The Texas A&M Energy Institute hosted hosted a half-day research workshop on October 20, 2015 in the Texas A&M Memorial Student Center.
The focus was on “Non-Fossil-based Technologies for Energy,” and covered non-fossil resources such as biomass, solar, wind, geothermal, hydropower, and nuclear and electric power. The event featured a networking lunch, followed by a plenary lecture, poster presentations, a panel discussion, and an interactive question and answer session.
Approximately 100 participants attended, including faculty members, research associates, students, and industry partners.
Dr. Yushan Yan, Distinguished Engineering Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and associate dean for research and entrepreneurship in the College of Engineering at the University of Delaware, presented the plenary lecture. His topic, “Toward a distributed renewable electrochemical energy and mobility system (DREEMS): Polymer electrolytes and electrocatalysis,” focused on the development of a safe, clean, and sustainable alternative energy system utilizing a number of electrochemical devices including fuel cells, electrolyzers, and flow batteries. For all these devices, polymer electrolytes and electrocatalysis play a critical role in controlling their performance and cost, and thus their commercial viability.
Energy Institute Faculty Affiliates and their research teams, which included research associates, graduate students, and undergraduate students, presented more than 30 posters. Poster topics covered a wide range of issues from fuel cells and photovoltaic technologies, to biofuels and biogas, as well as transportation, logistics, policy, and energy efficiency. Faculty judges selected three outstanding posters, and each team was awarded $500.
Poster Contest Winners
First Place
“Investigating Chemical and Electrochemical Interactions during Discharge of a Lithium Sulfur Cell”
Team Members: Aashutosh Mistry, Chien-Fan Chen, Zhixiao Liu
Advisor: Professor Partha P. Mukherjee
Second Place
“Fuel Cell Energy System Integration & Automation”
Team Members: Amit Manthanwar, Nikiforos Maragkos, Ioana Nascu, Maria M. Papathanasiou, Nikolaos A. Diangelakis, Muxin Sun, Richard Oberdieck, Styliani Avraamidou, Gerald S. Ogumerem
Advisor: Professor Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos
Third Place
“Biomass to Liquid Transportation Fuels via Biological and Thermochemical Conversion: Process Synthesis and Global Optimization Strategies”
Team Members: Logan R. Matthews, Alexander M. Niziolek, Onur Onel, Neesha Pinnaduwage
Advisor: Professor Christodoulos A. Floudas
A panel discussion and interactive question and answer session featured plenary presenter Dr. Yan, as well as Dr. Charles H. Culp, a professor and associate director in the Energy Systems Laboratory in the Department of Architecture, Dr. Mark Holtzapple, a professor in the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, and Dr. Joe Zhou, Davidson Professor in Science in the Department of Chemistry.
