press releases
Energy Institute names assistant director of operations
Oct. 29, 2009
ANN ARBOR , MI
The U-M’s energy institute is sharpening its focus on partnerships and relationships on campus and beyond by naming an assistant director of operations.
Bruno Vanzieleghem takes the new position in the Michigan Memorial Phoenix Energy Institute to continue to build relationships between faculty engaged in research and teaching in energy and with industry, government organizations, other institutes and universities focused on energy challenges.
“Energy clearly is one of the most crucial, and most complex, challenges we face today,” said Vanzieleghem. “The University of Michigan’s strong and impressive depth and breadth in energy-related science and research positions us well to join in the nation’s strong focus on solving the energy crisis, and I’m looking forward to helping capitalize on those resources.”
His work at the institute also will include assisting faculty in securing sponsored research through grants, contracts and other types of agreements in areas related to energy science, technology and policy.
Vanzieleghem comes to the institute from a six-year stint as the technical program manager for the Automotive Research Center, a multi-university consortium led by the U-M. He was responsible for connections with partner universities, financial planning, outreach to industrial and government stakeholders and the writing, planning and coordinating of research proposals to a variety of funding agencies in the field of sustainable transportation.
He has a PhD in mechanical engineering and a master’s degree in automotive engineering from the U-M and a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Ghent in Belgium
He currently is pursuing a master of business administration degree through the U-M Ross School Of Business Evening Program.
International partnership announces second round of transportation energy technology awards
Oct. 14, 2009
ANN ARBOR , MI
An international collaboration between the University of Michigan and Fraunhofer has launched two more joint research teams addressing the increasing global demand for more efficient and sustainable technologies for transportation.
Since April, the Alternative Energy Technologies for Transportation (AETT) program has awarded $2 million in seed grants for a total of five projects. All proposals were peer-reviewed and judged on originality, scientific visibility and possible economic impact by U-M’s Michigan Memorial Phoenix Energy Institute and Fraunhofer, together with U-M's Office of the Vice President for Research.
Each project also was judged on its potential to secure external funding or commercialization at the end of the two-year project phase. Each team has scientists from both the U-M and Fraunhofer.
Contract cracks down on nuclear reactor structures
Aug. 24, 2009
ANN ARBOR , MI
A recent energy contract is ensuring that the University of Michigan is continuing to be world-class in looking for cracks in the nuclear energy system. Literally.
Two five-year contracts, totaling $2.4 million, from the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and Oak Ridge National Laboratory under the U.S. Department of Energy Light Water Sustainability Program are enabling U-M scientists to better understand how radiation, stress and corrosion can lead to cracking in the inner workings of nuclear reactors.
That, combined with another three recent grants totaling $941,625, will continue advancing understanding of the stresses endured by nuclear materials.
U-M to receive funds to prepare workforce for green technology
Aug. 5, 2009
ANN ARBOR , MI
The University of Michigan will create courses to pave the way for a new generation of electric and hybrid vehicles, using $2.5 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding announced Wednesday by the White House.
Huei Peng, a professor of Mechanical Engineering and executive director of Interdisciplinary and Professional Engineering Programs, leads an effort to create classes at universities, as well as educational programs for K-12 students and the general public. The object: teach a vibrant workforce that can create a new green breed of vehicle.
“We want to develop all opportunities so the workforce in Michigan can be transformed,” Peng said.
This U-M grant came as part of an announcement by President Barack Obama of 48 advanced battery and electric-drive projects that will receive $2.4 billion.
The Advanced Electric Drive Vehicle Education Program grants, announced by Vice President Joseph Biden at NextEnergy in Detroit, were part of more than $1 billion going to companies and universities based in Michigan. Reflecting the state’s leadership in clean-energy manufacturing, Michigan companies and institutions are receiving the largest share of grant funding of any state.
The announcement marks the single largest investment in advanced battery technology for hybrid and electric-drive vehicles ever made. Industry officials expect that this investment, coupled with another $2.4 billion in cost-sharing from the award winners, will result in the creation of tens of thousands of manufacturing jobs in the U.S. battery and auto industries.
