Florida Solar Energy Center Archives | �鶹ԭ�� News

Profound, Innovative, Analytical and Resilient: Meet �鶹ԭ��’s 2025 Reach for the Stars Honorees

Eddy Duryea ’13 — Thu, 27 Mar 2025 13:58:43 +0000

Four �鶹ԭ�� assistant professors are being recognized as 2025 Reach for the Stars honorees for their exceptional dedication to advancing knowledge through meaningful research.

Each early-career faculty researcher is making a substantial impact through their respective areas of expertise.

As in previous years, the variety of disciplines represented through the awards showcases �鶹ԭ��’s commitment to cultivating and recognizing groundbreaking and academically diverse research.

Honorees will receive a $10,000 annual research grant for three years in addition to the distinction of being an award recipient.

The prestigious award is second only to Pegasus Professor as �鶹ԭ��’s highest faculty honor.

The �鶹ԭ�� community is cordially invited to come and congratulate the recipients from 3 to 5 p.m. on Wednesday, April 2 in the Pegasus Ballroom of the Student Union as part of the 2025 Founders’ Day Faculty Honors Celebration.

This year’s Reach for the Stars honorees are:

(Photo by Antoine Hart)

Amrita Ghosh

Assistant professor of South Asian literature at �鶹ԭ��’s within its and a member of The India Center at �鶹ԭ��
Ph.D. in postcolonial literature and theory from Drew University.

Amrita Ghosh hopes to create an understanding in conflict zones and bridge gaps in cultural interpretations spanning the varied peoples of South Asia through her cultural and literary research.

Her research as an assistant professor of South Asian literature at �鶹ԭ�� focuses on studying literature and media from countries such as Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, among others.

Ghosh says she hopes to bring to light a better understanding of the nearly 2 billion people inhabiting these countries and how some of them have adapted since gaining independence and sovereignty from occupying nations.

“My research is important because it creates an understanding of the effects that colonialism had over South Asia for over 200 years, including the sources of conflicts, but also the resilience of the people,” she says. “It enables us to build cross border solidarity with a part of the world that’s often mired in essentialized representations.”

Ghosh says she believes there is value in learning about South Asia’s profoundly rich history for not just the 2 billion people living there, but for everyone.

“Through my research I hope to underscore solidarities and critical intimacies that can help mitigate the increasing rhetoric of division and fragmentation that is there in some South Asian nations,” she says. “South Asia has many different communities, ethnicities, identities and cultures living together. Through my work I hope to highlight syncretic pasts and how to also forge ahead together toward ethical futures.”

Ghosh was inspired by her family history tracing back to modern day Bangladesh. She had studied the aftermaths of the British partitions of the Indian subcontinent into Bangladesh, India, Pakistan.

“Prior to researching the Partition, I was always interested in this huge historical rupture because of stories I heard within the family,” Ghosh says. “I grew up hearing stories of Partition, of courage, resilience and of friendship of cross border relations. Many such families exist in South Asia with stories of Partition that are there buried within families and that created an interest for me to enter this field of study.”

In addition to her research and student mentorship, Ghosh has shared her prolific findings through authoring or editing a variety of unique books spanning topics on India’s largest film industry in Mumbai, popularly called Bollywood, and literary and media analysis of the militarized border zone such as Kashmir.

She says she’s also working on more enlightening discoveries to be published soon.

“I am also very excited about upcoming research that is coming out on intersecting the narratives of Partition and [artificial intelligence] AI,” Ghosh says. “This upcoming journal article is on how AI can be used in creative imaginations to rethink hatred and foster solidarities and friendships in the so-called rival nations of India and Pakistan.”

While some people may think the arts and humanities are distinct from STEM, Ghosh says she believes they are is both complementary to science and essential in enhancing the human experience.

“Literature, arts and the humanities have an important role at a time when the world is rapidly shifting through technology, scientific and business innovations constantly,” she says. “Literature and the arts can enable us to understand the significance of human reliance towards each other, the values of pluralistic thinking and help us come closer. I say this with hope especially because �鶹ԭ�� has been such a space where knowledge is built together alongside many different divergent fields.”

Ghosh’s proficiencies aligned with �鶹ԭ��’s desire to expand its literary offerings, as the university was looking for an expert in South Asian literature. She says she the mutual interest was evident almost instantly.

“When I interviewed with �鶹ԭ��, I was very impressed with the wide variety of different research expertise that is there in my department,” Ghosh says. “After getting to know the department and my colleagues, I knew it was absolutely the right place for me. I also had the chance to meet with students for an interview and I still remember the fantastic energy they had even in a short meeting.”

While she still holds dear the memories of where she had lived before, Ghosh says she feels at home here in Orlando.

“When I first visited Orlando, I was particularly impressed with the dynamism of the city and what it offers to the people,” she says. “In my third year here, I call myself a Floridian now.”

Although Ghosh is comfortable here at �鶹ԭ��, she says that she’s far from finished with furthering her aspirations.

She says that being a Reach for the Stars honoree is incredibly humbling, and that it encourages her to continue growing with �鶹ԭ��.

“I am so thankful for the support �鶹ԭ�� has shown me and this award means the world to me to be able to continue my research,” she says. “I feel overjoyed and so grateful for all the amazing opportunities that last three years of �鶹ԭ�� have provided me that led to this award.”

(Photo by Antoine Hart)

Leland Nordin

Assistant Professor of materials science and engineering at within its with a joint appointment with .
Ph.D. in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Texas at Austin.

