Technical description. The proposed International Research Experience for Students (IRES): Coupled Geomechanical Processes and Energy Technologies - Research Experience at Ecole des Ponts Paris Tech - ENPC, France (?CGPET - ENPC?) aims to expose Georgia Institute of Technology (GT) undergraduate and graduate students to geomechanical research applied to energy technologies, immerse them in the academic culture of a leading European institution (ENPC), and inspire them in the pursuit of a scientific career to improve the sustainability and security of energy sources and production. Undergraduate and graduate students from Georgia Tech School of Civil and Environmental Engineering (GT-CEE) will complete a two-month internship at ENPC Navier Laboratory, to work on research planned and supervised by dual ENPC and GT-CEE faculty mentors. Navier Laboratory gathers world?s experts in theoretical poro-mechanics and thermodynamics, and has unique experimental, imaging and computational facilities especially adapted for geomechanics. Topics of study envisioned in this IRES involve fundamental research in the physics of thermo-hydro-chemo-mechanical coupled processes in geomaterials, multi-scale modeling of porous networks, three-dimensional image analysis and advanced numerical simulation techniques. The ?CGPET- ENPC? program will start with five teams of dual mentors, who will work on the following subjects: (1) Clay nano-poromechanics for carbon dioxide sequestration, (2) Characterization of particulate pore structures for geological storage, (3) Micro-mechanical modeling of fatigue in salt rock for Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES), (4) Reactive fluid injection and withdrawal in rock, for oil and gas recovery and geothermal energy systems, and (5) Freeze/thaw cycles and sulfate attacks for improved cement-based buffers. Every year, a GT-CEE mentor will spend the last week of IRES participants? internship at ENPC, to work with his/her ENPC collaborator and supervise GT-CEE students? final research presentations; similarly the ENPC mentor will spend the week following the internship period at Georgia Tech.
Broader description. Fundamental understanding of soil, rock and cement-based materials is needed to address society?s most pressing needs in energy production (e.g., hydraulic fracturing, geothermal systems), energy storage (e.g., CAES) and waste management (e.g., nuclear waste disposals, carbon capture). Through their engagement in a project aimed to improve energy geotechnologies, IRES participants will discover the responsibility of researchers towards their sponsors, their scientific community and society at large. Students selected for this CGPET ? ENPC program will have an international experience as part of a cohort through cultural and professional activities, and will contribute to build and maintain a global network of scholars through public research presentations at ENPC and GT, wikipage postings, academic publications, and mentoring of new IRES participants. Currently, most students enrolled in Civil and Environmental Engineering discover soil mechanics during their senior year, through the course of Introduction to Geotechnical Engineering. Activities planned before, during and after the ENPC internships will expose a broad population of GT students to geomechanical research, which will provide opportunities to inspire and attract more students in the pursuit of a scientific career. The integration of activities for faculty and undergraduate and graduate students from ENPC and GT-CEE is expected to sustain long-term collaborations between groups focusing on experimental, theoretical and numerical research in energy geomechanics. This IRES will also serve a broader effort to share knowledge, expertise and resources between Europe and the United States, and to explore new ways to initiate scientific collaborations between high-ranked education and research institutions around the world.