The U-M, Wayne State University in Detroit and Michigan Technological University in Houghton will receive a total of more than $10 million for education and workforce training programs to train researchers, technicians and service providers, and to conduct consumer research to accelerate the transition toward advanced vehicles and batteries.
The U-M grant will create 10 courses on topics such as hybrid electronics, batteries and green power. About half the courses will be taught at U-M in Ann Arbor, the others at UM-Dearborn and Kettering University, Peng said. Two laboratories will be developed to support the graduate and undergraduate courses, some of which likely will begin winter semester.
There also are plans for an energy summer camp for K-12 students, and other energy outreach programs for the general public.
The program was developed with industry partners with the support of Michigan’s Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth.
Peng is a fellow with U-M’s Michigan Memorial Phoenix Energy Institute, which develops, coordinates and promotes multidisciplinary energy research and education at U-M.
Also announced today, two companies, A123 and Johnson Controls, will receive a total of approximately $550 million to establish a manufacturing base in the state for advanced batteries. Two others, Compact Power and Dow Kokam, will receive more than $300 million to manufacture battery cells and materials.
Large automakers based in Michigan, including GM, Chrysler, and Ford, will receive a total of more than $400 million to manufacture thousands of advanced hybrid and electric vehicles as well as batteries and electric drive components.
Contact: Sue Nichols, (734) 615-5678 or suenic@umich.edu
Department of Energy press release
For additional reports:
- http://www.wwj.com/Michigan-Gets--1-Billion-Plus-In-Battery-Grants/4947276
- http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2009/08/biden_mich_to_get_1b_in_advanced_vehicle_grants.php?ref=fpa
Assanis is new director of energy institute
June 08, 2009
ANN ARBOR , MI
By Sue Nichols
Michigan Memorial Phoenix Energy Institute
A researcher known internationally for his vision of cleaner, more efficient generation of transportation energy has been named director of U-M’s energy institute.
Dennis Assanis, the Jon R. and Beverly S. Holt professor of engineering and an Arthur F. Thurnau professor, will direct the Michigan Memorial Phoenix Energy Institute, announced Stephen Forrest, vice president for research.
“Dennis brings to the Energy Institute a wealth of research knowledge in the transportation domain, still one of the largest energy-using sectors,” says Forrest. “Add to that his extensive interactions with industry and experience leading large research programs and this puts the Institute in position to expand its leadership role in the region and the nation.”
Assanis will take the position July 1, replacing Gary Was, the nuclear engineering professor who has led the institute since it began in September 2006, charged with developing, coordinating and promoting the vast array of multidisciplinary energy research, policy and education at U-M.
“During Gary’s tenure as director, he has been able to very successfully launch the institute as a university-wide resource,” says Forrest. “Gary has demonstrated exceptional leadership and insight into the complicated issues surrounding all aspects of energy.”
In 2008, U-M undertook approximately $43.5 million in grant-funded research ranging from energy storage and solar energy to automotive technologies. Additionally, U-M faculty are involved in studying public expectations and reactions to new energy innovations and probing what policymakers need to make good decisions.
Assanis’s work has focused on developing new transportation technologies that minimize the use of fossil fuels and generate reduced greenhouse gases and pollution. He directs the Automotive Research Center, the Walter E. Lay Automotive Laboratory, and the Multi-University Consortium on Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition Engine Research. He also is co-director of the General Motors Collaborative Research Laboratory on Engine Systems.
Assanis joined U-M in 1994 as a professor of mechanical engineering, coming from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is an advisory professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China and was an adjunct research scientist at the Energy and Environmental Systems Division of Argonne National Laboratory.
Assanis received his bachelor’s degree in marine engineering from Newcastle University, United Kingdom. He holds four graduate degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology: a master’s degree in naval architecture and marine engineering, a master’s in mechanical engineering, a doctorate in power and propulsion, and a master’s degree in management from MIT’s Sloan School of Management.
Assanis is recognized internationally for his innovative development of modeling methodologies and experimental techniques to shed light on complex thermal, fluid and chemical processes in internal combustion engines to improve fuel economy and reduce emissions. The engine system simulations Assanis has developed with his students and collaborators are being used in industry and national laboratories.