Semiconductors are specialized components omnipresent in everyday electronics — including the phone that Leland Nordin answered to hear President Alexander N. Cartwright congratulating him on earning a 2025 Reach for the Stars award.

“It was a great honor and surreal moment to receive a call from �鶹ԭ��’s president informing me of the award,” says Nordin, an assistant professor of materials science and engineering whose research focuses on semiconductors. “I deeply appreciate that �鶹ԭ�� recognizes the hard work my students and I are doing, and I am excited about the research opportunities this award will unlock.”

Nordin, who also holds a joint appointment at CREOL, the College of Optics and Photonics, works to realize better and more efficient semiconductor materials and devices. Specifically, he and his group of students work on specialty devices that emit, detect, or manipulate light — such as lasers, LEDs and photodetectors like those found in a cell phone camera.

“My research is important because semiconductor materials and advanced devices drive nearly every critical technology today and will be central to future innovations,” Nordin says. “These future applications include, but are not limited to, quantum technologies, artificial intelligence, next generation 5G/6G communications, autonomous systems, space exploration, and hypersonics.”

While many of these terms may seem cumbersome and unfamiliar, Nordin says he hopes his research helps to translate these technologies into ways that improve the lives of people everywhere.

“I strive to develop semiconductor materials and devices that make a real impact,” he says. “For example, we are working on ultraviolet light emitters, particularly lasers, that could help efficiently sterilize hospitals and other critical environments. Additionally, we are exploring ways to improve computer memory, which is a key bottleneck in modern data centers that power the AI revolution.”

Nordin leverages �鶹ԭ��’s plentiful semiconductor resources, such as its state-of-the-art cleanrooms, to grow his research and educate students.

“We take a ‘full stack’ approach to semiconductor materials and devices, meaning we design, synthesize, fabricate and test our own materials and devices,” he says. “Using molecular beam epitaxy (a process akin to spray painting with atoms) we grow high-quality semiconductor materials. We then carve these materials into working devices in a cleanroom before testing their performance in our lab.”

In evaluating universities where he could launch his career, Nordin says he found �鶹ԭ�� to be the most opportune place to harness his multidisciplinary research without excluding or overplaying any one aspect of his work.

“Before joining �鶹ԭ��, I worked across a range of disciplines, including physics, electrical engineering, and materials science and engineering,” he says. “I chose �鶹ԭ�� because it is the ideal place to pursue this interdisciplinary work, offering world-class facilities, outstanding colleagues and as I’ve come to appreciate, exceptional research support. I am especially fortunate to have a joint appointment as well.”

Since joining �鶹ԭ�� in 2023, Nordin has not only prioritized accelerating semiconductor and optoelectronic research but preparing students for a career in STEM.

“One of my primary goals is to train the next generation of the U.S. semiconductor workforce,” he says. “As an educator, I believe my most significant contribution is the students I mentor and graduate. I want them to be the most hardworking, well-equipped scientists and engineers in the field.”

Nordin says he takes great pride in the student research group he assembled, and that he greatly appreciates their trust in his ability to focus and guide meaningful research.

“I know it may sound corny, but I’m especially proud of the research group I’ve built and their enthusiasm for semiconductor materials and devices,” he says, “There’s always some risk in joining a junior faculty member’s lab, and I couldn’t be more grateful for the students in my group.”

Nordin says he is elated to receive this award, and he reiterates his appreciation for the support of his many close collaborators and friends.

“I am incredibly honored, humbled, and excited to receive this award,” he says. “I would like to express my gratitude to my current graduate students, undergraduate students and my academic mentors.”

(Photo by Antoine Hart)

Yogesh Rawat

Assistant professor at the .
Ph.D. in computer science at the National University of Singapore.

Yogesh Rawat aspires toward a future where artificial intelligence (AI) is accurate, efficient and ultimately trustworthy.

Rawat, who completed his postdoctoral training at �鶹ԭ��’s Center for Research in Computer Vision (CRCV) from 2017 to 2019, continues to hone his expertise in AI and computer vision as an assistant professor.

His work with computer vision focuses on video understanding, which enables AI to interpret media and respond to real-world events automatically.

“The world generates massive amounts of video data every second — whether through CCTV cameras, medical imaging or autonomous systems,” Rawat says. “However, manually analyzing such data is nearly impossible. My research focuses on developing AI models that can efficiently process and understand video streams in real time, allowing for faster decision-making in high-stakes environments.”

Allowing AI and machine learning to sift through and decipher video datasets may prove to be valuable as data interpretation can be automated to free up human expertise for high-level decision making, he says.

“The ability to analyze video in real time has immense potential to make our world safer and more efficient,” Rawat says. “From healthcare to security, disaster response and law enforcement, AI can provide instant insights where human analysis may be slow or impractical.

His research is funded by a variety of sources including the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity as part of the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and it has resulted in multiple patents and even a startup company. Among his proudest accomplishments are his contributions to secure and AI-powered identification systems.

“The intersection of technology and real-world impact is what drives my passion for this field,” Rawat says.

He credits �鶹ԭ��’s enduring legacy as one of the top computer vision programs in the world to several key factors which ultimately led him here.

“�鶹ԭ�� is one of the fastest-growing universities in the country, with a strong commitment to innovation and interdisciplinary research,” Rawat says. “It is home to one of the top computer vision research groups, led by [CRCV Director] Mubarak Shah, and offers a collaborative, resource-rich environment that enables groundbreaking AI research. The university’s strong connections with government agencies also provide an excellent platform for translating research into real world impact.”

Earning a Reach for the Stars award is something, he says, that is both humbling and profoundly inspiring.

