MEDIA ADVISORY

WHAT:

The directors of two of the four California Institutes for Science and Innovation will describe ground-breaking research that is transforming the way we build and use information and communications systems for consumers, industry and government. The reports will be presented to the University of California Board of Regents.

WHEN:

10:15 a.m., Wednesday, March 13, 2002
UC San Francisco--Laurel Heights, 3333 California St., San Francisco

WHO:

- Larry Smarr, director of the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology , headquartered at UC San Diego

· Broadband plus wireless communications networks that are creating the "High Tech Coast" and transforming the Southern California region into a living laboratory for research on traffic congestion, managing wildlife reserves, health care delivery, and anywhere/anytime video-conferencing.

· The new concept of "dual use technologies" that have emerged around the homeland defense crisis.

- Ruzena Bajcsy, director of the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society , headquartered at UC Berkeley

· CITRIS sensor network technologies are being used in buildings for purposes ranging from energy conservation to security systems, distance education and for seismic impact monitoring.

· CITRIS technology is already being widely adopted in the U.S. by industry, government and other universities -- building out applications that people will encounter in their everyday lives.


ABOUT THE CALIFORNIA INSTITUTES FOR SCIENCE AND INNOVATION:

Announced in December 2000 by Gov. Gray Davis, the California Institutes for Science and Innovation include the:

· California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology Cal-(IT)² -- UC San Diego, UC Irvine

· California Nanosystems Institute CNSI-UCLA -- UC Santa Barbara

· California Institute for Bioengineering, Biotechnology, and Quantitative Biomedicine QB3 -- UC San Francisco, UC Berkeley, UC Santa Cruz

· Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society CITRIS -- UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC Santa Cruz, UC Merced

Combined, the four institutes represent a billion-dollar, multidisciplinary effort that focuses public and private resources and expertise simultaneously on research areas critical to sustaining California's economic growth and its competitiveness in the global marketplace.

To learn more, please go to the institutes' Web site at:

www.ucop.edu/california-institutes/welcome.html.