Advertisement

Header Utility Menu

  • Subscribe
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Events

LinkedIn Facebook Twitter Instagram Get Our App

  • Login

Virginia Business

Mobile Menu

  • Issues
  • Industries
    • Banking/Finances
    • Law
    • Real Estate
    • Economic Development
    • Education
    • Energy/Green
    • Federal Contracting
    • Government
    • Healthcare
    • Hotels/Tourism
    • Insurance
    • Ports/Trade
    • Small Business
    • Startups
    • Technology
    • Transportation
  • Regions
    • Central Virginia
    • Eastern Virginia
    • Northern Virginia
    • Roanoke/New River Valley
    • Shenandoah Valley
    • Southern Virginia
    • Southwest Virginia
  • Reports
    • Best Places to Work
    • Business Person of the Year
    • CEO Pay
    • COVID-19
    • Generous Virginians Project
    • Legal Elite
    • Most Influential Virginians
    • Maritime Guide
    • Site Locator
    • The Big Book
    • Virginia CFO Awards
  • Company News
    • For the Record
    • People
  • Opinion
  • Lists
  • Awards/Events
    • Nominate a Virginia financial professional
    • Nominate A Woman in Leadership Today
    • 2022 Virginia Business Political Roundtable
    • Women in Leadership
    • Diversity Leadership Series
    • Virginia 500
    • Legal Elite
    • CFO Awards
    • Big Book of Lists
    • 100 People To Meet
    • Best Places To Work
  • Virginia 500
    • Read The Issue
    • Power Up Virginia 500
    • Buy an award plaque
    • Suggest execs for 2023

Advertisement

Header Primary Menu

  • Issues
    • March 2023
    • February 2023
    • January 2023
    • December 2022
    • November 2022
    • Issues Archive
  • Industries
    • Banking/Finances
    • Law
    • Real Estate
    • Economic Development
    • Education
    • Energy/Green
    • Federal Contracting
    • Government
    • Healthcare
    • Hotels/Tourism
    • Insurance
    • Ports/Trade
    • Small Business
    • Startups
    • Technology
    • Transportation
  • Regions
    • Central Virginia
    • Eastern Virginia
    • Northern Virginia
    • Roanoke/New River Valley
    • Shenandoah Valley
    • Southern Virginia
    • Southwest Virginia
  • Reports
    • Best Places to Work
    • Business Person of the Year
    • CEO Pay
    • COVID-19
    • Generous Virginians Project
    • Legal Elite
    • Most Influential Virginians
    • Maritime Guide
    • Site Locator
    • The Big Book
    • Virginia CFO Awards
  • Company News
    • For the Record
    • People
  • Opinion
  • Lists
  • Awards/Events
    • Nominate a Virginia financial professional
    • Nominate A Woman in Leadership Today
    • 2022 Virginia Business Political Roundtable
    • Women in Leadership
    • Diversity Leadership Series
    • Virginia 500
    • Legal Elite
    • CFO Awards
    • Big Book of Lists
    • 100 People To Meet
    • Best Places To Work
  • Virginia 500
    • Read The Issue
    • Power Up Virginia 500
    • Buy an award plaque
    • Suggest execs for 2023

Home News Industries Education Virginia Tech creates sustainable-energy research initiative

Virginia Tech creates sustainable-energy research initiative

Published April 7, 2016 by Jessica Sabbath

Virginia Tech is creating a sustainable-energy research initiative to bolster its energy research programs.

The Energy and Materials Initiative will include nearly 30 Virginia Tech faculty members who will collaborate in five clusters on research projects including: smart buildings and a smart city; the food, energy and water connection; securet and sustainable nuclear power; electrochemical energy conversion and storage; and bioinspired aerodynamic and aero-acoustic control.

The initiative is being led by mechanical engineering professor Shashank Priya, who also is the faculty director for materials and sustainable energy at Tech’s Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science.

“The goal is to form a cohesive and structured partnership within materials and energy research at Virginia Tech, which will position us to apply for larger external grants and create high-impact technologies. The research conducted under the initiative will be at technology readiness level three and higher,” Priya said in a statement.

The Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science will provide seed funding for research in targeted clusters; that investment will support a graduate student in each cluster co-advised by the cluster’s faculty members.

But to remain part of the project, each cluster will need to show success.

The first round of research projects funded by the initiative fall into five clusters, selected for their demonstrated sustainability and potential impact on society and education.

In order to remain part of the Energy and Materials Initiative beyond the first year, each cluster must more-than-double its seed funding in external investment.

The goal is for clusters to become self-sustaining.

Projects within each cluster include:

Electrochemical energy conversion and storage: study ways to improve conversion efficiency, reduce cost, and expand the use of electrochemical systems like fuel cells and batteries.
Food, water and energy nexus: develop technologies for recovering energy and nutrients from food, beverage and agricultural waste.
Smart buildings and cities: research on smart grids, information and communication systems and energy harvesting and urban infrastructure.
Nuclear power: design and analyze a reactor based on salt fuel, which could improve the availability of clean, safe and affordable energy.
Bioinspired aerodynamic and aeroacoustic control: use flexible matrix composites and 3-D printed “finlets” to tackles challenges in wave and wind energy.

Related Stories

Virginia Business logo

Hampden-Sydney receives its largest gift

Virginia Business logo

Schools will be assigned letter grades

Virginia Business logo

$1 million gift will create scholarship endowment at Richard Bland College

Trending

Naval operations building in Suffolk sells for $33M

Virginia ABC to hold Secretariat bourbon lottery

UR alumni couple donates $25M for student learning center

Martin Agency is Ad Age’s 2023 Agency of Year

Four Richmond-area distribution centers sell for $105.6M

Sponsored Stories

Working at Pinnacle Financial Partners

What Logistics issues will have the biggest impact on you in 2023?

In the New Year, Aim for Better Cybersecurity

Advertisement

Advertisement

Trending

Naval operations building in Suffolk sells for $33M

Virginia ABC to hold Secretariat bourbon lottery

UR alumni couple donates $25M for student learning center

Martin Agency is Ad Age’s 2023 Agency of Year

Four Richmond-area distribution centers sell for $105.6M

Sponsored Stories

Working at Pinnacle Financial Partners

What Logistics issues will have the biggest impact on you in 2023?

In the New Year, Aim for Better Cybersecurity

Get Virginia Business directly on your tablet or in your mailbox!

Subscribe to Virginia Business

Advertisement

Advertisement

Footer Primary Menu

  • virginiabusiness.com
  • Subscribe
  • Advertise
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

Footer Secondary Menu

  • Industries
  • Regions
  • Reports
  • Company News
  • Events

Sign Up For Our Newsletter

Sign Up

LinkedIn Facebook Twitter Instagram Get Our App

Privacy Policy Cookie Policy

Footer Utility Menu

Copyright © 2023 Virginia Business. All rights reserved.

Site Maintained by TechArk