GLEI Advisory Board member Dr. Suresh Baskaran, the chief science and technology officer for energy and environmental research at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, was recently selected to become a member of the Washington State Academy of Sciences. He joins other scientists and engineers from across Washington state being recognized for outstanding scientific achievement and leadership. Academy members provide expert scientific and engineering analysis to inform public policy-making, and work to increase the role and visibility of science in the state.
The Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) of the U.S. Department of Energy has awarded a plus-up of funds in the amount of $1,172,105, with an additional cost share of $500,000, to Dr. Robert Savinell and Dr. Jesse Wainright for their work on a high energy storage capacity iron flow battery. The total ARPA-E funding for this project is now $3,247,910 with an additional $617,643 in cost share. Fusion Power Systems has also awarded Case Western Reserve University a research contract of $172,000 to serve as cost-share towards the ARPA-E award. Fusion Power Systems is an Australian company delivering uninterruptible power solutions to the IT industry.
On July 27th, the Great Lakes Energy Institute at Case Western Reserve University hosted business leaders from across the energy industry for our first “Energy Industry Day” at the Tinkham Veale University Center. Twenty-three faculty members presented their current research on energy-related topics ranging from Novel Plasma Assisted Fuel Injectors to Data Analytics for Virtual Energy Audits and Value Capture of Buildings, offering a sample of the variety of energy research underway at CWRU. In total, over 40 companies were represented either in person or via a live stream webcast; among those present were industry giants such as Current by General Electric, Johnson Controls Inc., Siemens, and FirstEnergy, as well as NASA, Air Force Research Labs, investors and educational organizations.
Dr. Walter J. Culver, founding board member of Great Lakes Energy Institute, and Dr. Mingguo Hong, Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at CWRU, recently published an article in The Electricity Journal that explores why coal production in the U.S. has declined dramatically, in line with over 90% of it being used for electricity generation and its decline there.
Case Western Reserve University, NASA Glenn Research Center and the University of Toledo will serve as “living laboratories” that demonstrate the value of integrating distributed energy sources with the assortment of devices, equipment and other power consumers within buildings and across the grid.
GLEI is pleased to congratulate Dr. Jennifer L.W. Carter on winning the Bradley Stoughton Award for Young Teachers from ASM. Dr. Carter is assistant professor of materials science and engineering, a faculty member of the Solar Durability and Lifetime Extension Center, and is the Principal Investigator on the NETL Rapid Alloys Project.
Tom Tribone, Chairman of the Great Lakes Energy Institute Advisory Board, has been named a Finalist for the Platts Global Energy Awards in the category of Lifetime Achievement. The 2016 Finalists, chosen from over 170 nominees from 30 nominating countries, were recently announced by program host S&P Global Platts, the leading global provider of energy and commodities information and spot market benchmarks. Winners of the 2016 Platts Global Energy Awards will be announced at a black-tie celebration on December 8 at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City.
Researchers from the Great Lakes Energy Institute and Case Western Reserve University were on NPR’s The Sound of Ideas last week to talk about solar power.
The Department of Energy has awarded $3.7 million to the Lake Erie Energy Development Corp. (LEEDCo) to continue engineering work on a proposed wind turbine project in Lake Erie. This will allow LEEDCo to continue with their offshore wind research program, and is the third grant they have been awarded for this project.
Case Western, Carnegie Mellon, West Virginia University, and the University of Pittsburgh have begun a collaboration to attract government and corporate funding for energy research. By combining their resources, these universities believe they will be more competitive with large research centers for more high- profile projects, bringing more research dollars into the region.
On June 15th, Professor Dan Scherson testified before the U.S House of Representatives Subcommittee on Energy Committee on Science, Space, and Technology at a hearing on Innovation in Solar Fuels, Electricity Storage, and Advanced Materials. Professor Scherson is the Frank Hovorka Professor of Chemistry and Director of the Ernest B. Yeager Center for Electrochemical Sciences at Case Western Reserve University, and recently concluded his term as the President of The Electrochemical Society.