He has published with his students and collaborators more than 250 articles in journals and conference proceedings. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, a fellow of the Society of Automotive Engineers and of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
“My career has been dedicated to developing fundamental knowledge, transforming discoveries into technologies, and educating the future work force so as to create systems that use energy efficiently and wisely, harness new forms of energy, and utilize energy in ways symbiotic with our ecosystem,” Assanis says. “Providing leadership to an energy effort as powerful and complete as the University of Michigan’s is a tremendous opportunity to catalyze change needed to address three of the world’s most serious challenges: energy security, climate change and environmental sustainability.”
“Energy may be the single most important research-related issue facing humankind,” says Forrest. “The country needs Michigan to succeed in both the technological as well as policy and behavioral science aspects of the energy challenge. Dennis and the Energy Institute are poised to lead this effort.”
Alternative Energy Technologies for Transportation (AETT) awards first seed grants, issues second call for proposals
May 01, 2009
ANN ARBOR , MI
With three winning projects underway, the international university/industry partnership is now gearing up for a second round.
A total of $1.2 million has been awarded to research projects on alternative energy technologies for transportation.
The Alternative Energy Technologies for Transportation program, a joint initiative by the University of Michigan, Fraunhofer USA, and Fraunhofer Germany, is intended to foster innovative early-stage collaborations between the initiating parties that are likely to secure follow-on external funding or commercialization after the initial project phase. More>
DOE to establish energy frontier research center in solar energy at the University of Michigan
April 27, 2009
ANN ARBOR , MI
The University of Michigan will be home to an Energy Frontier Research Center (EFRC) that will explore new materials to better convert solar energy to electricity, the White House has announced. The DOE plans to fund this center at a level of about $19.5 million.
It is one of 46 centers announced across the nation and one of two in Michigan.The other is Michigan State University's Revolutionary Materials for Solid State Energy Conversion.
President Obama made the announcement at the annual meeting of the National Academy of Sciences. The EFRCs, which will pursue advanced scientific research on energy, are being established by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science at universities, national laboratories, nonprofit organizations and private firms across the nation.
The center will be Solar Energy Conversion in Complex Materials and will be dedicated to studying complex material structures on the nanoscale to identify key features for their potential use to convert solar energy and heat to electricity.
The center, funded for five years, will focus both on fundamental research on materials for solar energy conservation and storage and on designing realistic materials based on this research.
"The University of Michigan will be exploring the fundamental properties of materials and how to exploit those properties to ultimately result in high-efficiency solar cells," said Stephen Forrest, vice president for research and one of the scientists in the new center. "People at the university have enormous ability to grow new materials at the nano scale and bring new products to market. It's all about surface materials."
Twenty-two U-M faculty researchers will be part of the center, in areas from materials science and engineering, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, physics and chemistry. Six of these are faculty fellows in the Michigan Memorial Phoenix Energy Institute at U-M.
Peter Green, Vincent T. and Gloria M. Gorguze Professor of Engineering chair of the Materials Science and Engineering department and principal investigator of the EFRC, explained that while materials that convert solar energy and heat into electricity have been around for years, the challenge is developing new generation of materials that are significantly more efficient. Currently, too much energy is lost during the energy conversion process.
U-M's distinction, he said, is its vast array of expertise to tackle the questions on all fronts—from fundamental research involving synthesis and fabrication of materials to understanding their properties at the nano, molecular or atomic scale. "We are working on challenging problems that can't be solved by just one person in a laboratory, but by an interdisciplinary team of world-class researchers from across the campus of the University of Michigan," Green said. "Our team includes researchers who study optical and electronic processes using very sophisticated tools, people who fabricate new materials and control structures at the nanoscale, people who can synthesize materials with unusual properties and people who are experienced in designing and making devices."
U-M's scientists and engineers also are partners in other EFRCs across the nation.
In addition to the U-M solar center, Forrest also is part of the center at the University of Southern California Emerging Materials for Solar Energy Conversion and Solid State Lighting center which will simultaneously explore the light absorbing and emitting properties of hybrid inorganic-organic materials for solar energy conversion and solid state lighting.
