RIVERSIDE, Calif. (www.ucr.edu) — A new research center at the University of California, Riverside, seeks to flip the script about Inland California’s reputation as an “area of need.”

Introduced during a launch event held Friday, Feb. 9, at the Riverside Art Museum, UCR’s Center for Social Innovation (CSI) instead aims to emphasize the Inland region’s potential as a hub of innovation.

I’ve signed in at many front offices in my 30-plus years of visiting schools, but never one where the school secretary had to (politely) ask me to hold on a second while a child finished reading her a story. Nothing was more important at that moment, to that member of the dedicated Bryant School of Arts & Innovation team in Riverside, California, than to give this little girl her undivided attention as she displayed her newfound knowledge.

PALM DESERT, CA - From SunLine Transit Agency: SunLine Transit Agency has put into service a new zero emission bus that will have the capability to cover any route in its service territory – even with the air conditioner operating at maximum levels in the middle of the summer. The ceremony to launch this new bus and showcase its capacity will happen tomorrow, February 2nd, at SunLine Transit Agency at 10:30 a.m. – 32-505 Harry Oliver Trail in Thousand Palms. Supervisor V. Manuel Perez and others from California transit and funding partners involved will speak at this unveiling event.

Riverside, Calif. – The fourth Long Night of Arts & Innovation will fill the streets of downtown Riverside on Oct. 12 with hours of science, technology, dance, engineering, math, music and art programs for young people and adults.

The regional event, which draws speakers and performers from all four of Riverside’s colleges and universities, and the city’s most innovative high-tech companies, runs from 5 p.m. to midnight on and around the Main Street mall in historic downtown Riverside.

UC Riverside and SoCalGas Announce Opening of New Research Center Center for Renewable Natural Gas focuses on reduction of carbon emissions and increasing the use of renewable energy in California

The University of California, Riverside and Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) today marked the establishment of a new Center for Renewable Natural Gas. The Center is the first academic establishment in the United States dedicated to the study and applied research of renewable gas technologies. It was funded in part by SoCalGas with a matching donation from the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) and the National Center for Sustainable Transportation (NCST) and is part of UC Riverside’s Center for Environmental Research & Technology (CE-CERT).

Riverside has found a startup champion in Taj Ahmad Eldridge.

In his new appointment to head the 2-year-old ExCITE (Center for Innovation Technology & Entrepreneurship) Program, Eldridge is working to recruit new venture partners and entrepreneurs, create workshops and refashion ExCITE.

A new University of California, Riverside-driven effort launching Wednesday will help turn Inland Empire entrepreneurs’ and innovators’ ideas into reality.

The Entrepreneurial Proof of Concept and Innovation Center, or Riverside EPIC, will be a launch pad for entrepreneurs and startup companies, providing resources for training, mentors and connections to investors and partners. The official kickoff is 3 p.m. Wednesday at the Riverside County Administration Center at 4080 Lemon St. in Riverside.

SACRAMENTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce (CHCC), the premier organization promoting the development of Hispanic entrepreneurs and emerging Hispanic businesses in California, kicks off the 2016 Annual Convention in Riverside, CA, September 21st to 23rd at the Riverside Convention Center.

Innovation Starts Here is the theme of the 37th Annual Conference. The three day convention will focus on new innovations sparking the creativity of entrepreneurs throughout California, technologies transforming industries, and recognizing Hispanic millennials and Latinas who are forging their own paths in business.

DANBURY, Conn., Sept. 07, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FuelCell Energy, Inc. (Nasdaq:FCEL), a global leader in the design, manufacture, operation and service of ultra‐clean, efficient and reliable fuel cell power plants, announced the completion of construction and commercial operation of a megawatt-class fuel cell power plant at the Riverside Regional Water Quality Control Plant in Riverside, California. The project is structured so that the City of Riverside pays for power produced achieving immediate operating cost savings without any capital outlay and in a manner that supports the City’s sustainability goals.

DIAMOND BAR, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SolarMax LED, through its wholly owned subsidiary ActOne Communications, Inc., has landed a multi-million dollar California Department of Transportation contract to replace more than 29,000 aging street lights with the Southern California company’s leading-edge, high-efficiency LED luminaires. Initial work will focus on public roadways and arterials across Sacramento County.