on Climate Change, Says U.S. Infrastructure Is ‘In Bad Shape’

    Mark Rivett posted February 26, 2019
    Thomas P. Lyon

    Tom Lyon, Dow Professor of Sustainable Science, Technology and Commerce
    Professor of Business Economics and Public Policy
    Professor of Environment and Sustainability

    Read Full Story on Michigan Ross School of Business Website

    Watch Video Testimony

    Tom Lyon, professor of business economics and public policy and of environment and sustainability, was in Washington, D.C. this week to discuss climate change. He spoke before the U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure about ways he believes infrastructure improvement, as well as the free market, can help lessen the impacts of climate change.

    Read Full Story on Michigan Ross School of Business Website

    Watch Video Testimony