“It is incredibly motivating to see my research acknowledged in this way and it reaffirms my commitment to pushing the boundaries of AI for societal benefit,” Rawat says. “This award is not just a personal achievement — it is a testament to the hard work of my students, collaborators and the incredible research environment at �鶹ԭ��.”

Similar to how his work with AI and computer vision is guided by human guidance, Rawat says his success is guided by those who support him at �鶹ԭ��.

“This recognition would not have been possible without the unwavering support of �鶹ԭ��,” he says. “I am deeply grateful to the technical assistance team, Mubarak Shah, [Department of Computer Science Chair] Damla Turgut, [Professor] Gary Leavens and [CECS Dean] Michael Georgiopoulos. I must give special recognition to [CRCV Administrative Coordinator] Cherry Place, whose incredible support has made a profound impact on my success.”

There are so many people at �鶹ԭ�� to thank that at times it may be challenging to quantify just how crucial of a role they play, but Rawat says he’s particularly grateful for Place’s assistance and coordination.

“To be honest, at least 30% of what I have achieved would not have been possible without her,” he says. “I truly appreciate everything she has done for me and for our research group.”

(Photo by Kadeem Stewart ’17)

Kelly Stevens

Assistant professor of public administration at within its , and a member of �鶹ԭ��’s Resilient, Intelligent, and Sustainable Energy Systems (RISES) Faculty Cluster��Ի��.
Ph.D. in public administration from Syracuse University.

There’s no better place for remaining resilient and adaptive than the Sunshine State.

Kelly Stevens, assistant professor of public administration at �鶹ԭ��, thrives by navigating Florida’s unique weather conditions, energy opportunities and challenges through her research in sustainable and resilient technologies.

Much like the technologies she researches, Stevens harnesses creative methods of pursuing a bright future.

“A major part of my work right now looks at what community members identify as problems related to energy, resilience, and sustainability,” says Stevens, who is a member of �鶹ԭ��’s Resilient, Intelligent and Sustainable Energy Systems (RISES) Faculty Cluster. “It’s useful for people who are engineers or policy makers to understand how something like a power outage impacts people differently across the state — the elderly, the poor, people with medical conditions.”

Before she adopted the signature black and gold of �鶹ԭ��, she donned shades of garnet and gold while earning her master’s in meteorology from Florida State University and working as a meteorologist for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection in the Division of Air Resource Management. Stevens says she was drawn to policy and program design as she continued immersing herself in the field of air quality modeling and monitoring.

Stevens returned to Florida after completing her doctoral degree in public administration from Syracuse University and supplementing her existing background with electricity and energy expertise.

She says bridging the gap between academic research and practice within Florida and beyond is part of how she ensures work makes a positive impact.

“I’m excited to be back in Florida applying what I’ve learned to different energy and environmental projects here in Central Florida,” Stevens says. “With my background in both social and physical sciences, I try to move beyond typically siloed disciplines to talk about complex questions in our energy system from a more holistic perspective. I believe this strategy is important to so we can better translate from science to practice by making sure technologies we create here at �鶹ԭ�� are useful and user-friendly.”

Disaster preparedness is a critical component of resiliency, and it is something Floridians need to be particularly aware of given the state’s susceptibility to adverse weather such as hurricanes, she says. Her efforts to help local people is something Stevens says is incredibly rewarding.

“The project I am most proud of is the NSF-funded Resilience, Education and Advocacy Center for Hazard preparedness, the REACH hub,” she says. “We worked closely with the City of Orlando to design a portable and innovative resilience hub to provide energy-related services before and after disasters here.”

The hub eventually will be delivered to and used by the City of Orlando for local use to help residents stay safe, recharged and informed.

“With community feedback … we designed a solar-powered, portable hub with an extensive battery system to provide internet connection, cooling, information via display screens, and device charging that can help residents prepare for and respond to a disaster,” Stevens says. “The hub is built, we are conducting demonstrations, and anticipate the hub will be used by the City of Orlando as soon as this hurricane season.”

Stevens says she’s grateful for the collaborative nature of �鶹ԭ��, particularly for the Faculty Cluster Initiative, which links faculty from different colleges, institutes and centers together to accomplish interdisciplinary breakthroughs.

“I am deeply grateful to be part of a talented and innovative team of researchers who embrace challenging questions and different perspectives in their work,” she says. “I am also grateful for the support and opportunities provided by the Faculty Cluster Initiative in fostering interdisciplinary work, as well as support from the College of Community Innovation and Education as well as the School of Public Administration for highlighting the great work that happens here.”

Stevens says that the funds earned from the Reach for Stars award will sustain and further her research while helping to inspire and energize students.

“It is a huge honor to be recognized for this early-career award,” she says. “The research funding will be beneficial for funding more students to continue research on power outages and resilience over the next few years.”

Industry Innovation Program at �鶹ԭ�� Distributes Inaugural Awards to Fund Research in Sustainable Energy and Energy Grid Resilience

Florida High Tech Corridor — Wed, 13 Nov 2024 13:57:33 +0000

A new collaboration between the �鶹ԭ��, the Florida High Tech Corridor and Duke Energy is supporting a series of clean energy research projects.

�鶹ԭ�� and the Corridor launched the program to advance technology commercialization by strengthening the relationship between academic research and its real-world applications. The Industry Innovation Program provides critical funding for research led by expert faculty and students, addresses specific business challenges presented by an industry partner and encourages startups to translate technology in support of the industry partner’s economic development goals.

