Welcome - Tim Lee, IEEE Region 6 Director

Keynote - "If We Build It They Will Come - The Intersection of Technological Systemization and Customer Proficiency"
The Honorable Daniel K. Tabor, President, MOVE LA

Building a culture of climate awareness that leads to climate proficiency within all customers will require intentional technological systemization across multiple platforms and areas of opportunity. When in realtime information can be synthesized and delivered to adults and youth in ways that support belief systems and values, fewer arguments about the impact humans are having on the climate will result in leaders grabbing their balls, going home, and isolating themselves from the truth and the looming opportunity. Through the stages of identification, monitoring, modeling, predicting, and informing, impacts of human behavior on the environment, climate, and human health can be informed and altered. By closing the gap between what Seniors know through experience and children learn through experimentation we will hasten the achievement of Customer Proficiency.

"6G: Towards a More Connected and Sustainable World"
Mohamed-Slim Alouini, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST)

"A System of Systems (SoS) for Assessing & Optimizing Networks for Energy Efficiency"
Brian Zahnstecher, PowerRox LLC, Co-chair of the IEEE 5G Roadmap Energy Efficiency Working Group

Panel Moderated by Diane Gatza and Russ Lefevre

With the onset of Global Warming presenting a serious challenge to water supply in California, three of the major suppliers in the state are working to insure water will be available for the foreseeable future. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) has a program, Operation NEXT Water Supply Program, to source 70% of water locally and recycle 100% of available treated waste water by 2035. The Water Replenishment District of Southern California (WRD) has initiated a program, WIN 4 ALL, that aims to utilize the 450,000 acre-feet of available storage space in the West and Central groundwater basins in conjunction with available recycled water sources to increase regional resiliency and sustainability. The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) that supplies wholesale water to 19 million people in 6 counties is preparing the newest Integrated Water Resources Plan (IRP) whose purpose is to develop a planning document that can insure long-term supply reliability in an environmentally and effective way.

Our Tractor Fuels and Farm Fertilizer Demonstration System
Jay Schmuecker and David Toyne, Pinehurst Farm

The time is approaching when we will be dependent on renewable energy sources. We will address the installation on an Iowa farm the demonstration Hydrogen, Nitrogen, and Ammonia generation system that is used to fuel a tractor internal combustion engine with hydrogen of hydrogen/ammonia. These products are made in batches using solar arrays as the power source. There are no carbon emissions in either the generation or consumption of these products. The ammonia is also used to fertilize corn cropland.

For additional information see http://solarhydrogensystem.com/

Future Networks & Applications Roadmap for Sustainable Cities/Societies

5G is expected to contribute greater than $100B to the economy within the next ten years; yet there is too little understanding of what it is, what it can do, how it will be used, and what comes next. This IEEE Future Networks session will provide overview of the technical aspects of 5G, discuss the socio-economics of wireless telecommunications and its impact on life in the 21st century, and outline the methods and expected timelines for deployment as 5G initially co-exists with, and eventually replaces, existing 3G/4G networks.

The panel is intended to unveil some of the rich capabilities of future networks empowered by key technologies such as 5G, IoT, AI and others. The focus will be on highlighting some of network capabilities roadmap empowered building new classes of applications and services that result in scalable and sustainable and secure ecosystem solutions.

Key topics that will be addressed:
Key drivers for network evolution
Capabilities & features roll out driving enhanced/new applications & services
Key attributes of end-to-end Network performance: latency, QoS, Security, Management, Net Slicing
Network Reliability and sustainability

Other topics for consideration:
Mobile Edge computing/intelligence
Standards

Along with some walkthrough examples:

Public Safety
Health & Wellness
Autonomous Driving
Smart Cities

Remarks by Gora Datta, Chair SusTech 2021

Keynote - "New Initiatives in Advancing IEEE Sustainability Thought Leadership"
Maike Luiken, IEEE VP MGA

This session will provide an overview of Smart Grid activities within IEEE, NIST and other industry efforts. We will include a discussion of the NIST Framework and Roadmap for Smart Grid Interoperability (V4.0) and IEEE P2030 Guide for Interoperability of the Electric Power system standard project. We will also discuss other industry activities required to support the deployment of smart grid.

Speakers:
Avi Gopstein - Smart Grid Program Manager, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
Doug Houseman - Principal Consultant at 1898 & Co. A Burns & McDonnell division
Mark Siira - IEEE P2030 Working Group Chair, IEEE Standards Coordinating Committee 21 Chair, IEEE SA Standards Board - Standards Review Committee (RevCom) and Audit Committee (AudCom)

"Enabling What Customers Want: The Story of Enevate's Technology"
Dr. Benjamin Park, Enevate

Customers demand more and more and vehicle companies will have to compete on features people want. In order to drive widespread adoption of EVs, the vehicles will not only have to match that of ICE vehicles, but they will have to be even more convenient than gas cars. EVs should be able to charge in the same amount of time as ICE vehicles as well as offering other value-added features not available on ICE vehicles. Enevate's pure silicon Li-ion battery technology features unique properties including extreme fast charge while increasing high energy density, wide temperature operation, safety, and reduced cost to help break down barriers to mass adoption of electric vehicles.

