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CEI News

Driven to advance vehicle electrification

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height="10px"][vc_column_text css=".vc_custom_1711497685006{margin-bottom: 50px !important;}"] UW Engineering research leads the next wave of electric vehicle technologies [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="10px"][vc_column_text css=".vc_custom_1711497467191{margin-top: 10px !important;margin-bottom: 10px !important;}"]By Brooke Fisher, UW College of Engineering | Photos by Dennis Wise (UW Photo) and UW researchers[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=".vc_custom_1711497588128{margin-top: 10px !important;margin-bottom: 10px !important;}"]March 11, 2024[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="20px"][vc_column_text css=".vc_custom_1711572283343{margin-top: 10px !important;margin-bottom: 20px !important;}"]When it comes to developing the next generation of electric vehicle (EV) technologies, University of Washington (UW) engineers are unstoppable. Their collective research, together with initiatives underway throughout the state, positions Washington to be a leader in this truly electrifying area.[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="10px"][vc_column_text css=".vc_custom_1711572294411{margin-bottom: 10px !important;}"]“The goal is for Washington state to be a leader in EV...

A race to clean energy

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height="20px"][vc_column_text css=".vc_custom_1709758053654{margin-bottom: 50px !important;}"] The UW’s Clean Energy Institute is speeding the development of next-generation technology and supporting the experts who will create it. [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="20px"][vc_column_text css=".vc_custom_1709768478880{margin-top: 10px !important;margin-bottom: 10px !important;}"]By Jamie Swenson | Photos by Dennis Wise | UW Magazine, March 2024[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="20px"][vc_column_text css=".vc_custom_1709836835749{margin-top: 10px !important;margin-bottom: 20px !important;}"]As Hurricane Maria tore through Arecibo, Puerto Rico, in 2017, Miguel González-Montijo hunkered down at home with his family. They were no strangers to hurricanes. Just two weeks earlier, a Category 5 Hurricane Irma had skirted the island, demolishing homes, causing floods and knocking out power for more than a million people. And now Maria, with wind...

CEI announces Collaborative Seed Grants

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=".vc_custom_1706038903793{margin-bottom: 20px !important;}"]UW faculty teams will research equity in power grid management, recycling energy minerals and devices, and two-dimensional materials for energy efficient quantum computing[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=".vc_custom_1706144775310{margin-bottom: 20px !important;}"]January 25, 2024[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="20px"][vc_column_text css=".vc_custom_1706038925842{margin-bottom: 20px !important;}"]The University of Washington’s Clean Energy Institute has awarded Collaborative Seed Grants to three teams of UW faculty to enable their pursuit of center-scale funding for transformative clean energy research. Collaborative Seed Grants provide UW scholars with up to $200,000 to explore novel, high-risk/high-reward research topics while seeding new collaborations in research and education that significantly increase the prospects for future extramural support.[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="20px"][vc_column_text css=".vc_custom_1706039029033{margin-bottom: 20px !important;}"]“I’m delighted that CEI...

Advancing clean manufacturing research

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=".vc_custom_1709772763780{margin-bottom: 20px !important;}"] UW Mechanical Engineering researchers will work on projects funded by the U.S. Department of Energy that could improve the manufacturing of composites and electric vehicle batteries. [/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=".vc_custom_1709772031386{margin-bottom: 20px !important;}"]By Lyra Fontaine | UW Mechanical Engineering[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=".vc_custom_1709772034868{margin-bottom: 20px !important;}"]January 24, 2024[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="20px"][vc_column_text css=".vc_custom_1709771830327{margin-bottom: 20px !important;}"]The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy recently selected two projects for funding —  led by or involving UW Mechanical Engineering researchers — that will accelerate clean energy solutions for manufacturing in the United States.[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="10px"][vc_column_text css=".vc_custom_1709771907853{margin-bottom: 20px !important;}"]The funding for both projects is approximately $6.26 million. The projects draw on the...

CEI launches Graduate Certificate in Clean Energy Science, Engineering, and Society

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=".vc_custom_1705972295393{margin-bottom: 20px !important;}"]January 23, 2024[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=".vc_custom_1705971417991{margin-bottom: 20px !important;}"]Accelerating the adoption of a clean energy future requires scholars who have both deep disciplinary expertise and a worldview and skill set that are broader than is typically provided by traditional graduate degrees. To meet this need, the University of Washington’s Clean Energy Institute (UW CEI) is delighted to announce the establishment of the Graduate Certificate in Clean Energy Science, Engineering, and Society — open to all UW graduate students.[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="20px"][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width="1/2"][vc_column_text css=".vc_custom_1705971427674{margin-bottom: 20px !important;}"]The Graduate Certificate in Clean Energy is designed to provide an interdisciplinary understanding of challenges and opportunities facing clean energy and its adoption...

GeekWire: UW set to break ground on 69-acre redevelopment to create Seattle innovation hub

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=".vc_custom_1709774516005{margin-bottom: 20px !important;}"]January 4, 2024 [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="20px"][vc_column_text css=".vc_custom_1709774479131{margin-bottom: 20px !important;}"]The University of Washington this year expects to break ground on a new building that will anchor an ambitious, innovation-focused redevelopment called Portage Bay Crossing. The project will cover 69 acres of the southwest portion of the Seattle campus, revitalizing and unifying an area of buildings that officials called old and underutilized.[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="10px"][vc_column_text css=".vc_custom_1709774485822{margin-bottom: 20px !important;}"]UW leaders recently shared the name of the inaugural structure, which they’re calling Brightwork — a nautical term for the varnished wood and exterior metal on boats, as well as an allusion to the quality of research and entrepreneurship that...

