 UMass Amherst Selected for Multi-Million Dollar Energy Frontier Research Center To Advance Energy Alternatives, Create Jobs
May 6, 2009
AMHERST, Mass. – The University of Massachusetts Amherst has been chosen to host a new multi-million-dollar Energy Frontier Research Center (EFRC) to pursue advanced scientific research, as part of a federal science initiative announced by President Obama. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) plans to award each center at least $2 million per year for five years, with UMass Amherst potentially receiving up to $16 million over five years. The federal agency emphasized that full funding details have not been completely finalized.
DOE’s Office of Science plans to set up a total of 46 EFRCs at universities, national laboratories, nonprofit organizations, and private firms. Of these, 30 are to be funded through the DOE’s own $100 million appropriation and 16 more, including the UMass Amherst center, were funded with recent passage of the $277 million stimulus bill known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).
Centers chosen for funding under ARRA were selected not only for scientific merit, but also because they provide the most employment for postdoctoral associates, graduate students, undergraduates, and technical staff, in keeping with the Act’s objective to preserve and create jobs and promote economic recovery, according to DOE.
Thomas Russell, the Silvio O. Conte Distinguished Professor of Polymer Science and Engineering, who is an internationally recognized expert in designing polymer nanoarchitectures, will co-direct the UMass Amherst EFRC with chemistry professor Paul M. Lahti, a former department head and an internationally recognized expert in organic electronic materials.
Special Expertise at UMass Amherst
Russell and Lahti say the UMass Amherst EFRC will take advantage of the campus’ special expertise in polymer science, engineering, materials chemistry and physics. “The long-time UMass Amherst strength of collaborations between different areas of science were a big selling point for our proposal, particularly our strengths in polymer science and engineering with materials chemistry and physics,” Lahti says. A major focus for the UMass Amherst ERFC is creating and testing new polymer-based photovoltaic structures for the conversion of sunlight into electricity. In particular, materials that self-assemble naturally at the molecular and nanoscale level will be sought in order to optimize performance.
Overall, EFRC researchers nationwide will build on new capabilities in nanotechnology, high-intensity light sources, neutron scattering sources, supercomputing and other advanced instrumentation, many developed with DOE Office of Science support over the past decade.
Secretary of Energy Steven Chu commented on the EFRCs, saying, “As global energy demand grows over this century, there is an urgent need to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and imported oil, and curtail greenhouse gas emissions. Meeting this challenge will require significant scientific advances. These centers will mobilize the enormous talents and skills of our nation’s scientific workforce in pursuit of the breakthroughs that are essential to make alternative and renewable energy truly viable as large-scale replacements for fossil fuels.”
Of the 46 EFRCs selected, 31 are led by universities, 12 by DOE National Laboratories, two by nonprofit organizations, and one by a corporate research laboratory.
The UMass Amherst EFRC involves collaborations with scientists at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania State University, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. International collaborative efforts with Seoul National University, the Advanced Institute of Materials Research at Tohoku University and the University of Bayreuth are planned. Technology transfer will be done, in part, with Massachusetts-based Konarka Technologies, an industrial leader in the production of photovoltaic devices.
In addition to the EFRC involving Russell, Lahti and colleagues, a University of Delaware based EFRC will involve chemical engineering professor George Huber and chemistry professor Scott Auerbach, experts in the use of catalysts for converting biomass into fuels. Former UMass Amherst professor of chemical engineering Dionisios Vlachos heads the Delaware EFRC based on that research area.
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