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Texas A&M Energy Institute Research Proposals Awarded to Faculty

Published: May 19, 2015
Texas A&M Energy Institute Seed Grants
Texas A&M Energy Institute Seed Grants

Ten proposals have been selected for funding under the First “Energy Seed Grant” Proposal Call by the Texas A&M Energy Institute. A total of 41 proposals were submitted from six different colleges across our campus. The high quality of submissions was impressive, and we anticipate announcing a second call for proposals in January 2016.

The internal competitive proposal competition has the primary objectives of:

  • Encouraging innovative interdisciplinary energy research collaborations.
  • Supporting groups of researchers working on important energy-related topics.

Below is a list of the funded projects:

2015 Funded Proposals

Research Proposal Call

Production/Logistics/Processing Design for the Use of Agricultural Feedstocks for Liquid Fuel Production: Case Studies in Two Regions

Principal Investigator

Bruce McCarl
Department of Agricultural Economics

Co-Principal Investigators

Neil Geismar
Department of Information and Operations Management, Mays Business School

Steve Searcy
Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering

Demonstration of Computer-Aided Design and Discovery of Materials for Energy Applications

Principal Investigator

Benjamin Wilhite
Department of Chemical Engineering

Co-Principal Investigator

Tahir Cagin
Department of Materials Science and Engineering

Domestication of Microalgae — From Natural Diversity to Synthetic Biology

Principal Investigator

Arum Han
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Co-Principal Investigator

Timothy Devarenne
Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics

Mesoscale Interactions in the Air Electrode for Li-Air Batteries

Principal Investigator

Partha Mukherjee
Department of Mechanical Engineering

Co-Principal Investigators

Sarbajit Banerjee
Department of Chemistry

Hong Liang
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Andreas Holzenburg
Department of Biology and Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics

Development of Synergetic/mobile Multi-source Multi-purpose Ocean Renewable Energy Station

Principal Investigator

Moo-Hyun (Joe) Kim
Department of Civil Engineering

Co-Principal Investigators

Kuang-An Chang
Department of Civil Engineering

James Kaihatu
Department of Civil Engineering

Jun Kameoka
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Zephyrgy, a Novel Wind Turbine

Principal Investigator

Othon Rediniotis
Department of Aerospace Engineering

Co-Principal Investigators

Jorge Alvarado
Department of Engineering Technology and Industrial Distribution

Exploring the Effect of Oil Swelling due to Nanochannel Confinement of CO2 for Enhanced Oil Recovery in Unconventional Reservoirs (Shale)

Principal Investigator

Hadi Nasrabadi
Department of Petroleum Engineering

Co-Principal Investigator

Debjyoti Banerjee
Department of Mechanical Engineering and Department of Petroleum Engineering

Energy Development under Water Scarcity and Climate Change: A Case Study in the San Antonio, TX Region

Principal Investigator

Rabi Mohtar
Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering and Department of Civil Engineering

Co-Principal Investigator

Bruce McCarl
Department of Agricultural Economics

A Single-Step Separation and Storage of Methane from Conventional and Unconventional Sources

Principal Investigator

M.M. Faruque Hasan
Department of Chemical Engineering

Co-Principal Investigators

Hong-Cai (Joe) Zhou
Department of Chemistry

Hae-Kwon Jeong
Department of Chemical Engineering

Phanourios Tamamis
Department of Chemical Engineering

Integrated Common-Grid Multiscale Models for Seismic Imaging of Subsurface Fluid Flow

Principal Investigator

Richard Gibson
Department of Geology and Geophysics

Co-Principal Investigators

Yalchin Efendiev
Department of Mathematics

Eduardo Gildin
Department of Petroleum Engineering