"100% Renewable And Zero Emissions Energy With Hydrogen"
Jack Brouwer, U.C. Irvine

Renewable, ultra-low emissions and high efficiency energy conversion systems will be required to introduce energy resource and environmental sustainability. In particular the dynamic dispatch, massive energy storage capacity, and ubiquitous transmission and distribution of energy that the power-to-gas and hydrogen energy storage concepts provide will become essential to enable a 100% renewable economy. In addition, these concepts enable zero greenhouse gas and zero criteria pollutant emissions energy conversion that spans across applications in the built environment, to transportation, to utility grid network support and sustainability. Recent research on the dynamics and control of electrochemical energy conversion systems to enable this future with the hydrogen vector will be discussed.

If you've been paying attention to the news you can't help but notice there's headlines reporting on cyberattacks, hacks, malware, ransomware, breaches, etc. on companies (at every level), hospitals, business, infrastructure, and your personal computers. It definitely is a global problem that we cannot ignore. Our invited panelists come from various sectors and industries that will provide their knowledge and perspectives on how we as a global community can address this world-wide menace.

Remarks by Charlie Jackson, Program Chair SusTech 2021

Keynote - "ESG - Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance"
Walter Iu, PwC Strategy&

Businesses from starts ups to major corporations are fundamentally questioning their purpose. Is profitability and shareholder return the most important goal or is it something else? ESG: Environmental, Social, and Governance concerns are at the forefront of the sustainability discussion. Can profits and sustainability be balanced?

In this talk we'll discuss the current and changing ESG landscape and how to think about each element of the ESG acronym. What concerns are top of mind and what frameworks and metrics can be used to understand what is good or bad? We'll touch on the pros and cons of ESG overall and the challenges that lie ahead.

"A new chemical process for ethanol production from carbon dioxide, water, and electricity"
Stafford Sheehan, Air Company

A new chemical process for ethanol production from carbon dioxide, water, and electricity.

Dr. Stafford Sheehan is co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Air Company, where he leads a team scaling up technology that transforms carbon dioxide into consumer products. He and his team constructed and operate a 3,000 sq ft pilot plant in Brooklyn, New York, where they produce carbon-negative ethanol, as well as mix and bottle Air Company's vodka and hand sanitizer products that are available in New York and California.

As technology and innovations move forward, many tech companies have committed to make a positive impact in the environment with sustainability programs. From direct projects and initiatives to research and offer environmentally friendly solutions to corporate infrastructure, this Young Professionals Panel aims to share awareness and insight on some of these programs and projects at tech companies. Our panelists include young professionals working in the tech industry and will give us a glimpse of what it's like to work at a company that cares about the environment.

This hands-on live online 4-hour workshop (+ 1 hour pre-check session April 17) will help attendees explore and simulate a home automation system using the Arduino based Bytes & Bots Innovator Board, IoT, and Web Services.

Participants will create a simple host using a cloud based web service to connect to the Bytes & Bots Innovator board. The cloud based server will use MQTT to transfer data to the board. The UI will be in HTML and the backend will be served by python.

Upon successful completion of the workshop the participants will be able to demonstrate a simulated home automation system.

Upon Successful Completion the workshop attendees will:

Be familiar with Arduino and Arduino C language
Have a basic understanding of microcontrollers, input/output and programming vocabulary
Understand Server requests using MQTT and IoT
Have a basic understanding of electronics

Those who successfully complete the workshop and demonstrate their working project will earn a Bytes & Bots Skills Badge.

"Building an Enhanced IEEE Sustainability Community - New Initiatives and Standards Activities to Accelerate and Amplify IEEE Leadership in Supporting Sustainable Development Goals"
Rudi Schubert, IEEE Standards Association

Standards are an enabler of emerging technology solutions and a key to the interoperability of products and systems. The IEEE Standards Association (IEEE SA) has published thousands of standards, developed by IEEE volunteers across the spectrum of technology areas covered by IEEE technical societies. In recent years, the IEEE SA has gone beyond standards, using its well established consensus building capabilities to address new technology issues at very early stages to incubate the next generation of standards based solutions. Additionally, the societal context of technology has become increasingly important in establishing the foundational considerations for future standardization initiatives. From the ethical considerations of artificial intelligence to new initiatives in sustainability and renewable energy, IEEE SA programs are working to stay ahead of rapidly evolving technologies and societal priorities. These programs are open, transparent and inclusive, welcoming the ideas and contributions of all. This presentation will provide an overview of IEEE SA programs relative to sustainability, IEEE initiatives to broaden participation of the sustainability community and emerging issues of interest to the SusTech community.

"New paradigm in renewable microgrids - let's change our thinking!"

Nirupama Prakash Kumar, Bloom Energy

The race to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is the defining challenge of our time. Pressure is mounting for our electric system to get cleaner, faster. While important strides have already been made, the rising frequency and intensity of extreme weather events in recent years has underscored the critical need to invest in resiliency.

Stakeholders across the organizational spectrum are navigating an unprecedented risk landscape - energy security has become table stakes as people search for solutions that can keep the lights on amidst the growing frequency of threats.

Fortunately, we are now in a time where there are multiple options for sourcing electricity. Emerging technologies and business models represent a key opportunity to overcome the compounding challenges of reducing carbon emissions while expanding the resilience of our nation's electric system. This talk will present the new paradigm in renewable microgrids.

"Analysis and Synthesis of Sustainable Systems"

Dr. Vasilios I. Manousiouthakis, UCLA

The field of sustainability has traditionally suffered from a lack of specificity, that leads to misinterpretations regarding a system's sustainability status. The newly introduced concept of "Sustainability Over Set" (SOS) is presented. The SOS concept readily allows the incorporation of human input into system sustainability assessment, by requiring the sustainability practitioner to develop/employ a mathematical model of the studied system, such as for example a set of ordinary differential equations whose solution captures the system's dynamic behavior.