How Green is the Cloud? – A Field Trip to Cal Tech

Wednesday, April 19, 2017 3pm-10pm

Have you ever wondered how much energy it takes to run a single Google search? It may haunt you, but every search query Google executes is equivalent to turning on a 60W light bulb for 17 seconds! Google Search, like many other technologies we use, including uploading grams to Insta or playing with filters on Snap, rely on cloud computing services.

Background: On April 19th, the Department of Computer Science and Prof. Brian Thoms will bring a group of 20 students to Cal Tech to tour the campus, have a small bite to eat and attend the Earnest C. Watson Seminar Series. The seminar, titled, “How Green is the Cloud,” will be given by Dr. Adam Wierman, and will introduce students to his ongoing research at Caltech aimed at building a sustainable computing infrastructure—one where data centers are powered by renewable energy and even serve as virtual energy-storage facilities for more broadly integrating renewable energy into the electrical grid. Participating students will also receive a copy of the text, Sustainability Principles and Practice.

You can discover more about Dr. Wierman and the Cal Tech lecture series here: https://www.caltech.edu/content/adam-wierman-how-clean-cloud.

Who is invited: All CI students are invited, but preference will be given to students majoring or minoring in computing-related fields. There are 20 spots!

Logistics: Buses will leave CI around 3pm on Wednesday, April 19th and will return around 10pm.

Contact Info: Students interested in participating, should contact Prof. Thoms for more information.