Energized for change
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] After seeing the devastation of hurricanes in Puerto Rico, grad student Miguel González-Montijo is working on clean energy innovations for the future. [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="10px"][vc_column_text css=".vc_custom_1716246986604{margin-top: 10px !important;margin-bottom: 10px !important;}"]By Jamie Swenson | Photos by Dennis Wise | May 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 speeds up to 155...
Washington Clean Energy Testbeds launches Undergraduate Research Awards
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=".vc_custom_1715629295177{margin-top: 10px !important;margin-bottom: 20px !important;}"]UW students Sebastian Bustos-Nuno, Vyvyan Dao, Lily Leaverton, Joy Lee win grants to perform novel clean energy research at the UW’s open-access labs for climate tech innovation[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="10px"][vc_column_text css=".vc_custom_1715798700907{margin-top: 10px !important;margin-bottom: 20px !important;}"]May 15, 2024[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="10px"][vc_column_text css=".vc_custom_1715106075945{margin-top: 10px !important;margin-bottom: 20px !important;}"]The Washington Clean Energy Testbeds, an open-access lab for climate technology innovation operated by the University of Washington (UW)’s Clean Energy Institute, has established a student award to support undergraduate research in clean energy, advanced manufacturing, and related fields.[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="10px"][vc_column_text css=".vc_custom_1715625128365{margin-top: 10px !important;margin-bottom: 20px !important;}"]Thanks to a generous philanthropic gift to CEI's Innovation Fund, UW undergraduate students in their...
Helping K-12 students explore clean energy careers
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=".vc_custom_1713287286131{padding-bottom: 20px !important;}"]April 16, 2024[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=".vc_custom_1713287105136{padding-bottom: 20px !important;}"]Over the past year, CEI has collaborated with the Washington Alliance for Better Schools (WABS) — a nonprofit organization that fosters partnerships with local businesses and institutions to provide equitable access to educational and career opportunities for local students — to develop a tour of our facilities that engages students and demonstrates a variety of careers in clean energy.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=".vc_custom_1713213254175{padding-bottom: 20px !important;}"]WABS Career Tours “provide career exposure to students who are furthest from opportunity, including BIPOC, low-income, and first-generation students” through explorational activities and networking with local professionals.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=".vc_custom_1714002434831{padding-bottom: 20px !important;}"]This past December, CEI hosted one...
Recruiting robots for materials discovery
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Chemical engineers in the Pozzo Research Group are using open-source tools to build modular robots that can run multiple functions of complex experiments. This customizable framework helps alleviate the cost barrier of purchasing multiple, single-purpose commercial machines. [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="10px"][vc_column_text css=".vc_custom_1719005361648{margin-top: 10px !important;margin-bottom: 10px !important;}"]By Ro Stastny | UW Chemical Engineering[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="10px"][vc_column_text css=".vc_custom_1719005905918{margin-top: 10px !important;margin-bottom: 10px !important;}"]March 29, 2024 [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="20px"][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width="3/5"][vc_column_text css=".vc_custom_1719005545873{margin-top: 10px !important;margin-bottom: 20px !important;}"]The Pozzo Research Group, led by chemical engineering (ChemE) professor Lilo Pozzo, is working to speed up the process of discovering and optimizing materials that have applications in clean energy, medicine, nanotechnology and more. To do this, researchers have used a...
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...