REU Site: Renewable Energy Generation and Storage

Suny At Binghamton, Binghamton NY

Investigators

Abstract

NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY Addressing the rising demand for clean energy requires a skilled workforce that can develop, deploy, and manage renewable energy technologies. Despite this need, most science and engineering undergraduates have limited opportunities to gain experience with energy materials and technologies, research methods, interdisciplinary collaboration, scientific communication, or career planning to equip them for clean energy careers. Funded by the Division of Materials Research, this Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Site addresses these training gaps while helping to attract and retain promising students for eventual careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) and the energy sector. Towards this end, this REU site integrates undergraduates in energy-focused interdisciplinary research experiences and offers mentoring, career guidance, and training in skills needed to thrive in STEM professions. Insight into renewable energy careers is provided through interactions with local renewable energy companies and New Energy New York, a newly awarded facility aimed at making the Binghamton region a hub for battery development. The recruitment of diverse student cohorts that include students from schools with limited research infrastructure is supported by partnerships with nearby colleges and six historically black colleges and universities. TECHNICAL SUMMARY This REU site aims to stimulate student interest in interdisciplinary research, prepare students for careers in science and engineering (with a focus on renewable energy), and expand the diversity of students engaged in research. Working with faculty spanning four science and engineering departments and teams in the NorthEast Center for Chemical Energy Storage, the Center for Autonomous Solar Power, and the Advanced Catalysis for Energy Sustainability Center, students tackle fundamental research problems in renewable energy generation and storage. Using experimental and computational approaches, students engage in research aimed at reducing the cost of solar power, harvesting wasted thermal and mechanical energy, enhancing battery performance, and generating alternative fuels. Students also gain exposure to clean energy industry careers, manufacturing, and prototyping processes through research collaborations, facility tours, and workshops in partnership with local clean energy companies and New Energy New York. Students gain further preparation for STEM and clean energy careers through workshops on research ethics, science communication, professional skills, materials characterization, and the energy landscape. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.