University of Maryland No. 1 in ARPA-E Awards

The University of Maryland (UMD) is currently No. 1 among all U.S. universities in active awards from the Department of Energy U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E).

Since the inception of ARPA-E in 2009, UMD has participated in 15 projects, leading 10 of those projects. Currently, the university is participating in 13 projects funded by ARPA-E, nine of which are led by UMD, placing the university at the top of the list of awardees both as lead organization and total active awards. To date, ARPA-E has awarded UMD participating teams over $39 million for its energy research efforts.

In 2015 alone, researchers from the University of Maryland Energy Research Center (UMERC) led six new APRA-E awards and had two others extended, for over $15 million. A few of these projects are detailed below.

“Novel Microemulsion Absorption Systems for Supplemental Power Plant Cooling”
This project aims at developing an absorption cooling systems for power plants utilizing a novel microemulsion liquid absorbent. Led by Department of Mechanical Engineering Associate Professor Bao Yang, the project's UMD co-principal investigators include Professor Michael Ohadi and Minta Martin Professor Reinhard Radermacher, who is also the director of Maryland's Center for Environmental Energy Engineering (CEEE). The team will also work with partners at Stony Brook University, the Electric Power Research Institute, WorleyParsons Group and Rocky Research.

“Novel Polymer Composite Heat Exchanger for Dry Cooling of Power Plants"
The goal of this project is to improve power plant cooling technologies through the development and application of new composite heat exchangers that use a low-cost, high conductivity medium encapsulated in a polymeric material that is highly durable, low cost and has a high resistance to corrosion. Department of Mechanical Engineering Professor Michael Ohadi is leading the team and his partners include Professor Hugh Bruck (ME), Associate Research Scientist Dr. Serguei Dessiatoun and Assistant Research Scientist Dr. Amir Shooshtari, who will serve as co-PIs, along with Professor Joshua Pearce at Michigan Technological University, Dr. Arun Muley at Boeing Research and Technology, Huntington Beach, Calif. Dr. Justin Zachary at ExperTech Engineering Corp. will serve as consultant on the power plant feasibility studies and serve as the link between the project and the power plant community.

Learn more: http://go.umd.edu/powerplanttech

“Integrated, Personalized, Real-Time Traveler Information and Incentive Technology for Optimizing Energy Efficiency in Multimodal Transportation Systems”
The National Transportation Center at Maryland (NTC@Maryland) is developing a technology to deliver personalized, real-time travel information to users and incentivize energy-efficient travel. Led by NTC@Maryland Director and Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering Lei Zhang, the funding will be used to develop what is known as an Integrated, Personalized, Real-time Traveler Information and Incentive (iPretii) technology. iPretii will use traveler behavior data to stimulate the effects of traveler choices on energy use in the Washington-Baltimore area. UMD researchers will conduct behavioral studies to predict travelers’ responses and identify incentives to encourage drivers to alter routes, departure times, and driving styles, or take mass transit or ride-sharing services.

Learn more: http://go.umd.edu/NTCARPAE

To learn more about energy research at UMD, visit: http://energy.umd.edu

Published September 16, 2015