Concept:
The College of Engineering-Center for Environmental Research and Technology (CE-CERT) was established in 1992 as a new model for university/industry/regulatory agency collaborative research on environmental problems, with a major focus on air pollution, energy, and transportation. CE-CERT is dedicated to bringing together scientists and engineers in a collaborative research effort involving academic, industry and regulatory agency scientists on its Advisory Board and on project advisory committees to work together to solve transportation and air pollution problems and to provide high quality science to the regulatory process. CE-CERT is an interdisciplinary center focused on a large-scale, broad-based, integrated research agenda in advanced vehicle technologies and systems; emissions measurement, analysis, and control; atmospheric measurement and modeling; environmental analysis and policy; and renewable energy. CE-CERT has successfully pioneered its Advisory Board model to act as an "honest broker" between industry and the regulatory agencies, and currently involves top industry scientists and regulatory agency scientists in its projects. CE-CERT conducts approximately $7 million annually in extramural research projects.

Goals:
Studying the relationship between transportation and air quality is CE-CERT's most prevalent research theme. Transportation accounts for more than half of air pollutants in urban areas, and it accounts for nearly one-third of all energy consumption in America. Although decades of research and development have cleaned up emissions from the transportation sector to a large degree, significant questions about energy choices, emissions, and environmental effects require more research. To contribute to answers in these fields, CE-CERT has established programs in advanced vehicle and energy technologies, fuels, emissions measurement, control technologies, and atmospheric processes and atmospheric modeling. Spin-offs from these core fields include research into stationary and point sources of pollution, water quality, land use, and planning.

Research Agenda:
In less than a decade, CE-CERT has created a visible partnership between UCR and the community-at-large. Inside the CE-CERT laboratories, engineers and scientists explore a wide-ranging research agenda that encompasses: 

• Developing autonomous vehicles and transportation systems for the future 
  
• Converting biomass such as yard waste into vehicle fuel 
  
• Measuring air pollutants and modeling how they react in the atmosphere 
  
• Using computer models to evaluate the impact of roadway improvement on air quality 
  
• Developing alternative-fueled engines and vehicles 
  
• Evaluating clean and renewable energy sources 
  
• Manufacturing commercial products that will improve our quality of life