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Message from the Director
Dear Friends,
I’m delighted to welcome you to the first edition of the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment E-News. I hope this periodic newsletter will provide insight into the diverse happenings that make the Andlinger Center such a compelling new community here at Princeton.
The opportunities for interdisciplinary scholarship and collaboration have grown dramatically since the center was founded in 2008. One exciting new initiative launched in the last year is the Energy and Environment Corporate Affiliates Program. Led by the Andlinger Center in partnership with the Princeton Environmental Institute, the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, and the School of Architecture, the program promotes technology transfer between Princeton University and corporate partners. Members sponsor research projects and provide “real-world” experience and insight to our students, while gaining access to the ideas and skills of our world-class faculty, research scholars, and students.
As you will read below, we’re looking forward to another year of providing a wide range of experiences for Princeton’s community of scholars. Funds for interdisciplinary high-risk/high-payoff research, student internships, and graduate fellowships will be awarded on a competitive basis, the Highlight Seminar Series will feature world leaders in energy research, economics, and policy, and we’ll be hiring new faculty members with energy research portfolios that will broaden Princeton’s collective expertise. The generous support of the School of Engineering and Applied Science and our donors, in particular Gerhard R. Andlinger ‘52, makes all of this activity possible.
I hope you find our newsletter timely and useful, and I welcome your input for future editions. Please send your comments to acee@princeton.edu.
─ Emily A. Carter
Founding Director
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Funds awarded to faculty and students
The Andlinger Center recently awarded a new round of funds to faculty and students for research projects, internships, and a graduate fellowship in the area of sustainable energy development and energy conservation. Supported faculty research includes two Andlinger Innovation collaborative projects that are investigating wind energy and its environmental implications, and five Addy/ISN North American projects that are researching magnesium-ion batteries, iron catalysts for hydrogen generation, optimization of algal biofuels, renewable hydrogen for fuel cells, and battery storage of solar and wind power. Lewis internships were awarded to seven undergraduate engineering and chemistry students this past summer. The center also awarded the inaugural Maeder graduate fellowship for the 2012-2013 academic year to Josephine Elia (pictured above). Elia’s research focuses on optimizing supply chains for transportation fuels.
Funds have also been provided to the Princeton Entrepreneurship Club for their annual TigerTrek to Silicon Valley. The group will visit several major startup companies in the clean technology field. Last winter, the students visited Tesla Motors, Nest Labs, Sunrun, and the venture capital investment firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers. The trip initiated a summer internship at Nest for computer science major Prerna Ramachandra ’14.
The center currently administers seven funds that provide, on a competitive basis, support for faculty and student research. These funds are made possible by the generous support of alumni and friends of the Andlinger Center.
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Seeking proposals for collaborative research
The Energy and Environment Corporate Affiliates Program has issued a call for proposals, asking research teams to submit plans for interdisciplinary and integrative projects in the areas of energy and the environment. The call is open to collaborative teams across campus that include at least one Princeton faculty member in partnership with industry and/or other disciplines. Proposals with budgets of up to $150,000 may be submitted for consideration by September 24, 2012.
More requests for proposals are coming soon. Watch for announcements this fall and spring for faculty research funding provided by the Andlinger Innovation Fund and the Addy/ISN North American Fund, among others. In December, undergraduates may apply for summer internships, and in January faculty may nominate graduate students for the highly-competitive fellowship supported by the Maeder Fund.
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Building a legacy of teaching: Q & A with Daniel Giammar
Daniel Giammar is the Kenan Visiting Professor in the department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Andlinger Center this year. He recently told us about his research and the new undergraduate course he is teaching in the spring, "Environmental Implications of Energy Technologies." Professor Giammar joins us from Washington University in St. Louis, where he is an associate professor in the Department of Energy, Environmental, and Chemical Engineering. Previously, he was a postdoctoral research associate at Princeton in the geosciences department and a teaching fellow in the Council on Science and Technology. Read the full article here.
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Speakers series brings wide-ranging perspectives
The 2012-2013 Highlight Seminar Series is underway; see the list of upcoming events above and check our website for additional seminars and events to be added as the year progresses. The Highlight Seminar Series brings prominent leaders in energy research, economics, and policy to Princeton. This year, scholars at universities from across the country and experts at the U.S. Naval Research Lab and General Motors will discuss developments in solar energy, biofuels, batteries, energy economics, and more. All events are free and open to the public, and will take place at 4:30 p.m. in Computer Science 104, 35 Olden Street, with light refreshments to follow.
Videos of speakers from the 2011-2012 series are available on our website.
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Seeking candidates for faculty, staff positions
A search is underway for an assistant professor, to be jointly appointed through the Andlinger Center and the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering. Candidates are encouraged to apply by November 1, 2012. Read the full job posting on our website, and apply through the Jobs at Princeton site, requisition #1200435. Additional positions will be posted in the near future, including an assistant professor position jointly appointed with the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, a full professor position jointly appointed with the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, and a full professor position jointly appointed with a department to be determined.
The Andlinger Center also seeks a manager of business development for the Energy and Environment Corporate Affiliates Program. The manager will be responsible for identifying new corporate partners and developing strategic direction for the program, in addition to running the daily operations of the program. Candidates may apply through the Jobs at Princeton site, requisition #1200091.
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Building a team, building a lab
We’ve experienced tremendous growth since the center was established in 2008 and we’re looking forward to another productive year. To facilitate all the activity we’ve hired two new staff members: Brenda Mikeo is our business and communications manager, and Moira Selinka is the center’s administrative assistant.
The Andlinger Center's new home is under construction; completion is set for spring 2015. The 129,000 square foot building, at the corner of Olden and Prospect Streets, will house state-of-the-art technical facilities for use by researchers and students across the campus. The three-story facility will extend below grade and include laboratories, classrooms, and a lecture hall, emphasizing natural light, green roofs, and other sustainable building practices. Take a look at the architectural renderings and construction webcams to watch the progress. Though the construction will not be complete for several years, we have already begun to augment existing facilities with new laboratory equipment available for shared use. Recent acquisitions have been made possible by the Holekamp Foundation Fund and an anonymous gift designated for equipment purchases.
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Videos focus on energy and education
Emily Carter and Emmeline Kao ’12 were featured in a video produced by the Office of Undergraduate Admission, where Kao describes her 2011 summer internship funded by the Andlinger Center. Professor Carter was also profiled in the National Science Foundation's video Science for a Sustainable Future. |
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