Ten researchers at the University of Michigan are combining their considerable resources, talent and experience to find a solution.

Now they just have to figure out what the problem is.

The group has received a $300,000 Global Challenges grant from the University’s Third Century Initiative, a highly competitive $50 million, five-year funded research program developed by the Office of the Provost. The initiative’s goal is to provide freedom for researchers and students to tackle real problems, to learn immersively and together, and to prepare the University, as it approaches it bicentennial, for a third century of research leadership.

The team’s project, led by the University of Michigan Energy Institute’s Johannes Schwank, is titled REFRESCH, short for “Researching Fresh Solutions to the Energy/ Water/ Food Challenge in Resource-Constrained Environments.” The grant funds the exploratory phase of a grand challenge: engage students and with them, find an energy/ resource problem, figure out how to solve it, and commercialize the result.

“First, we’ll look at real cases of resource-strained environments where a variety of pressures are at work, both in terms of energy supply- access to sufficient energy- access to sufficient food, clean water for drinking and hygiene, water for energy production, too,” explains Schwank.

What works in Peru may not in Timbuktu: resource constraints in a given environment are so different from one another, Schwank emphasizes, that individualized case studies for prospective projects must be developed thoughtfully. Team members and students will explore several Southeast Michigan and international project options before settling on just one or two of each. Schwank’s first charge to the team: just listen.

“Part of what’s important to do in this first phase is to put our listening ears on and to keep our mouths shut, and not be the wise guys from academia who know everything better,” he says. “This is an opportunity to go listen, for each of us so-called experts to become good students again, to identify resource and energy problems in the context of their real settings.”

Once solvable, scalable problems are identified, the team will draw on the University’s rich, multidisciplinary resources and location in the nation’s manufacturing heart to begin exploring solutions. Along with the Energy Institute, the team includes investigators from the College of Engineering, the School of Natural Resources and Environment, the Graham Environmental Sustainability Institute, the Ross School of Business, and Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning.

In this second phase, the group will use the gathered research to identify a few appropriate, small-tech, fairly simple technologies that do not exist or are not fully developed, and then as part of phase two students will work to develop these technologies. Schwank sees local organizations, large-scale NGOs, officials from other nations, and U-M students living or working in resource-strained environments as important potential partners.

“This isn’t just a situation where we find a problem, theoretically solve it, build a couple of prototypes and move on,“ Schwank noted. Using the expertise of REFRESCH team member Peter Adrians of the School of Natural Resources and Environment, the group plans to apply reverse innovation to their project’s result. Reverse innovation is a product design strategy that integrates learnings from freshly deployed cost, application, and business models in developing and emerging economies- say, a super-efficient toilet or a solar-powered stove- that may open up new American markets.

Ambitious? Sure. But the group is confident that Third Century has funded the beginning of a winning idea.

Says Schwank, “The University is providing the seed corn for real change, and for what could become a much larger project. This grant is not an end in itself. This gives us the resources to get the planning right and the facts right.”

More information about REFRESCH & the Third Century Initiative
-School of Natural Resources and Environment news item viewable here
-Erb Institute news item viewable here
-Learn more about the Third Century Initiative here
-See the complete list of Third Century awardees here

About the University of Michigan Energy Institute
The demand for economically and environmentally sound energy solutions is urgent and global. At the Energy Institute, we build on the University of Michigan’s strong energy research heritage at the heart of the nation’s automotive and manufacturing industries to develop and integrate science, technology and policy solutions to pressing energy challenges.

Complete list of REFRESCH team members:

Johannes Schwank
Professor of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering

Mark Barteau
Director of University of Michigan Energy Institute

Galen Fisher
Adjunct Professor of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering

Shelie Miller
Assistant Professor, School of Natural Resources and Environment

Aileen Huang-Saad
Assistant Director of Academic Programs, College of Engineering

Donald Scavia
Director, Graham Environmental Sustainability Institute

Andrew Hoffman
Professor, School of Natural Resources and Environment
Professor, Ross School of Business

Eric Hill
Clinical Professor of Architecture, Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning

Cost: FREE

On June 6th, the Michigan Energy Forum will present a discussion panel and networking event, “Renewable Energy on Brownfields + Landfills.” The panel will discuss opportunities and key issues associated with renewable energy generation on contaminated land and will touch on opportunities for entrepreneurs, installations in Michigan, the larger national market and policies that could shape the industry’s development in the state of Michigan.

The panel will include industry leaders and will cover some of the following key issues:
•  What is currently happening and why?
•  What are the emerging and associated technologies?
•  What opportunities are there for entrepreneurs and start-ups to engage in this market?
•  What’s the opportunity for Michigan?  Where have the installations occurred?
•  What are the implications for local / regional economy?
•  How will policy at a federal and state level shape the industry in Michigan?
•  What kind of environment is required for investors?

Register to attend here.

The Automotive Research Center is a U.S. Army Center of Excellence for the modeling and simulation of ground vehicles, led by the University of Michigan. We focus on basic scientific problems associated with management of power and energy within vehicles, mobility and survivability of the complete vehicle system, including the human operator.

Each year, we bring together members of the automotive research community from across academia, government and industry to share our latest research developments. It is an opportunity to discuss Army-relevant efforts, and to leverage and transfer our efforts to industry.

The event is open to all and is free of charge. We cordially invite you to join our community of dedicated researchers at this event. Registration is necessary for attendance.

For further inquires, please email: arc-event-inquiries@umich.edu

For full event details, click here.