Duke Energy, a Fortune 150 company serving 8.4 million customers in six states, is the Industry Innovation Program’s first corporate sponsor providing $250,000 to facilitate research activities that will help to achieve its clean energy transition goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Duke Energy is seeking to advance research in Long-Duration Energy Storage (LDES) systems and carbon-efficient electricity generation. In a 2-to-1 match, The Florida High Tech Corridor committed another $125,000, bringing the total available funds for sponsored research to $375,000. Additional program funding through the college, department or �鶹ԭ�� Office of Research may also be provided to each project.

The Industry Innovation Program will enhance economic development through technological research and commercialization, build relationships between research faculty and businesses with a presence in The Corridor’s 23-county region and promote workforce development by requiring student involvement. Upon the conclusion of each research project, industry partners may continue collaborating with researchers to investigate their topics further and eventually purchase or license the technology. Researchers may also spin off startups.

“Duke Energy Florida has prioritized energy efficiency and grid resiliency to meet the needs of its customers today and better Florida’s infrastructure for the future. This collaboration is a meaningful way to advance research and propel commercialization conversations to meet these goals,” says Melissa Seixas, state president of Duke Energy Florida. “We look forward to seeing the outcome of these research projects and the innovative solutions they may bring to this industry.”

Through a competitive process, including white paper reviews by university experts and Duke Energy technology specialists, the Industry Innovation Program selected five research teams to receive its inaugural awards:

Like Li, Associate Professor
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Center for Advanced Turbomachinery and Energy Research
Project: Electrically Heated Thermochemical Energy Storage for Long-Duration Storage and Grid Decarbonization
This project aims to develop a low-cost, zero-emission, solid-state fuel that enables energy storage for short or long periods. The environmentally sound fuel could be stored until needed to provide low-cost, high-temperature heat for the power block. The goal is to develop this technology for commercial use, helping to support clean energy and improve the reliability of the power grid.

Manjunath Matam, Assistant Professor
Florida Solar Energy Center
Project: A Novel MAZE Connection Technique for Optimal Performance Floating Solar PV System
Floating solar panel systems, which generate renewable energy on water, often lose efficiency due to dirt buildup. To address this issue, the team is testing a new wiring technique called the “MAZE connection” that improves performance under these conditions, making the systems more reliable and financially sustainable.

Wei Sun, Associate Professor
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Project: LESS-FUEL: Long-duration Energy Storage Systems for Florida Utilities toward Emission eLimination
This research evaluates LDES systems to strengthen Florida’s power grid by storing energy for over 100 hours, ensuring reliability and resilience during demand fluctuations and extreme weather events. By assessing the viability of different LDES technologies, it aims to provide utilities with the tools to integrate these systems, supporting Florida’s transition to 100% renewable energy and reducing dependence on fossil fuels.

Yifan Wang, Assistant Professor
Florida Solar Energy Center
Project: Optimal Design and Integration of Hydrogen Energy System with Solar and Peaker Plants
To support a clean energy transition and reduce emissions, this project will explore integrating hydrogen energy storage with solar power and peaker plants, a type of power station that operates primarily during times of peak electricity demand. By using solar-powered electrolysis to produce green hydrogen, the system would provide long-duration energy storage and dispatchable power, helping to balance grid fluctuations. This project also will develop a dynamic model and an optimization framework to identify cost-effective strategies for designing and operating this type of integrated system.

Marcel Otto, Assistant Professor
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Center for Advanced Turbomachinery and Energy Research
Project: Long-duration Thermal Energy Storage with Ultra-efficient Molten Salt and Ceramic Particles to sCO2 Heat Transfer
This project is creating a system that stores excess electricity as heat using molten salt and ceramic materials, which can later be turned back into electricity when needed. It uses supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) to improve efficiency and reduce costs compared to traditional methods. This technology could make the power grid more stable and reliable by storing energy for hours or even days, which is especially helpful in places like Florida that rely on renewable energy. With this advancement, clean, renewable solar energy can be available even when the sun does not shine.

“At The Corridor, we like to say that ‘tech for tech’s sake misses the point.’ Our strategic focus is on technology and research development for the betterment of our regional community, and this new program allows us to do exactly that,” says Paul Sohl, CEO of The Corridor. “The Industry Innovation Program is an exciting step forward, bringing the expertise of our �鶹ԭ�� researchers together with industry partners who are addressing some of the greatest challenges facing our region, our nation and the world. It is a powerful combination.”

�鶹ԭ��’s Vice President for Research and Innovation Winston Schoenfeld says the partnership and the projects it supports are examples of the many ways the university’s research capabilities can create lasting, far-reaching impact.

“�鶹ԭ�� is honored to collaborate with the Florida High Tech Corridor and Duke Energy to provide this invaluable opportunity to our innovative faculty and student researchers,” Schoenfeld says. “Partnering with industry leaders to solve real-world challenges not only ensures �鶹ԭ�� research leads to advancements that have societal impact, but also promotes an educational ecosystem that provides practical training and skill sets to best prepare students for the workforce.”

�鶹ԭ�� Researchers Lead $1.5M Project to Improve Efficiency of Solar Cells

Marisa Ramiccio — Thu, 07 Mar 2024 16:34:38 +0000

A team of researchers from the �鶹ԭ�� and the University of Delaware’s Institute of Energy Conversion has received a $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Technologies Office to develop a novel metallization process that could improve the efficiency and lower the cost of solar cells, making solar energy more accessible to consumers.

The metallization process produces the metal contacts that are placed on the surface of silicon solar cells to harvest electrical currents. Silver is typically used to manufacture the contacts due to its ability to withstand high temperatures without oxidizing, but it’s very expensive to use.

