Summer interns focus on alternative energy
Top undergraduates in chemical engineering from across the U.S. are pursuing cutting-edge research on alternative energy at UD this summer through an internship program sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF).
The program is part of the foundation’s ongoing quest to develop a diverse, internationally competitive and globally engaged science and engineering workforce.
The Department of Chemical Engineering and the Center for Catalytic Science and Technology administer the three-year, $300,000 NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) grant. It will enable 10 exemplary chemical engineering students each year to work with UD researchers on projects that range from the design of new fuel cells to the engineering of novel nanomaterial coatings to reduce the water’s drag on ships.
“Research in alternative energies and energy reduction technology is rapidly becoming one of the most important topics in engineering and science and will remain at the top of national research priorities for quite some time,” says Jochen Lauterbach, professor of chemical engineering. “The next generation of scientists and engineers will have the opportunity to make a major impact in addressing the world’s energy issues.”
He and Thomas Epps III, assistant professor of chemical engineering, are co-investigators on the grant, which involves 10 faculty at UD in a diversity of energy fields, from high-throughput catalysis research to hydrogen and biodiesel production.
“Energy and sustainability is a hot topic and was a natural focus for our REU program, given the University’s significant expertise in alternative energy,” Epps says. “A major goal is to attract underrepresented students, particularly from institutions that do not presently offer a Ph.D. program in chemical engineering, in order to provide these students with unique opportunities for exposure to advanced-level research.”
To boost the participation of underrepresented students, Epps has been working to establish partnerships with Hampton, Howard, Delaware State and Bucknell universities.
Under the mentorship of faculty advisers, students selected for the program will not only conduct research, but also learn how to present their findings in scientific seminars and poster sessions.
Field trips also will expand students’ energy horizons. Visits are scheduled for UD’s Institute of Energy Conversion, a leader in solar cell research; Air Liquide in Glasgow, Del., which produces gases such as the hydrogen that is used in UD’s hydrogen fuel cell bus; and ExxonMobil in Clinton, N.J.
Additional programs will be offered in 2009 and 2010. For more information, visit [www.che.udel.edu/reu].
Two other NSF REU programs are being offered at UD this summer: Disaster Research Center internships enhance students’ understanding of the social science aspects of disasters; and the College of Marine and Earth Studies provides research opportunities in oceanography, marine biology, marine geology and marine biochemistry.