UD hosts undergraduate researchers in energy program
Students in UD's Chemical Engineering Research in Energy and Sustainability program.
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9:30 a.m., July 15, 2009----A grant from the National Science Foundation's Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Program is enabling 11 students from institutions throughout the country to spend the summer at the University of Delaware investigating energy-related issues.

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The program, Chemical Engineering Research in Energy and Sustainability, exposes participants to the full spectrum of energy areas, from traditional petroleum to solar power, fuel cells, and biofuels.

“The energy-related issues of the 21st century are multi-faceted, and the chemical engineering profession is in an excellent position to tackle many of these problems,” says Jochen Lauterbach, professor and co-director of the program, which is now in its second year.

The summer research program addresses energy and sustainability through two tracks, one focusing on catalytic materials for alternative energy sources and the other on nanostructured materials for energy reduction. Ten faculty are advising the undergraduate participants, with about half of the students co-advised by two faculty members.

In addition to their work in the labs, the students are provided with a number of enrichment opportunities, including visits to companies working in energy-related areas, communication and presentation skills workshops, and brownbag lunches with graduate students.

The students also participate in various activities with several other groups of undergraduate researchers on campus for the summer, in addition to interacting with the students in UD's multidisciplinary solar hydrogen IGERT program.

“We received more than 100 applications from well-qualified undergraduates,” says Sharon Anderson, program coordinator. “I think this shows the tremendous interest in the field of energy on the part of young engineers.”

Participants in the 2009 program include Robert Jackson (MIT), Robert Jones (Lincoln University), Thomas Langel (University of Wisconsin), Ryan Niles (University of Florida), Shannon O'Brien (Manhattan College), Thomas Ronan (Notre Dame), Jasmine Smith (Delaware State University), Karen Tschinkel (Manhattan College), Kathryn Whitaker (Rowan University), Christopher Wolcott (Illinois Institute of Technology), and Alexander Young (Harvey Mudd College).

Recruitment efforts at UD place particular emphasis on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), as well as on predominantly undergraduate institutions. This year's group includes three African America students, two of whom are from HBCUs. In addition, Derrick Swinton, associate professor of chemistry at Lincoln University is participating in the program as a visiting faculty member and working in collaboration with Michael Mackay, professor in UD's Department of Materials Science and Engineering.

“We're working hard to achieve diversity in the program,” says Thomas Epps, assistant professor and program co-director. “It's very important that we attract members of groups traditionally underrepresented in engineering to expose them to research and to plant the seed that everyone can achieve success in research.”

NSF's stated goal for the REU program in general is “to expand student participation in all kinds of research -- whether disciplinary, interdisciplinary, or educational in focus -- encompassing efforts by individual investigators, groups, centers, national facilities, and others. The program seeks to attract a diversified pool of talented students into careers in science and engineering and to help ensure that they receive the best education possible.”

The opportunity to “get a feel for what research is like” is what attracted Whitaker to the program. Wolcott looked at several REU programs before choosing the one at UD. “I really liked the theme of this program,” he says.

Lauterbach and Epps aren't surprised. Their program Web site references remarks made by Raymond L. Orbach, Under Secretary for Science, U.S. Department of Energy, who said one “of the biggest challenges we face as Americans today and in the coming decades is that of energy security... Current technologies cannot meet this challenge, and incremental improvements in these technologies will not suffice. We need transformational discoveries, leading to what I call disruptive technologies -- technologies that fundamentally change the rules of the game -- and that means we need fundamental breakthroughs.”

Programs like the chemical engineering REU program are enhancing diversity while training students who may someday be doing research that helps to meet the challenges cited by Orbach and make the needed breakthroughs.

Article by Diane Kukich

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