| November 17, 2009 | Vol. 3. No. 20 |
IN THIS ISSUE: U-M ENERGY NEWS, ENERGY NEWS, FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES AND COMPETITIONS, UPCOMING EVENTS and CALL FOR PAPERS and COURSES
U-M ENERGY NEWS
New $10-million Department of Energy center to focus on plasma research
A new center at the University of Michigan College of Engineering will enable fundamental research on low-temperature plasmas—ionized gases with vast potential for practical technological advancements in fields such as energy, lighting, microelectronics and medicine. The Center for Predictive Control of Plasma Kinetics: Multi-phase and Bounded Systems is funded by a $10-million, 5-year grant from the U.S. Department of Energy.
U-M energy institute director tapped to help shape state’s wind future
Dennis Assanis, director of the Michigan Memorial Phoenix Energy Institute at the University of Michigan, has been tapped by Gov. Jennifer Granholm to help shape the state’s strategy to harness offshore wind energy. He will serve on the Great Lakes Wind Council, an advisory body within the Department of Energy, Labor, and Economic Growth that provides citizens with a public forum to begin to identify where, in the Great Lakes, wind energy systems may be prudently sited.
Grant supports smart materials to heat up car efficiency
Energy efficiency in cars is heating up with a Department of Energy grant the University of Michigan engineers are receiving through its partnership with General Motors. The Smart Materials and Structures division of the GM/U-M Automotive Research Institute will work to develop devices that convert waste heat from car engines into electricity with part of a $2.65 million award from the DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). Additional news release on the smart material project.
Brazil raises cane over U.S. ethanol tariff
Brazilian sugar producers say sugar-based fuel is more environmentally sound than electricity or corn ethanol as an alternative for powering cars. But the odds are long for a change......"The main problem with corn-based ethanol is that it competes with agriculture, and that's a huge social problem," said Anna Stefanopoulou, director of the University of Michigan Auto Research Center.
U-M recipient of Industrial Energy Efficiency Project for establishing industrial assessment center
Thirty-two awards will provide local technical support for the industrial sector through university-based Industrial Assessment Centers, state agencies, regional partnerships, and a national technical assistance provider.
ENERGY NEWS
DOE Awards up to $5.5 million for X PRIZE to promote clean, energy efficient vehicles
Department of Energy is providing up to $5.5 million in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to support the X PRIZE Foundation's work to inspire a new generation of energy efficient vehicles. As part of the Automotive X PRIZE competition, teams design innovative, commercially-viable, high-efficiency vehicles that will help break our dependence on oil and stem the effects of climate change. The funding which builds on a partnership with the X PRIZE Foundation that began in 2008, will provide technical assistance and expand national education and outreach efforts for the competition.
Electronics downsized for small engines
Electronic controls units are now small enough to fit onto scooters that must meet tighter emissions requirements. ....The U.S. EPA is requiring small spark-ignition engine manufacturers to reduce hydrocarbon emissions by about 35% by 2012. When the EPA regulations are fully implemented in 2015, harmful emissions from small gasoline engines will be 95% below 1997 levels. The National Association of Clean Air Agencies said the reduction will be the equivalent of removing one out of every five cars and trucks from the road.
Energy specialist Ernest Moniz describes multiple technologies—and political innovations—needed for low-carbon future
Innovative technologies hold great promise for weaning us from reliance on carbon-based fuels, but the political and economic innovations needed to make it happen may be in short supply, a leading energy specialist said recently at AAAS.
FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES and COMPETITIONS
Biomaterials - Due: 10/31/10
Sponsored by National Science Foundation, the Biomaterials Program supports fundamental research at the intersection of the physical, chemical, and biological sciences. General areas of interest include, but are not restricted to, multi-functional biomaterials such as photonic and electronic biomaterials, biomaterials for energy harvesting, conversion and storage, and biomaterials for sensors and actuators. This is funding opportunity PD-06-7623.
The Department of Energy Office of Science Graduate Fellowship - Application Due Date: 11/30/09
The Department of Energy Office of Science Graduate Fellowship program will award up to $12.5 million in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in early 2010 to support at least 80 graduate fellowships to U.S. students to pursue graduate training in basic research in areas of physics, biology, chemistry, mathematics, engineering, computational sciences, and environmental science. The Fellowship award provides partial tuition support, an annual stipend for living expenses, and a research stipend for full-time graduate study and thesis/dissertation research at a U.S. academic institution for three years.
DTE - UM Clean Energy Prize - Executive Summaries Due 11/20/09
UPCOMING EVENTS
Power System Research at ETH Zürich
Tue., Nov 17
3:00 - 4:00 p.m.
EECS Building
U-M North Campus
Speaker: Professor Goran Andersson, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH)
Gˆran Andersson is a Professor of electric power systems at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich, Switzerland. Since 2000, he has been a Full Professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich, where he heads the Power Systems Laboratory. His research interests are in power system analysis and control, in particular power system dynamics and issues involving HVDC and other power electronics-based equipment. Dr. Andersson is a Fellow of the IEEE, and a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
Biofuels in a Cap-and-Trade Context: Seminar by John DeCicco
Tue, Nov. 17, 5:00 - 6:00 p.m.
Room 2024 Dana Building, 440 Church St., Ann Arbor
University of Michigan
Cleantech 2009: Innovations & Opportunities for Building Business
Fri., Nov. 20, 7:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Anderson Room, Michigan Union
University of Michigan
The symposium will also host a panel discussion focused on current investment spaces in wind, solar, and energy storage. Cleantech 2009 is co-presented by the Erb Institute for Global and Sustainable Enterprise and the Samuel Zell & Robert H. Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies, at the University of Michigan.
CALL FOR PAPERS
ASME Journal of Mechanical Engineering
Special Issue: Sustainable Design
Authors submit papers by January 1, 2010
Review and revision process complete by May 1, 2010
Publication of special issue September 2010
POWER Research Conference on Energy Research and Policy
Abstracts Due: January 4, 2010
Conference: Friday, March 19, 2010
University of California, Berkeley
COURSES
Vehicle Electrification (Part A): Battery Systems and Control
This course covers battery modeling, control and diagnostic methodologies associated to battery electric and battery hybrid electric vehicles.
Winter Semester Course Number: MECHENG 499-006/599-006
Instructors: Dr. Hosam Fathy and Anna Stefanopoulou, University of Michigan Mechanical Engineering Dept.
Vehicle Electrification (Part B): Hydrogen and Fuel Cells
This course covers essential aspects of fuel cell vehicle technology, hydrogen fueling infrastructure, and potential benefits & barriers to the use of hydrogen as a vehicular fuel.
Winter Semester Course Number:MECHENG 499-006/599-006
Instructors: Profs. Don Siegel and Anna Stefanopoulo , University of Michigan Mechanical Engineering Dept.
www.energy.umich.edu Subscribe to Energy Highlights Unsubscribe top