“Silver constitutes some of the highest costs to producing photovoltaic cells, and the photovoltaics industry is expected to consume 20% of the annual global silver supply by 2027,” says Kristopher Davis, the project’s principal investigator and a �鶹ԭ�� associate professor of . “Copper is less expensive and also has a low electrical resistivity and is therefore a great potential alternative metal, but it has many challenges.”

One of those challenges is the fact that copper can oxidize in high temperatures, negatively impacting its conductivity. To solve this problem, the researchers will use lasers to heat the copper nanoparticles and reduce the possibility of oxidation.

“This approach has the potential to increase the efficiency of heterojunction solar cells and dramatically reduce their manufacturing costs,” Davis says. “This will hopefully help accelerate the adoption of solar energy by lowering the cost barriers that exist for some consumers.”

�鶹ԭ�� researchers on the team also include Aravinda Kar, a professor in and Ranganathan Kumar, a professor of and the associate dean of research and administration for the .

The �鶹ԭ�� team will collaborate with their counterparts at the Institute of Energy Conversion, led by research scientist Ujjwal Das.

The project is one of 19 selected for funding from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, and one of eight projects that aim to reduce costs and increase efficiency of panel recycling processes through Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

About the Researchers

Davis joined �鶹ԭ�� in 2017 as an assistant professor of materials science and engineering. He is a three-time graduate of �鶹ԭ��, having earned his Ph.D. and M.S. in optics and photonics and his B.S. in electrical engineering. He has joint appointments with the College of Optics and Photonics and the and is a member of the Resilient, Intelligent, and Sustainable Energy Systems (RISES) faculty cluster initiative.

Kumar joined �鶹ԭ�� in 2003 as the chair of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and now serves as the associate dean for research and administration for the College of Engineering and Computer Science. He received his Ph.D. in theoretical and applied mechanics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineering, and his research has been funded by NASA, the National Science Foundation and the Air Force Research Laboratory.

Kar is a professor in CREOL, The College of Optics and Photonics, and he received his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research areas include laser-assisted manufacturing and materials processing as well as the design and processing of semiconductor materials and photovoltaic cells. He has won several awards, including the Arthur L. Schawlow Award from the Laser Institute of America (LIA). He is a fellow of LIA, as well as the National Academy of Inventors.

�鶹ԭ�� Research Team Moves to Build Mobile Resilience Hubs for Local Neighborhoods

Josh Holder ‘19 — Thu, 11 Jan 2024 15:28:16 +0000

In 2022, a team of researchers from �鶹ԭ��’s College of Community Innovation and Education and College of Engineering and Computer Science set out to solve an elusive question plaguing local officials: How do you provide critical services to residents where and when they need it after a disaster?

Neighborhoods throughout Orlando could easily find themselves without power, internet and mobility after significant weather events. Effective local response requires a mobile, self-sustaining solution to provide residents with services ranging from device charging and air-conditioned space to laundry to food distribution and even ice for food preservation. Even more, could such a solution also provide educational resources for residents to prepare for future emergencies more effectively?

Kelly Stevens, assistant professor of public administration and the project’s principal investigator, has been working with fellow �鶹ԭ�� researchers to bring this vision to life. Together with the City of Orlando and other community leaders, the team has spent the past year conceptualizing what an effective Resilience, Education, and Advocacy Center for Hazard Preparedness (REACH) hub would look like.

Now, they’re ready to put their ideas into action.

The team recently received approval and funding for the project’s second phase from the National Science Foundation’s CIVIC program, which involved presenting the findings from the project’s first phase and successfully demonstrating its feasibility.

Stevens serves on the REACH project team with Yue “Gurt” Ge, public administration associate professor, L. Trenton S. Marsh, urban education assistant professor, Liqiang Wang, computer science professor, and Zhihua Qu, electrical and computer engineering professor, who serve as co-principal investigators. Senior personnel on the project include Maritza Concha, nonprofit management lecturer; Christopher Emrich, emergency management professor; and Kristopher Davis, associate professor of materials science and engineering.

“We are extremely happy with the success of Phase I,” Stevens says. “We had over 300 responses from residents to the community survey we built with our partners, which informed our design process in a way that allowed us to really co-design these hubs with and for the community.”

A proposed rendering of a REACH hub deployed and in use by the community is shown.

Stevens says feedback from the community was critical because residents’ responses provided insight into potential resources and amenities for the hub beyond the original concept — from an onboard ice maker to finding a more efficient way to distribute water than simply having water bottles onboard.

The architectural design produced by the team is critical to Phase II of the project, the principal goal of which is to build and test a prototype REACH hub in the communities where it will ultimately be used.

The hub is designed as a trailer chassis-based mobile unit that can be easily deployed in neighborhoods without power or service access. The unit will contain a slew of appliances and usable services for residents to charge their devices, cool off, access the internet and more. The key to the hub is its self-sustaining power, principally supplied through solar panels and supplemented by a conventional generator when under heavy load.

“Right now, we’re working to select vendors that will construct the hub and everything on it,” Stevens says. “We’re looking for someone who can build the hub itself, design the electrical and solar components, install the appliances, and ultimately provide us with a fully realized and working hub.”

Stevens also notes the hub itself is only half the battle. Critical to the project’s value in the community is its educational component, designed to provide affected residents with necessary information about disaster preparedness and recovery before and after a disaster.