Researchers Rod Ewing and Udo Beck are co-principal investigators in a center based at the University of Notre Dame that will study nuclear materials under extreme conditions to lay the scientific foundation for advanced nuclear energy systems. Beck is a professor in the Department of Geological Sciences. Ewing is the Donald R. Peacor Collegiate Professor in the Department of Geological Sciences, the William Kerr Professor in the Department of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences, and a professor of materials science and engineering
Sharon Glotzer, professor of chemical engineering, materials science and engineering, physics, macromolecular science and engineering, and applied physics, is part of a center being established at Northwestern University to synthesize, characterize and understand new classes of materials under conditions far from equilibrium relevant to solar energy conversion, storage of electricity and hydrogen, and catalysis.
And Ctirad Uher, professor of physics, will work with a center based at Michigan State University in East Lansing which will focus on revolutionary materials for solid state energy conversion.
The U-M EFRC is one of 16 to be funded by Obama's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
"As global energy demand grows over this century, there is an urgent need to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and imported oil and curtail greenhouse gas emissions," said Secretary of Energy Steven Chu. "Meeting this challenge will require significant scientific advances. These Centers will mobilize the enormous talents and skills of our nation's scientific workforce in pursuit of the breakthroughs that are essential to make alternative and renewable energy truly viable as large-scale replacements for fossil fuels."
Forrest said U-M's Solar Energy Conversion in Complex Materials Center not only is high-impact nationally, but also crucial to Michigan's economic recovery.
"This center is a significant win for the state of Michigan," Forrest said. "Renewable energy—solar energy in particular—is one of the major areas for opportunity in rebuilding the economy and this is exactly the sort of activity that makes sense not only to generate new science, but also very important economic opportunities in the long run."
The 46 EFRCs were selected from a pool of some 260 applications received in response to a solicitation issued by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science in 2008. Selection was based on a rigorous merit review process utilizing outside panels composed of scientific experts.
EFRC researchers will take advantage of new capabilities in nanotechnology, high-intensity light sources, neutron scattering sources, supercomputing and other advanced instrumentation, much of it developed with DOE Office of Science support over the past decade, in an effort to lay the scientific groundwork for fundamental advances in solar energy, biofuels, transportation, energy efficiency, electricity storage and transmission, clean coal and carbon capture and sequestration, and nuclear energy.
Of the 46 EFRCs selected, 31 are led by universities, 12 by DOE National Laboratories, two by nonprofit organizations and one by a corporate research laboratory. The criterion for providing an EFRC with Recovery Act funding was job creation. The EFRCs chosen for funding under the Recovery Act provide the most employment for postdoctoral associates, graduate students, undergraduates and technical staff, in keeping with the Recovery Act's objective to preserve and create jobs and promote economic recovery.
Contact: Sue Nichols
Phone: (734) 615-5678
suenic@umich.edu
Energy Research Opportunity grants awarded
April 3, 2009
Dennis Assanis, professor of Mechanical Engineering and director of the Automotive Research Center, and Marios Papaefthymiou. professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and director of the Advanced Computer Architecture Laboratory, have been awarded the Energy Research Opportunity Grants, sponsored by the Michigan Memorial Phoenix Energy Institute and the College of Engineering.
The grants are intended to develop alliances and to position for the expected increase in funding opportunities. Selection criteria for the peer-reviewed proposals included:
- Strength of proposed ideas and completeness of a plan
- Potential for external alliances and/or partnerships
- Potential for external funding
- Existing expertise or ideas for gaining needed expertise to support the plan
Assanis’ proposal is for an NSF Engineering Research Center for Carbon-Neutral Vehicles. It noted the world consumption of energy, increased greenhouse gas emissions and the current energy mix are not sustainable. Multidisciplinary opportunities will be in the areas of biofuels, life cycle analysis, energy storage and conversion, powertrain development, development of novel energy harvesting materials and expanded work in to the ‘smart’ grid. Additionally, U-M’s depth in public policy will enable the evaluation of various policy options and the economic impact of transforming the transportation system. Dennis’s proposal includes a “who’s who” of potential academic and industry partners including, but not limited to: MIT, MSU, UC Berkley, GM, Ford, Toyota, Dow, A123 Systems and the State of Michigan.
