This award will provide partial support for the 1000 Islands Energy Research Forum (TIERF) conference to be held on Nov 12-14, 2010 in Alexandria Bay, NY.
Intellectual Merit
The TIERF meeting is Canadian-US collaborative activity of the Great Lakes Sustainable Energy Consortium (GLSEC), a group of academic and industry partners serving to foster technical research, public policy options, and commercial developments in sustainable energy strategies on both sides of the border in the Great Lakes region of Ontario, Canada and New York, USA.
Broader Impacts
The TIERF provides a venue for graduate students to present their research results to their peers and seasoned academic researchers, to create cross border relations, and to interact with industry representatives.
1000 Islands Energy Research Forum In 2009 a group of universities and industry representatives gathered on the shores of the St. Lawrence River for the 1000 Island Energy Research Forum (TIERF) to discuss the possibilities and present research on sustainable energy strategies for Canada and the USA. The TIERF meeting is now an annual activity of the Great Lakes Sustainable Energy Consortium (GLSEC), a Canadian-US collaboration of academic and industry partners serving to foster technical research, public policy options, and commercial developments in sustainable energy strategies on both sides of the border. In a very informal setting, with no parallel sessions, and talks of 10 minutes in length, graduate students are given the opportunity to present their research results to their peers and seasoned academic researchers. Thanks to the generous support of the National Science Foundation and the Canadian Consulate General in Buffalo, the conference, spanning 3 days, from Friday night to Sunday morning, continues to enable attendees time to interact about these issues, particularly in the social space after the presentations are over. As voiced by the participants, the need for such a conference, namely to discuss policy in conjunction with technology without the constraint of politically mandated borders, is vital to the advancement of a renewable energy strategy and long overdue. The support of the government institutions clearly indicates that this need has been recognized at the highest levels of the political system. It is hoped that this effort will continue to grow into an influence that spans political, academic and industrial borders of both our countries. Further details about upcoming conferences can be found at: http://people.clarkson.edu/~kvisser/TIERF/TIERF/Home.html