“Our ‘blue skies’ curriculum will consist of community-driven, interactive and immersive STEM education learning stations,” says Marsh, who serves as the project’s education lead. “We want to build the programming around what residents recognize; the landmarks they view as signs of strength and resiliency, as well as areas they feel are more vulnerable or susceptible to inclement weather.”

The hubs will also host just-in-time preparedness content for residents to assist with preparation and decision-making ahead of a potential emergency. Evacuation plans and food preparation, Marsh says, are plans the team hopes to focus content on.

Ideally, the team hopes to leverage emerging augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) technologies in developing educational programming to provide residents with in-depth, immersive experiences. The �鶹ԭ��-led HazardAware project also collects data that can provide individual address-based natural hazard and home resilience information tailored to residents’ specific homes.

“We hope that we’ll be able to further leverage our resources at �鶹ԭ�� to accomplish these goals with virtual and augmented reality programming, specifically through a potential partnership with the university’s ,” Marsh says.

Once the prototype hub has been built and the educational programming completed, the team will run extensive tests and experiments on the hub’s appliances and power systems to ensure its viability in real-world scenarios. After that, testing will move into the community — where Stevens says the team will really get a sense of how the hub will work.

“We’re going to implement four test deployments in local neighborhoods — three during ‘blue skies’ and one after an actual emergency,” Stevens says. “We want to see how people actually interact with the hub — what they’re interested in, what parts are functional and even what parts aren’t super functional.”

The final step, once testing is completed, is to hand off ownership of the hub to the city of Orlando. The city will be responsible for the deployment, maintenance and future development of the project. Michael Hess, director of the City of Orlando’s Future Ready program, and Ian Lahiff, an energy project manager with the city, serve as senior personnel on the project.

“The city has been our core partner from Day One, so we know they’re in this for the long haul,” Stevens says. “Our team is confident they will be good stewards of the project and its impact on the community.”

The ultimate goal, Stevens says, is to produce an effective and efficient means of increasing resilience in the community.

“When we can show our community that �鶹ԭ�� is leveraging its expertise and resources to produce technology — in a quick timeframe and at a very local scale — that can actually be used in the community, that’s the real impact,” she says.

Researcher Credentials

Stevens received her doctorate in public administration from Syracuse University and joined �鶹ԭ��’s School of Public Administration, part of �鶹ԭ��’s College of Community Innovation and Education, in 2017. She is a member of �鶹ԭ��’s Resilient, Intelligent, and Sustainable Energy Systems (RISES) Cluster��Ի��

Ge joined �鶹ԭ�� in 2018 and serves as co-lead of the Urban Resilience Initiative based at �鶹ԭ�� Downtown. He has also served on the RISES faculty research cluster since 2021. He holds a doctorate in urban and regional science from Texas A&M University.

Marsh earned his doctorate in teaching and learning with a concentration in urban education from New York University and joined �鶹ԭ��’s College of Community Innovation and Education in 2019 after a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor.

Qu arrived at �鶹ԭ�� in 1990 after earning a doctorate in electrical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Currently the Thomas J. Riordan and Herbert C. Towle Chair of �鶹ԭ��’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, he is also the founding director of both RISES — a university research center on energy systems — and the multi-institutional ��(�󷡷��ٷ��).

Wang earned his doctorate in computer science from Stony Brook University in 2006 and joined the �鶹ԭ�� Department of Computer Science in 2015.

�鶹ԭ�� Researchers Awarded NSF Grant to Establish Local Resiliency Hubs

Joshua Holder ’19 — Mon, 14 Nov 2022 16:05:23 +0000

Central Florida is no stranger to strong storms and extreme weather, but a new collaboration between �鶹ԭ�� and the City of Orlando aims to strengthen the area’s response capabilities by developing portable resilience hubs that offer power, internet and air conditioning for residents.

Through this project, Resilience, Education and Advocacy Center for Hazard preparedness (REACH) hubs will be developed thanks to a recently announced $50,000 grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Civic Innovation Challenge program. They could be deployed any time a disaster — whether natural or human-made — strikes.

Leading the project is a team of �鶹ԭ�� faculty, including Assistant Professor Kelly Stevens and Associate Professor Yue “Gurt” Ge, Assistant Professor L. Trenton Marsh, and College of Engineering and Computer Science professor Liqiang Wang and Pegasus Professor Zhihua Qu.

The REACH hubs will be able to serve two primary roles. Following disasters or local emergencies, the hubs will provide critical services such as cooling, broadband internet and reliable electricity to areas whose access to those needs may already be unstable. The hubs also will serve as hazard-preparedness and hands-on STEM education centers.

“Different types of hubs are being developed and used across the U.S., but ours is unique in that it has an equally important use during non-emergency times,” Stevens says. “Making a solar-powered, portable hub is technically challenging, but the benefits it can provide to communities whose access to standard services may already be restricted without an external shock make it well worth it.”

Stevens says that the grant also paves the way for partnership opportunities.

“The NSF CIVIC program is unique because it focuses on civic partnerships that can be quickly implemented and ultimately sustained long-term by participating local partners,” she says. “We will host a local stakeholder meeting next month with our partners and two public input meetings in December to really get feedback from the whole community.”

She says the community meetings will help determine factors ranging from what services the hubs will provide and where they will be deployed after a disaster to which educational topics should be covered during non-emergency events.

Beyond the external partnerships, Stevens says this project opens the door for new cooperation with other �鶹ԭ�� colleagues across different disciplines.

“The research we are doing builds on interdisciplinary coordination from public administration, computer science and engineering across �鶹ԭ��,” she says.

The research team will have six months to prepare a plan for the REACH hub and submit it to the NSF, after which they are eligible for up to $1 million in awarded funds to execute the project.

