Message from the Director
Dear Friends,
This past summer and fall have been busy times for the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University. Exciting research garnered funding, students engaged with faculty on vital projects, and new initiatives and collaborations were launched, as detailed in our latest newsletter here.
As I draft this dispatch, recent events have thrown into high relief the urgency and importance of our mission towards a carbon-neutral world. For these uncertain times, we must do our part in moving the needle on curbing climate change, individually and collectively. This is an all-hands-on-deck moment that demands from us sustained effort, passion, and deep collaboration.
To guide us through this critical juncture, I have in mind three words:
excel - engage - inform
Through excelling in technological innovation and development, engaging the community in public discourse, and informing the public about the scientific urgency of climate change, the Andlinger Center will do its part in solving our pressing energy and environmental issues.
I hope you can join me in fulfilling our goals by attending our events, supporting critical research, and exchanging ideas with us. The lives of our children and our children's children all depend on these efforts.
 Yueh-Lin (Lynn) Loo
Director of the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment
Theodora D. ’78 and William H. Walton III ’74 Professor in Engineering
Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering
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Fifth Annual Meeting
Ralph Izzo of PSEG gave the keynote address at Princeton E-ffiliates Partnership's Fifth Annual Meeting. Photo by David Kelly Crow.
Princeton E-ffiliates Partnership hosted its Fifth Annual Meeting on Friday, November 11. This year’s annual meeting featured a keynote address on New Jersey’s evolving energy needs and how utilities can meet them by Ralph Izzo, chairman of the board, president, and CEO of Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG).
The audience at the annual meeting. Photo by David Kelly Crow.
The gathering saw more than 200 attendees, including academics, industrial representatives, policy experts, and students. Participants networked and were engaged in thought-provoking discussions on energy and the environment and learned about emerging solutions and technologies.
The day-long event featured talks on advanced biofuels, energy conversion from wind with a new concept known as the Helmholtz resonator, and how behavioral science impacts energy and environmental policies. There were also two panel discussions, with one focusing on the energy-water nexus and the other on the role of behavioral science in environmental policy. A student poster session and a reception concluded the meeting.
For more information on this event, read this article.
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Annual Report
 The Andlinger Center recently published its 2015-16 Annual Report, which details faculty news and awards, research funded, educational initiatives, outreach to outside practitioners, and information on the center’s new building.
Read the report here.
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ExxonMobil funds five research projects
Princeton researchers working in collaboration with scientists at ExxonMobil’s research arm will be conducting innovative research on batteries, solar cells, Arctic sea ice, ocean absorption of carbon dioxide, and low energy plasmas.
This collaboration was sparked by ExxonMobil’s pledge in 2015 to contribute $5 million over five years to Princeton E-ffiliates Partnership. Graduate students and postdoctoral researchers at Princeton will also join the lead researchers in investigating the five selected topics.
These projects are part of E-ffiliates’ on-going mission to lower barriers for collaboration between industry and Princeton faculty and researchers.
For more information on these projects, read here.
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New appointments
Jointly appointed as an assistant professor to electrical engineering and the Andlinger Center, Minjie Chen will join Princeton in February 2017.
 Chen is an expert in power electronics with a focus on renewable energy integration, grid-interface power electronics, and high-performance power management systems. Chen is currently finishing a postdoctoral year at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he also received his Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science.
In the spring, Chen will be teaching ELE 581: Principles of Power Electronics, which will feature fundamental principles and design of power electronics.
 Mark Zondlo, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at Princeton, was appointed as the new Associate Director for External Partnerships at the Andlinger Center, effective September 1.
He succeeds Paul Chirik, the Edwards S. Sanford Professor of Chemistry, whose service to the center is very much appreciated.
In his role as associate director at the center, Zondlo leads Princeton E-ffiliates Partnership. With strong support from the University’s Office of Corporate Engagement and Foundation Relations, Zondlo is building relationships with prospective E-ffiliates members and stewarding existing partnerships. Read more here.
 Elke Weber, an internationally-known behavioral scientist, joined the faculty at the Andlinger Center this fall. Weber is jointly appointed to the Andlinger Center, the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, and the Department of Psychology.
She is the Gerhard R. Andlinger Professor in Energy and the Environment, and professor of psychology and public affairs.
Weber’s work straddles the disciplines of psychology and economics. She brings to the Andlinger Center her unique expertise on measuring and modeling the behaviors of individuals and different groups of people as they deal with uncertainty and tradeoffs in decisions that impact the environment, with implications for environmental and energy policy.
An interview with Weber concludes this newsletter.
Read more on her appointment here.
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The Andlinger Center Speaks
 To engage the public, the center recently launched The Andlinger Center Speaks, a new Q/A series that features experts from the center addressing topical and timely energy and environmental issues.
 In the first interview of the series, Daniel Steingart, assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, shed light on why Samsung phone batteries were exploding, which had recently dominated the news.