Papaefthymiou’s proposal calls for the establishment of Energy-Efficient Data Centers. Computing is an energy-intensive industry. The world’s largest Internet companies are reviewing options to significantly re-engineer their data centers to reduce significantly energy consumption. The biggest energy drain is in the IT equipment itself, followed by powering the cooling equipment necessary to keep the systems running. In three years, the cost of powering and cooling servers exceeds the server’s purchase. It will take a multidisciplinary approach to address key challenges in framework modeling, hardware and software energy efficiency improvements as well as the development of standards for measurement and instrumentation. Papaefthymiou’s multidisciplinary team includes faculty from EECS, CSE, ME, CEE, MSE and AOSS. Industry partners include APC, AT&T, HP, Goggle and Microsoft.
U-M faculty members lead bold effort to launch national network of energy-innovation institutes
Feb 6, 2009
ANN ARBOR, Mich.
Former University of Michigan President James Duderstadt and many colleagues are urging the federal government to establish a network of several dozen major energy-research institutes to quickly convert breakthrough inventions into market-ready technologies.
The plan's lead proponents include Gary Was, director of the Michigan Memorial Phoenix Energy Institute at U-M, and university presidents Michael Crow of Arizona State University and Gordon Gee of Ohio State University.
They advocate the creation of a network that links the nation’s best scientists and engineers at research universities, corporations and federal laboratories. The goal is to rapidly develop clean and efficient next-generation energy technologies.
"Both the magnitude and character of federal energy innovation programs remain inadequate to address the scale, urgency and complexity of the energy challenges faced by this nation," said Duderstadt, a University Professor of Science and Engineering.
"The federal government should place the search for breakthrough technologies and practices at the center of its energy efforts," he said. "The nation needs a bold campaign to solve one of the most complex problems the nation has ever encountered."
Duderstadt, Crow and Gee will discuss the energy-institute concept Feb. 9 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Duderstadt is the lead author of a new Brookings paper outlining the proposal. The co-authors are U-M's Was, Robert McGrath of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Mark Muro of the Brookings Institution, Michael Corradini of the University of Wisconsin, Linda Katehi of the University of Illinois, Rick Shangraw of Arizona State University and Andrea Sarzynski of George Washington University.
U-M researchers define challenging carbon-emissions targets for U.S. auto industry
Jan 28, 2009
ANN ARBOR, Mich.
U.S. automakers must achieve an eightfold reduction in automobile-related carbon emissions to help stabilize the amount of heat-trapping carbon dioxide gas in the atmosphere by 2050, according to University of Michigan researchers.
A research team from the U-M Center for Sustainable Systems looked at what it would take for U.S. automakers to reduce passenger car-related carbon emissions to help stabilize carbon dioxide levels at a concentration of 450 parts per million by 2050, thereby averting many of the most serious consequences of human-caused climate change.
Currently, U.S. passenger vehicles emit about 160 grams of carbon for every mile driven, when tailpipe emissions and emissions associated with fuel production are included. To help stabilize emissions by 2050, that number must be reduce eightfold, to 20 grams per mile, according to center co-director Greg Keoleian of the U-M School of Natural Resources and Environment.
U-M scientist to create global maps of CO2 using Orbiting Carbon Observatory data
Jan 28, 2009
ANN ARBOR, Mich.
The first global maps of atmospheric carbon dioxide levels based on data from NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory will be created by a University of Michigan researcher and her colleagues.
The team will use sophisticated mathematical techniques to fill information gaps between the satellite's direct measurements, the closest of which will be 93 miles apart at the equator.
Leading the carbon cartographers is Anna Michalak, an assistant professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences.
OCO is scheduled to launch Feb. 23. As the first NASA satellite designed exclusively to study carbon dioxide, OCO's data, along with Michalak's maps, will provide unprecedented detail about this greenhouse gas in the atmosphere.
OCO will clarify how levels of carbon dioxide fluctuate across continents, oceans, and seasons. It will work to identify the sources and sinks of carbon across the globe. Natural sinks are places that soak up CO2, such as plants and some areas of the oceans. Understanding the Earth's natural uptakes and emissions of carbon is critical to predicting the planet's future climate.
Michalak and her colleagues' work will involve filling the information gaps between the OCO's measurement points without introducing assumptions that could obscure the results.
