7:59 a.m., Aug. 19, 2009----Eight undergraduates participated in the third annual Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) in sustainable energy from solar hydrogen at the University of Delaware this year. SURE is one facet of a comprehensive interdisciplinary effort funded by the National Science Foundation through its Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) Program.

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The solar hydrogen IGERT at UD includes students at all levels in not only science and engineering disciplines but also in areas such as economics and policy as they relate to sustainable energy.

This year's SURE program included two UD students, five undergraduates from other schools, and a recently graduated high school student.

According to program coordinator Mo Bremner, the group participated in a range of activities to augment their individual research projects, including a fuel cell seminar, a solar power seminar, an abstract writing and poster development seminar, and an ethics workshop. They also took some field trips with an ongoing chemical engineering NSF-funded Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program at UD in energy and sustainability, including site visits to ExxonMobil, DuPont Solar, GE Solar, and Air Liquide.

For Rebecca Roelofs, who just graduated from the Charter School of Wilmington and will soon start her freshman year at Swarthmore College, the summer program was an opportunity to learn more about the field of engineering. “I learned how to 'read' a professor's background on a Web page and know what I'm looking for now,” she said. “At Swarthmore, the engineering program is general, and the summer experience here at UD, with all of the disciplines involved, gave me a better idea of how I might specialize later.”

“The program gave me the experience to make a grad school decision,” said Derek Falcone, a chemical engineering student at UD. “I got my feet wet with research and reaffirmed my decision to continue my education.”

Several of the SURE participants mentioned the value of their interactions with the IGERT grad students.

“They're a really spectacular group,” said Brian Reindl, a student at the University of Florida. “Just interacting with them and talking with them about their experiences was really valuable.”

“They have a really good perspective on life,” added Ellen Reifler, who attends the University of Virginia. “They provided great insights into what path you should follow and what you should focus on. I have a much better sense now of what my options are, and I've gained some great contacts.”

Melissa Forand, a student at Roger Williams College, found the IGERT-organized conference at UD, Energy and Sustainability 2009, to be a valuable source of information and contacts. “The conference was a great mix of technical and policy talks,” she said, “and it was a good opportunity to learn about the research going on in other departments.”

Despite its short duration, the program had a big impact on the participants' knowledge base. “I went from knowing nothing about organic solar cells to being kind of specialized in the field,” said Natalie Dawley, an undergrad from the University of Virginia.

“But it's a teaser,” said Forand. “The more you know, the more you realize you don't know.”

The following is a complete list of SURE participants, project titles, and advisers:

• Ellen Reifler, Temperature Dependence of the Efficiency of a CuInSe2 Based Solar Cell (Robert Birkmire, materials science and engineering);
• Sarah Laufer, Transport Processes in Fuel Cells (Suresh Advani and Ajay Prasad, mechanical engineering);
• Melissa Forand, Novel Materials for PEM Fuel Cells (Suresh Advani and Ajay Prasad, mechanical engineering);
• Natalie Dawley, Nanostructured Solar Cells (Ismat Shah, materials science and engineering);
• Brian Reindl, Metal/Polymer Interfaces for PV Applications (Robert Opila and Matthew Doty, materials science and engineering);
• Derek Falcon, Non-Linear Dynamics of Reactions (Jochen Lauterbach, chemical engineering);
• Parag Jalan, Reverse Micelles Synthesis of Nanoparticles (Jochen Lauterbach, chemical engineering); and
• Rebecca Roelofs, Semiconductor Alloys for Higher Efficiency Solar Cells (James Kolodzey, electrical and computer engineering).

Article by Diane Kukich