A 1-day workshop to be held at NSF on March 15 will focus on new opportunities in energy research and examine current challenges in the fields of alternative energy harvesting, transfer and storage. The targeted audience for this includes chemists, materials scientists, mathematicians, physicists, engineers (of all disciplines), as well as social and behavioral scientists and economists. Areas to be covered include, but are not limited to: solar energy, hydrogen fuels and fuel cells, biofuels, nuclear, catalysis and biocatalysis, battery and capacitor technologies, sustainable materials, etc. A small group of distinguished researchers from different scientific and engineering backgrounds have been asked to attend this workshop and discuss three topics: Computational Efforts in Energy; Design of New Materials; and Systems Integration as they are related to current and future energy research needs. The expected outcome of the workshop will be to pave the way to overcome some of the current obstacles impeding the development of alternative energy technologies.
NON-TECHNICAL
This workshop will increase understanding of the roadblocks and opportunities in sustainable energy technologies. By competently addressing issues facing scientists and engineers, new collaborative, interdisciplinary efforts might be brought to the forefront of the research endeavor. Such research opportunities will be integrated with efforts to train the next generation of scientists and engineers, to inform the public, and to seek implementation on a global scale. Invited speakers knowledgeable in the various types of energy science and engineering will present lectures and group discussion in the form of working sessions will follow. The proceedings of the workshop will be published in publically-accessible reports and journal articles.
The development of an innovative research agenda in renewable and sustainable energy resources is a national imperative that must be addressed in multiple ways and at multiple levels. With its institutional mission of pursuing basic science with strongly interacting and collaborating multidisciplinary groups, while at the same time providing the training for future generations of scientists, the National Science Foundation (NSF), in general, and the Math and Physical Sciences Directorate (MPS), in particular, is well positioned to address many of the fundamental research questions that will enable a sustainable energy economy. This grant has supported a workshop focused on systems Integration, design of new materials, and computational efforts in energy. The outcome of the workshop has been athe development of recommandations to enhance the cirtical role of the MPS on the solution of this complex problem. Here are a few of the recommendations: Invest in real-time experimental/computational studies of how structures form and how to control them. Develop approaches to incorporate multi-scale modeling for structures and complex materials as well as develop approaches to link discrete and continuum models. Global implications of new technologies (e.g., nanoparticles) should be considered and studied. Explore new mechanisms for allowing new interdisciplinary collaborations. Make sure that these investments are long-term and that the new relationships are sustained. Establish graduate fellowships associated with these efforts. Clearly, an energy initiative launched in MPS is critical to advance energy security and stewardship. Solutions to daunting challenges in energy rest at the most fundamental scientific levels. It is the time for alignment within NSF to take advantage of one of the most precious resources the U.S. has for achieving a sustainable energy economy: its universities.