U-M and Fraunhofer unite to ignite energy innovations
Dec. 18, 2008
ANN ARBOR, Mich.
International research collaborations seeking new ways to fuel transportation will get kick-started by a $2.2 million program sponsored by the University of Michigan and Fraunhofer.
The program will award seed money grants of up to $200,000 annually for two years to projects that explore alternative energy innovations for transportation. Each project must have researchers from both U-M and Fraunhofer, have strong potential to eventually attract external funding and ultimately be good candidates for commercialization.
“Partnerships between U-M and a world-class research and development organization like Fraunhofer will create an environment that can quickly move innovations out into the marketplace,” said Stephen Forrest, U-M vice president for research. “We have great confidence that this will be an exciting research opportunity to get technology quickly into the hands of business and industry, especially in Michigan.”
"Fraunhofer looks forward to this collaboration because of the outstanding research expertise and the global importance of the subject," said Hans-Jörg Bullinger, President of Fraunhofer USA.
The Michigan Memorial Phoenix Energy Institute will work with U-M’s Office of the Vice President for Research and Fraunhofer to select and evaluate projects. The energy institute is dedicated to expanding energy research activities on campus and translating them into business opportunities for Michigan.
Scientists explore putting electric cars on a two-way power street
Oct 1, 2008
ANN ARBOR, Mich.
Think of it as the end of cars’ slacker days: No more sitting idle for hours in parking lots or garages racking up payments, but instead earning their keep by providing power to the electricity grid.
Scientists at the University of Michigan, using a $2 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF), are exploring plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) that not only use grid electricity to meet their power needs, but return it to the grid, earning money for the owner.
“Cars sit most of the time,” said Jeff Stein, a professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. “What if it could work for you while it sits there? If you could use a car for something more than just getting to work or going on a family vacation, it would be a whole different way to think about a vehicle, and a whole different way to think about the power grid, too.”
The concept, called vehicle-to-grid (V2G) integration, is part of a larger effort to embrace large-scale changes that are needed to improve the sustainability and resilience of the transportation and electric power infrastructures. If V2G integration succeeds, it will enable the grid to utilize PHEV batteries for storing excess renewable energy from wind and the sun, releasing this energy to grid customers when needed, such as during peak hours.
Contact: Sue Nichols, (734) 615-5678 or suenic@umich.edu
Clean energy entrepreneurship prize offers $100,000 in awards
September 12 , 2008
ANN ARBOR, Mich.
To help move clean energy technologies from the laboratory to commercial production, DTE Energy and the University of Michigan are challenging teams from Michigan colleges and universities to develop the best business plans for bringing new clean energy technologies to market.
The teams with winning ideas will share $100,000 in prize money, to be awarded in the spring of 2009.
Applications and details of the competition are available on the Clean Energy Prize Web site: www.dtecleanenergyprize.com
“Our goal is to drive promising clean energy ideas and technologies from the research lab to commercialization,” said Knut Simonsen, president, DTE Energy Ventures. “This competition will encourage students and faculty to integrate new technology with a sound business plan and it will reward the winning teams with additional resources so they can further develop their ideas. We also believe the competition will help reinvigorate a culture of entrepreneurship in Michigan.”
Clean energy entrepreneurship prize offers $100,000 in awards
September 12 , 2008
ANN ARBOR, Mich.
To help move clean energy technologies from the laboratory to commercial production, DTE Energy and the University of Michigan are challenging teams from Michigan colleges and universities to develop the best business plans for bringing new clean energy technologies to market.
The teams with winning ideas will share $100,000 in prize money, to be awarded in the spring of 2009.
Applications and details of the competition are available on the Clean Energy Prize Web site: www.dtecleanenergyprize.com
“Our goal is to drive promising clean energy ideas and technologies from the research lab to commercialization,” said Knut Simonsen, president, DTE Energy Ventures. “This competition will encourage students and faculty to integrate new technology with a sound business plan and it will reward the winning teams with additional resources so they can further develop their ideas. We also believe the competition will help reinvigorate a culture of entrepreneurship in Michigan.”