Scientists reveal superconductor with on/off switches

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=".vc_custom_1709773302694{margin-bottom: 20px !important;}"]December 19, 2023 | UW News[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="20px"][vc_column_text css=".vc_custom_1709773317050{margin-bottom: 20px !important;}"]As industrial computing needs grow, the size and energy consumption of the relevant hardware must keep up with those demands. A solution to this dilemma could lie in superconducting materials, which reduce that energy consumption exponentially. Imagine cooling a giant data center — full of constantly running servers — down to nearly absolute zero, enabling large-scale computation with incredible energy efficiency.[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="10px"][vc_column_text css=".vc_custom_1709773326317{margin-bottom: 20px !important;}"]Researchers led by Jiun-Haw Chu, a University of Washington associate professor of physics and Clean Energy Institute researcher, and Philip Ryan, a physicist at the U.S. Department of...

Chemical engineering professor’s coloring book makes science accessible

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] By Sindu Karunakaran | UW News [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="10px"][vc_column_text] December 27, 2023 [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="20px"][vc_column_text]When Julie Rorrer was a graduate student, she visited elementary schools with other members of her program to talk about science and give demonstrations. But explaining their work and research to the students was a challenge, which gave Rorrer the idea to use coloring pages.[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="10px"][vc_column_text]“The coloring idea came from the fact that I like to doodle,” said Rorrer, an assistant professor of chemical engineering at the University of Washington. “I like to draw, and coloring is kind of a ubiquitous medium. I think kids love it. Adults love it. And so, I thought, why...

Climate tech business leaders team up to support innovators as Washington Clean Energy Testbeds Entrepreneurs-in-Residence

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=".vc_custom_1699559692149{margin-bottom: 20px !important;}"]Volha Hrechka and Dr. Dhileep Sivam will advise students, entrepreneurs, and early-stage companies at UW’s open-access climate tech lab[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=".vc_custom_1699896701656{margin-bottom: 20px !important;}"]November 13, 2023[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=".vc_custom_1699559885296{margin-top: 20px !important;margin-bottom: 20px !important;}"]The Washington Clean Energy Testbeds, the University of Washington (UW) open-access facility for developing and testing clean energy devices and systems, welcomed Volha Hrechka and Dhileep Sivam as its next Entrepreneurs-in-Residence (EIRs). Testbeds EIRs mentor entrepreneurs and advise early-stage climate tech startup companies on team formation, product development, strategic marketing, fundraising, manufacturing strategy, and business development. The EIRs’ weekly office hours are free and open to aspiring and established climate entrepreneurs and business...

An enlightening opportunity: solar scalability

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=".vc_custom_1697481714211{margin-bottom: 20px !important;}"]By Brooke Fisher | Photos by Dennis Wise October 16, 2023 This article has been condensed from its original form on the UW College of Engineering website. [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="20px"][vc_column_text css=".vc_custom_1697477807960{margin-bottom: 20px !important;}"]At a top-tier research institution like the UW, research doesn’t take a summer break. In addition to graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, many College of Engineering labs host undergraduates during the summer months, giving the students a unique, hands-on experience conducting cutting-edge engineering research alongside faculty.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=".vc_custom_1697477819113{margin-bottom: 20px !important;}"]The exchange is a win-win: Students can pursue ideas and interests that they’re passionate about, and in the process they sharpen their analysis, communication, design...

John Cenker, Margherita Taddei, Leo Zasada win 2023 CEI Student Awards

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=".vc_custom_1692208519060{margin-bottom: 25px !important;}"]August 16, 2023[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=".vc_custom_1691523011224{margin-bottom: 25px !important;}"]John Cenker, Margherita Taddei, and Leo Zasada received the Clean Energy Institute’s 2023 Clean Energy Student Achievement Awards at the institute’s annual end-of-year seminar on May 25.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=".vc_custom_1691523080150{margin-top: 25px !important;margin-bottom: 25px !important;}"] Scientific Achievement [/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=".vc_custom_1691523107176{margin-top: 25px !important;margin-bottom: 25px !important;}"]The Clean Energy Scientific Achievement Award recognizes UW graduate students who have demonstrated extraordinary productivity in clean energy research and scholarship, and have contributed meaningfully to the scientific community.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=".vc_custom_1691523110808{margin-top: 25px !important;margin-bottom: 25px !important;}"] John Cenker [/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width="3/4"][vc_column_text css=".vc_custom_1691523157007{margin-top: 25px !important;margin-bottom: 25px !important;}"]John Cenker is a fifth-year Ph.D. student in physics and a 2021-22 CEI Graduate Fellow, advised by CEI faculty...

Meghna Shankar portrait

STEM and the Symphony

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=".vc_custom_1706054437205{margin-bottom: 20px !important;}"]By Nancy Joseph | Originally published on the UW College of Arts & Sciences website June 1, 2023[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=".vc_custom_1706053047062{margin-bottom: 20px !important;}"]As a high school student in Redmond, Washington, Meghna Shankar was part of the Green Team, her school’s environmental club. Wanting to continue environmental work as a UW student, she was excited to learn that the UW’s Clean Energy Institute (CEI) provides research opportunities for undergraduates.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=".vc_custom_1706053059785{margin-bottom: 20px !important;}"]“I saw that the Clean Energy Institute was pretty well funded, with a lot of professors,” recalls Shankar, who graduates this month with a double degree in physics (College of Arts & Sciences) and computer...