In a second interview, research members of the center’s Energy Systems Analysis Group (ESAG) focused on the Paris climate deal, which had come into force on November 4. Members of the group are Robert Williams, senior research scientist; Eric Larson, senior research engineer; and Thomas Kreutz, energy systems modeler.
Members of ESAG, from left to right: Eric Larson, Thomas Kreutz, and Robert Williams. Photo courtesy of Princeton Environmental Institute.
 In the third and latest interview, Robert Socolow, professor emeritus and senior research scholar at Princeton’s Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, spoke on the possible impacts of President-elect Donald Trump on climate change and science.
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Student highlights
From improving the performance of solar cells to genetically engineering yeast to make biofuels, eight undergraduates at Princeton engaged in exciting energy- and environment-related research projects this past summer through the Andlinger Center. The students, who worked for eight weeks under the guidance of Andlinger Center faculty members, received funding for their projects through the Peter B. Lewis Fund for Student Innovation in Energy and the Environment and the Dede T. Bartlett P03 Fund for Student Research in Energy and the Environment. Read their reflections on their research.
Students and visitors engaged in a fun scavenger hunt at the Andlinger Center on October 21. Groups scoured the building for answers to clues and learned about the center’s cutting edge energy and environment research, the building’s sustainability systems, gardens, green roofs, and collaborative spaces. Top finishers won gift cards to local businesses.
A group of students peeked into one of the Andlinger Center's specialized labs during a scavenger hunt in October. Charmaine Smiklo, the center's faculty and program assistant, held the door for them. Photo by Sharon Adarlo.
On November 9, Princeton students learned about and took a spin in an electric battery-powered bus manufactured by BYD Motors, Inc., which is based in Shenzhen, China. Eva Lerner-Lam ’76, BYD's director of eastern U.S. business, gave a talk on the company and demo on the bus at the Andlinger Center. BYD says the vehicle is the first long-range, battery-electric bus. Over 50 students with an interest in energy and the environment attended the event.
Students on the BYD electric bus. Photo by Moira Selinka.
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In the news
Andlinger Center’s physical home was featured in the November issue of the Architectural Record, one of the world’s foremost architectural magazines. Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects, who are based in New York City, designed the gray brick and glass complex, which is notable for its modern look, abundant natural light, courtyards, and gardens. Read more here.
Garden pathway at the Andlinger Center. Photo by David Kelly Crow.
The latest EQuad News featured two faculty members associated with the center. Egemen Kolemen, assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment and Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, talked about his work on controlling plasma in fusion reactors.
Egemen Kolemen (left) speaks with Al von Halle, head of engineering and operations for NSTX-U, a major experiment in nuclear fusion being conducted at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. Photo by Frank Wojciechowski.
Warren Powell, professor of operations research and financial engineering, was highlighted for helping Brazil analyze and integrate new types of renewable energy into the country’s electric grid.
Warren Powell teaching in a classroom at Princeton. Photo by David Kelly Crow.
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U.S. Army partnership
Hailed as the first steps towards fruitful dialogue, collaboration, and information exchange on sustainable energy and environmental research, the Andlinger Center signed an agreement with the Picatinny Arsenal Garrison and the U.S. Army’s Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center on June 6.
Representatives from Princeton and the Army gathered in Prospect House for the signing. Photo by Frank Wojciechowski.
Through this new partnership, all three parties agreed to share ideas and institutional knowledge related to energy and environmental issues, help accelerate research, catalyze technology transfer, assist in meeting the Army’s sustainability goals, make available facilities and infrastructure at Picatinny for demonstration and research, and hold periodic site meetings to further grow dialogue and collaboration.
Read more here.
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New facilities celebrated
On Oct. 26, visitors toured the new cleanrooms and imaging and analysis center housed in the Andlinger Center. Photo by Frank Wojciechowski.
The cleanrooms and imaging and analysis center located at the Andlinger Center were highlighted in a day-long event on October 26, which featured a variety of talks by faculty and technical experts plus tours of the new facilities. Princeton Institute for the Science and Technology of Materials manages the specialized spaces.
For more on the event and spaces, read more here.
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Faculty Spotlight: Elke Weber
For the latest faculty Q/A, we talked with Elke Weber about her research, its application, and the tools she uses.
Read the interview here.
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Upcoming Highlight Seminars
Feb. 6, 2017
Ed Arens - University of California, Berkeley
Building Science and Resource Efficient Urban Design
March 27, 2017
Jenny Nelson - Imperial College London
Molecular Semiconductor Materials and Their Application to Organic Solar Cells
April 10, 2017
Saul Griffith - Otherlab
Renewable Energy Entrepreneurship
May 8, 2017
Marcelo Mena Carrasco - Ministry of the Environment, Government of Chile
Atmospheric Chemistry, Air Pollution and the Complex Mechanism of Climate Change
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