"Harnessing brainpower" key to secure energy future
September 10 , 2008
The key to meeting the challenges of a secure energy future is strong partnerships between universities, government and business. Stephen Forrest, U-M vice president for research, Wednesday testified in Washington before the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming at its first hearing to address energy research and development.
He urged Congress to strengthen and expand collaborative energy research initiatives between universities, government and business.
"To succeed at this task, which is acknowledged as the biggest challenge facing humankind in this century, we must truly harness the brainpower of scientists and engineers across the country,” Forrest said. “Scientists from both academia and industry already have a solid history in finding solutions to meet our energy priorities."
The hearing laid the groundwork for energy legislation to be debated by Congress at the start of next year. In calling for a robust federal energy R&D campaign, Chairman Edward Markey (D-MA) said, "America is a nation of innovators. From the founding fathers to the YouTube creators, our country has always cultivated entrepreneurs with an idea about the next big thing."
Link to the hearing and testimony
Susan Hockfield, president of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Forrest, and Daniel Kammen of UC-Berkley testify Wednesday.
For a Washington Post editorial on the importance of federal investment in energy research and development by MIT's president, Susan Hockfield visit here.
Social scientist joins campus energy institute
July, 2008
ANN ARBOR, Mich.
An expert in public policy, economics and mathematics known for innovative modeling of social phenomena is on board this month as associate director for social science and policy in the Michigan Memorial Phoenix Energy Institute at U-M.
Carl P. Simon’s appointment enforces the institute’s unique approach to solving global energy challenges, adding a long-range sensibility to problems to compliment short-term solutions.
Energy Institute hires communications director
July, 2008
ANN ARBOR, Mich.
A veteran science communicator has been named marketing and communications director of the Michigan Memorial Phoenix Energy Institute at the U-M.
Sue Nichols comes to lead the communications effort that supports the broad spectrum of energy research at the university; a topic she says is among the most critical science issues facing the world today.
Energy fellowships foster innovation, collaboration
July 10, 2008
ANN ARBOR, Mich.
This year's winners of the Michigan Memorial Phoenix Energy Institute-Rackham Energy Fellowships are a metaphor for energy innovation's future---defined less by titles and majors and more by ideas and with whom they collaborate.
The four doctoral students---sporting expertise in computational engineering, urban planning, chemical engineering and macromolecular science---will receive two years of funding and will work with faculty advisers under the umbrella of the Michigan Memorial Phoenix Energy Institute, which develops, coordinates and promotes multidisciplinary energy research and education at the University of Michigan.
University Research Corridor announces energy grant awardees
May 29, 2008
MACKINAC ISLAND, Mich.
URC's first seed money grants were awarded to two energy research projects. One project will develop low cost, nanostructured thermoelectric materials, focusing on efficiency and ease of manufacture. The second project will develop nano-barriers to efficiently produce low-cost ethanol from switchgrass.
DOE to fund advanced nuclear materials consortium led by U-M
October 15, 2007
ANN ARBOR, Mich.
A U-M led cooperative research project in advanced nuclear energy systems has been selected to receive part of $30.7 million in grants from the Department of Energy.
The research, “Cladding and Structural Materials for Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems”, is the only project focused on materials that was selected for funding. Gary S. Was and Lumin Wang, professors of nuclear engineering and radiological sciences and materials sciences and engineering, are primary investigators on the project.
U-M, PNNL study: Are plug-ins the next wave of hybrid vehicles?
September 25, 2007
ANN ARBOR, Mich.
Is America ready for rechargeable cars? Teams of researchers at the University of Michigan and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) will explore this question and others with $2 million from the U.S. Department of Energy's offices of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability and Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy.
U-M's Michigan Memorial Phoenix Energy Institute will coordinate efforts among several university departments, industry partners such as General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and DTE Energy, and PNNL. The study will explore facets of the future of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). The research will be conducted over two years, but a preliminary report will be available in January during the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
Watch the PHEV kickoff announcement
DTE Energy Foundation advances U-M energy leadership with $1.5 million professorship
August 28, 2007
ANN ARBOR, Mich.
DTE Energy Foundation has pledged $1.5 million to the College of Engineering and the Michigan Memorial Phoenix Energy Institute (MMPEI) to create the DTE Energy Professorship of Advanced Energy Research.
