Forget the old jokes about Southern California’s weather being changeless. Weather forecasting in Southern California is critical when it comes to fires, floods, earthquakes and other natural hazards. A number of advanced systems in computing and observations have been installed at Chapman University that are either operational or in advanced development.

Talking about these new technologies at a Dec. 9 luncheon program at Brandman University will be Menas Kafatos, Ph.D., Fletcher Jones Professor in Computational Physics, Vice Chancellor for Special Projects, and Dean, Schmid College of Science, and Steven R. Bray, chief executive officer of PowerPlus. The program is part of the OCTANe Innovation Lecture Series.

The program begins at 11:30 a.m. and includes lunch. Admission is free to faculty, staff and students and OCTANe members and sponsors. Tickets are $25 for the general public. Reservations and tickets are available online.