One of the nation’s oldest organizations dedicated to beneficial use of atomic energy- the Michigan Memorial Phoenix Project- has awarded four small grants to a new class of awardees. These small grants allow researchers to explore interesting, risky “first” questions in lines of inquiry that could lead to unexpected breakthroughs and larger projects. The grants in this year’s round of awards will provide seed funding for work that could lead to less dangerous painkillers, safer nuclear power plants, better energy storage, and safer maintenance of nuclear waste products.

The University of Michigan established the Michigan Memorial Phoenix Project in 1948 as a way to honor the 579 members of the U-M community who lost their lives in the Second World War. Its mission: “to explore the ways and means by which the potentialities of atomic energy may become a beneficent influence in the life of man.” In addition to supporting the construction and use of the Ford Nuclear Reactor, now decommissioned, the Phoenix Project has helped fund studies on the applications of nuclear technology in such fields as medicine, chemistry, physics, mineralogy, archeology, engineering, and law.

Seed funding projects are awarded once per year to U-M researchers working in collaborative teams. For full information about program criteria, read more here.

The four exploratory projects are listed below.

Attacking pain: Exploring new receptors for painkillers
Peter Scott, Radiology
James Woods, Pharmacology
Xia Shao, Radiology
Though today’s opioid painkillers are effective, many pain relief methods are accompanied by serious side effects, including dependence and reduced efficacy over time. Finding a strong, effective, and non-addictive painkiller requires exploring new receptors- the molecules found on the surface of cells that enable our bodies’ biochemical conversations with drugs. This project will use Positron Emission Technology (PET), a nuclear medical imaging technique, to map the interaction between various promising analgesic test compounds with the receptors that may process our experience of pain.
Contact Peter Scott at pjhscott@umich.edu.

Making nuclear power plants safer
Yugo Ashida, Department of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences
Jwo Pan, Department of Mechanical Engineering
Even the materials that nuclear power plants are built with respond to radiation. This project will focus on the development of a predictive model for how radiation-assisted cracks could be controlled in nuclear power plants. Such a model could help to safely extend the life of existing plants and inform planning and materials selection for next-generation ones. The researchers plan to develop the model using Strain Rate Acceleration (SRA)- a technique by which they will be able to see how materials- in this case, stainless steel- change at different length scales before cracking starts.
Contact Yugo Ashida at yugo@umich.edu.

Activating for a better understanding of energy storage mechanisms
Jason Siegel, Mechanical Engineering
Levi Thompson, Professor of Chemical Engineering
Supercapacitors are a relatively new type of storage device that combine the fast charge acceptance properties of a capacitor with the higher energy storage capability of a battery. A supercapacitor-based energy storage device could allow drivers to charge their electric vehicle in minutes instead of hours. Early transition metal nitrides are a potential material for use in these devices, but researchers need to understand far more about how and why they work in order use them effectively. A key to understanding their performance is mapping how protons move into these nanostructured materials using neutron activation analysis.  This will enable optimization of the materials for higher energy and power density.
Contact Jason Siegel at siegeljb@umich.edu.

Measuring a nuclear material inside a shielded container
Shaun Clarke, Nuclear Engineering & Radiological Sciences
Nuclear storage containers are of course designed to keep what’s inside from getting out- which is great until you want to monitor the status of the contents. Though some methods for tracking nuclear material from outside a container exist, more accurate methods are needed. This project aims to design and optimize a new type of system that will be effective for even heavily shielded containers.
Contact Shaun Clarke at clarkesd@umich.edu.

***

About the University of Michigan Energy Institute

The Energy Institute’s mission is to chart the path to a clean, affordable and sustainable energy future by applying our strengths in public policy, economics, business and social sciences to lay the foundation for successful implementation of our scientific and technological achievements.

Barteau, who was named to the position in fall 2012, is an internationally recognized expert on catalysis- a process by which a chemical reaction is aided by the introduction of a non-reactive ingredient. A better understanding of why and how catalysts work is vital to fuel production of all kinds, research into building better batteries, and many other processes central to energy innovation.

Prior to his position at U-M, Barteau had been a research professor at the University of Delaware for three decades, most recently as Senior Vice Provost for Research and Strategic Initiatives- the university’s top research administration position. At Delaware, Barteau co-founded the Energy Institute and in 2006 was admitted to the National Academy of Engineering.

DTE Energy, a Michigan company founded in 1903, has long shared close ties with the University of Michigan. Over 500 DTE employees are U-M alumni, and the company has supported university ventures ranging from athletics to music to major sponsorship of the Clean Energy Venture Challenge, a competition designed to push and fund new energy ideas.

By 2050, vehicles with 100-mile-range batteries and hydrogen power could become cheaper than cars and trucks with advanced internal-combustion drivetrains, the report says. But there are other challenges. Fuel-cell vehicles avoid the range and recharging limitations of electric vehicles, the report says, but building a network of expensive hydrogen stations will be “difficult and expensive.”

Cellulosic biofuels show some promise and could lead to big reductions in oil use and greenhouse gas emissions, but “achievable production levels are uncertain,” the report says. It also envisions a possible future for biofuels that can be refined into a product that is chemically similar to gasoline.

The report also looked beyond the tailpipe. “To really impact automotive greenhouse emissions, you have to control energy sector emissions, starting with the oil and gas sector today and from power plants as electric cars enter the market,” John DeCicco, a committee member and research professor at the University of Michigan Energy Institute, said in a telephone interview.

The full text of the National Research Council report, titled Transitions to Alternative Vehicles and Fuels, is viewable here.
The National Academy’s press release on the report is viewable here.

Research should focus on one of the following target areas:

-Photovoltaics and solar technology
-Liquid fuels and engine combustion
-Thermoelectricity, materials and devices

One-page concept papers are due May 8, after which some submitters will be invited to submit full-length proposals.

The full text, funding details, and criteria of the request for proposals are viewable here.

More

More

More