Press Clips

Data centers guzzle Arizona's water and power. We calculated how much

Arizona Republic | February 4, 2026

The proliferation of data centers in Arizona raises concerns about the strain on the state's water and power resources. While power is a more immediate concern, the water usage of data centers varies widely depending on their cooling technology. Some data centers have operated for decades using water-intensive evaporative cooling, while others are investing in air-cooled systems. But these systems won't be able to keep up with future data center needs, said Renkun Chen, who researches heat transfer and cooling at the University of California San Diego. Full Story

A Cooler Data Center

American Society of Mechanical Engineers | February 3, 2026

As use of AI increases, the need for data processing and the home that allows it to happen is creating a "surge" in data center construction. That data processing generates tremendous amounts of heat, requiring cooling to prevent failure, and that cooling need accounts for up to 40 to 50 percent of a data center's overall energy use. This growth is expected to increase the total energy consumption used for data center cooling. Research by UC San Diego engineers shows that a new fiber membrane may hold the key to more efficient cooling in data centers. Full Story

UNIGRID Fully Charged for Increased Production

San Diego Business Journal | November 5, 2025

UNIGRID, Inc. is poised to expand its production capacity 20-fold over the next year following the sodium-ion battery company's rapid growth in foundry partnerships. "We are a fabless battery company," CEO Darren Tan said. "So we work with battery foundries to produce what we need; we buy commodity materials, we ship to them, they make it based on our proprietary recipe and the finished products get shipped directly to the customer." Tan co-founded the company with CTO Erik Wu out of UC San Diego, where both men completed their PhDs. Full Story

The best source of critical minerals is driving down U.S. streets

The Washington Post | October 29, 2025

When an EV battery dies somewhere in North America, there's a good chance it'll wind up at Redwood Materials, the company that runs the biggest lithium-ion battery recycling plant in the United States, to be reborn. Redwood Materials has also debuted a more direct way to reuse old EV batteries: putting them to work powering microgrids. "Secondary use is a no-brainer," said Zheng Chen, a nanoengineering professor at the University of California San Diego. "You have a lot of old batteries which are still okay. It's good to use them before you send them into the recycling proces Full Story

Can new chemistry make EVs that charge in 5 min or less?

C&EN | June 12, 2025

The thing holding back EV adoption right now--besides the relatively high sticker price--is how long it takes to charge the battery. Making a battery that charges faster is not simple; it requires understanding the shortcomings of each component down to the molecular level. Nor is it easy to scale up a new battery's manufacturing to millions of units. Battery start-ups and larger labs scrutinize materials in every part of electric vehicle systems, especially anodes. Full Story