The contribution reflects DTE Energy's commitment to advanced energy research and belief in MMPEI's ability to provide solutions to energy-related challenges worldwide. The gift comes as part of The Michigan Difference, the U-M's $2.5 billion fund-raising campaign.
"This grant, one of the largest our foundation has ever made, underscores DTE Energy's commitment to leading our state and industry in creating an energy future that is sustainable and that offers reliable, affordable energy," said Fred Shell, DTE Energy vice president of corporate and government affairs and president of the DTE Energy Foundation. "We're looking forward to collaborating with the University on this exciting and critically important work."
What You’ll be Driving in 10 Years
July 16, 2007
ANN ARBOR, Mich.
By Zoran Filipi
In his 2007 State of the Union Address, President Bush set a national goal of replacing more than 75% of US oil imports from the Middle East by 2025. To achieve this formidable target, the research community and automakers need to develop cleaner, cheaper, and more reliable alternative energy sources and to change the way we power our automobiles.
Sensing the urgency, private foundations are stimulating creative minds with competitions such as the Automotive X Prize. A multimillion-dollar purse will be awarded to teams that win a series of races in a production-ready vehicle capable of exceeding 100 mpg. Is this possible? Well, there is a prototype vehicle capable of demonstrating 140 miles per gallon of fuel in urban driving today1! It’s called a plug-in hybrid.
Voluntary greenhouse gas abatement is not a long term solution to climate change
May 14, 2007
ANN ARBOR, Mich.
Gloria Helfand is an Associate Professor of Environmental Economics at U-M's School of Natural Resources and Environment. Her research focuses on pollution policy and the comparison of market-based and regulatory methods.
With a steadily increasing number of organizations embracing voluntary actions to reduce global warming, do we need federal government regulations?
Yes, and many of these organizations will agree that federal regulations are desirable.
Every time each of us emits greenhouse gases, we are changing our climate and the climate of everyone else in the world. Each one of us individually has a small effect, but together we have a large and growing effect. Collective problems require collective solutions. Collective solutions arise from collective action, which is something government regulation is particularly effective at coordinating.
University establishes Michigan Memorial Phoenix Energy Institute
ANN ARBOR, Mich., Sept. 19,2006—The University of Michigan will significantly expand efforts in energy research with the creation of The Michigan Memorial Phoenix Energy Institute.
“Finding renewable sources of energy is one of our most urgent global problems, and the University of Michigan is in a unique position to make an immense contribution to finding solutions,” U-M President Mary Sue Coleman said today.
“Our exceptional programs in nuclear engineering, automotive engineering, as well as our long-standing industry partnerships, will provide the scope and scale of expertise to make a real difference in areas such as advanced nuclear power systems, solar power, hydrogen technology, fuel cells, battery research and low power electronics.”
The institute will coordinate activities, serve as an international authority and resource in energy-related issues, assist in developing funding sources and attracting faculty, manage the facilities, engage industry and provide a unified voice and focal point on energy research, policy, and education.
MMPEI Announces 2007 Energy Science, Technology and Policy project award
ANN ARBOR, Mich., Jan. 18, 2007—The Michigan Memorial Phoenix Energy Institute announced today the selection of the project titled "Integrating Resource Assessment, Economics and Public Policy to Optimize Renewable Electricity Generation" as the first recipient of funding under the Energy Science, Technology and Policy Award program. The Project Director is Duncan Callaway (School of Natural Resources and Environment and College of Engineering) and collaborating investigators are Meredith Fowlie (Ford School of Public Policy), Greg Keoleian (School of Natural Resources and Environment), Tom Lyon (Ross School of Business), Michael Moore (School of Natural Resources and Environment) and Steven Skerlos (College of Engineering).
The purpose of this two-year project is to understand the relationship between renewable energy technologies, electricity consumption patterns, and environmental policy. One of the key challenges to integrating renewable generators into the grid is that resource availability and electricity demand are variable in space, and often uncorrelated in time. This program will create a framework that models this intermittency. The framework will inform market-driven models of consumer and producer investment in clean energy technologies. These models will be used to evaluate a range of policy and economic options, which themselves may vary spatially.