About the Research Team

After joining �鶹ԭ�� in 2018, Ge has since been appointed co-lead of the Urban Resilience Initiative based at �鶹ԭ�� Downtown. He has also served on the RISES faculty research cluster since 2021. He holds a doctorate in urban and regional science from Texas A&M University.

Marsh earned his doctorate in urban education from New York University and joined �鶹ԭ��’s College of Community Innovation and Education in 2019.

Qu arrived at �鶹ԭ�� in 1990 after earning a doctorate in electrical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Currently the Thomas J. Riordan and Herbert C. Towle Chair of �鶹ԭ��’s , he is also the founding director of both the RISES, a university research center on energy systems, and the multi-institutional (FEEDER).

Wang earned his doctorate in computer science from Stony Brook University in 2006 and joined the �鶹ԭ�� in 2015.

�鶹ԭ��, Mitsubishi Power Elevate Partnership in National Push for Hydrogen-Based Clean Energy

Kimberly J. Lewis — Wed, 07 Sep 2022 16:45:03 +0000

The presidents of the �鶹ԭ�� and Mitsubishi Power will meet Sept. 8 on �鶹ԭ��’s main campus in Orlando, alongside representatives from government, industry, and academia, to address the role of hydrogen in the nation’s push to achieve net-zero carbon emissions and elevate a longstanding partnership between the two organizations.

In the forum, Hydrogen: The Time is Now, �鶹ԭ�� President Alexander N. Cartwright and Mitsubishi Power Americas President and CEO Bill Newsom will discuss collaborative opportunities to achieve net zero by 2050. Keynote speaker Jennifer Wilcox, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Fuels and Carbon Management principal deputy assistant secretary, will address the government’s role and recent legislative progress. Panels of experts will discuss the challenges and opportunities in creating a national hydrogen economy.

The forum comes at a critical time, as nations worldwide seek clean-energy solutions. Scientists and engineers are turning to the most abundant element, hydrogen, as a clean energy source that could produce enough energy to serve growing populations while reducing greenhouse gas emissions to “net zero” by 2050.

The power generation industry’s transition to hydrogen, which involves large-scale production, storage and distribution, is a complex challenge. Creating a hydrogen-based energy economy, according to Cartwright and Newsom, will require high-level collaborations and investments among academia, industry and government.

“�鶹ԭ�� offers partnership opportunities through our multiple research centers that leverage faculty expertise in a variety of relevant areas — such as power generation and storage, combustion, modeling and simulation, energy grid technology, sustainability, aerospace and environmental engineering, and more,” Cartwright says. “�鶹ԭ�� — among the nation’s largest producers of engineers and computer scientists — in partnership with Mitsubishi Power and others can play a key role in educating and training the talent pipeline required for a hydrogen-based energy economy.”

Mitsubishi Power, a global leader in power generation, has made major investments in recent years to create the infrastructure required to produce and store hydrogen, and transition existing power plants to clean hydrogen.

“We have set an ambitious goal to reach net zero across all MHI Group companies by 2040,” Newsom says. “In order to help meet this goal we are elevating our partnership with the �鶹ԭ�� — a proven research powerhouse in the energy sector. Through this partnership, we will focus on innovation, research, and education to advance the energy transition.”

�鶹ԭ�� and Mitsubishi Power are longtime partners. Approximately a third of the company’s engineering/manufacturing workforce are �鶹ԭ�� graduates.
In the past 16 years, the company has provided internships for hundreds of �鶹ԭ�� students.
In 2012, �鶹ԭ�� installed a Mitsubishi Power power plant on campus that in four years reduced �鶹ԭ��’s carbon footprint by 2,000 to 3,500 metric tons of CO₂per year in carbon emissions.
In 2021, �鶹ԭ�� and Mitsubishi Power developed and launched a nitrogen oxide emissions tracker
Since 2021, Mitsubishi has been funding Professor Subith Vasu in �鶹ԭ��’s Center for Advanced Turbomachinery and Energy Systems to research and experimentally quantify hydrogen ignition safety boundaries for gas turbines. This effort is also supported by additional funding from the Florida High Tech Corridor Council.
Mitsubishi is a collaborator on an $800,000 award to �鶹ԭ�� from the U.S. Department of Energy, also led by Vasu. The effort focuses on better understanding how to implement hydrogen in modern electricity-generating turbines, including exploring the best fuel blends and their combustion characteristics

�鶹ԭ��’s Research and Academic Centers that Can Support a National Transition to Hydrogen-Based Clean Energy

CATER: Center for Advanced Turbomachinery and Energy Research — led by Pegasus Professor Jayanta Kapat, �鶹ԭ�� Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

FSEC: Florida Solar Energy Center — led by Professor James Fenton, �鶹ԭ�� Department of Materials Science and Engineering

RISES: Resilient, Intelligent and Sustainable Energy Systems — led by Pegasus Professor Zhihua Qu, �鶹ԭ�� Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

REACT: Renewable Energy and Chemical Transformations — led by Pegasus Professor Talat Rahman, �鶹ԭ�� Department of Physics

�鶹ԭ�� School of Modeling, Simulation and Training — led by Director Grace Bochenek ’98PhD., former director of National Energy Technology Laboratory and former acting secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy

�鶹ԭ�� Professor Receives National Medal from His Home Country, the Republic of Azerbaijan

Stephanie Salmon — Thu, 28 Jul 2022 14:09:19 +0000

Nazim Muradov, research professor for Special Projects at the FSEC Energy Research Center at the �鶹ԭ��, was awarded the Jubilee Medal from his home country, the Republic of Azerbaijan.

The Ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan, His Excellency Khazar Ibrahim, presented the award in-person to Muradov on June 29 at FSEC ERC in Cocoa, FLORIDA in front of his family and co-workers.

“I am very honored and pleased to present the commemoration medal to Professor Nazim Muradov, who is the best representation of brilliant Azerbaijani, and who dedicated his life to science and strengthening U.S.-Azerbaijan friendship and partnership,” Ibrahim says. “He and his wife Pervin, who hails from a prominent Azerbaijani music family, are as much of a value for Florida as for Azerbaijan.”

The Jubilee Medal is officially named the “100th Anniversary of the Diplomatic Service of the Republic of Azerbaijan (1919-2019)” medal. It represents the 100th anniversary of diplomatic service for the Republic and is awarded for diplomatic excellence to Azerbaijan.

Muradov began working for FSEC in 1990, and his main areas of research include thermocatalytic and photocatalytic hydrogen production systems, solar-powered water-splitting cycles, advanced biofuels, fossil fuel decarbonization, reformers for fuel cell applications, hydrogen sensors, radiant detoxification of hazardous wastes and nanostructured carbon materials.

As a member of the NASA-�鶹ԭ�� research team, Muradov helped to develop a unique hydrogen sensor, which was successfully tested during NASA’s Space Shuttle Endeavour mission.

Muradov has authored and coauthored two books and five book-chapters and is credited with roughly 50 patents in his fields of study. He has presented papers at more than 100 national and international meetings, including several keynote presentations and plenary lectures. His paper “From hydrocarbon to hydrogen-carbon to hydrogen economy” (coauthored with N. Veziroglu) was identified by Thomson Reuters’ Essential Science Indicators to be one of the most cited papers in research area of Hydrogen Economy. His pioneering work and contributions led to being named a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors.

“I am deeply honored to accept the Jubilee medal from His Excellency the Ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan Khazar Ibrahim,” Muradov says. “I thank my Alma Mater, the University of Oil and Industry and the Department of Education of Azerbaijan for recognizing my contributions to science and technology. I also thank my colleagues at FSEC who gathered to share this exciting moment with me.”

Muradov says he shares the recognition with his co-workers, many of whom have worked alongside him at FSEC ERC for many years.

“I have been with FSEC for 32 years and I am convinced that I could not come to this point without the support and encouragement of my colleagues,” Muradov says.

�鶹ԭ�� to Study Method for Reducing Energy Use by 50-75% in Older Homes

Sherri Shields — Wed, 30 Mar 2022 14:42:20 +0000

The �鶹ԭ�� was recently awarded a grant worth $4.4 million from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to determine if a pre-packaged pod is an effective method to deploy very efficient heating, cooling and water heating systems to thousands of homes.

The DOE awarded $32 million to seven teams that will manage 30 demonstration projects nationwide. Finding effective ways to retrofit existing and older buildings to be more energy efficient is critical considering there are 130 million buildings in the United States today and about 75% of them are expected to still be standing in 2050, according to the DOE. Upgrading older homes is often expensive and intrusive, which makes homeowners less likely to make the investment. The pod system holds promise because it is expected to reduce energy use by 50-75% and is less disruptive to install, according to researchers.

at the �鶹ԭ��, in partnership with National Association of State Energy Officials and ROC USA, will retrofit eight manufactured homes and four single-family homes with the pod technology called PV-GEMS. The Photovoltaic (PV)-powered, Grid Enhanced Mechanical Solution (GEMS) consists of high-efficiency heat pumps for heating, cooling and water heating. This equipment is partially powered by a photovoltaic and battery backup system. Components are pre-packaged in a “pod” that is largely assembled off-site and installed outside of the home, minimizing disruption to residents.

“We have an opportunity to make a significant difference in reducing energy costs for people living in less-efficient existing homes, thereby making a lasting impact on people’s lives,” says Eric Martin, principal investigator on the project and program director at �鶹ԭ��’s FSEC Energy Research Center. “The PV-GEMS concept is especially effective when deployed alongside more conventional cost-effective, non-disruptive energy-efficient retrofit strategies.”

The university will demonstrate the retrofit strategy in six states across different climate zones — Colorado, Georgia, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Oregon and Texas. A commercialization plan to manufacture and deploy the retrofit strategy at scale will be developed, as well as training materials for installers.

“A unique feature of this system is that it doesn’t need to send excess solar energy back to the utility grid and instead uses or stores the energy at the house,” says Carlos Colon, co-principal investigator of the project. In addition to energy and carbon savings, the concept offers the additional benefit of resiliency by being able to operate when the grid goes down.

While PV-GEMS can work with most single-family attached and detached housing, the team is initially targeting older manufactured homes, which are often difficult to retrofit using traditional approaches. There are more than 6.7 million manufactured homes nationwide and 45% of residents who live in manufactured homes are highly energy burdened.

“The manufactured housing sector is in need of creative energy use and cost reduction strategies. We think PV-GEMS could be a game changer within the many of the communities we work with, and homeowners are already excited to see a pod installed in their community,” says Kevin Porter, vice president of Loan Originations with ROC USA Capital, the lending arm of the nonprofit scaling resident ownership of manufactured housing communities nationwide.

�鶹ԭ�� Part of New Regional Movement to Accelerate Adoption of Electric Vehicle Transportation

Sherri Shields — Mon, 27 Sep 2021 20:16:17 +0000

�鶹ԭ�� is part of a new coalition of more than 60 public and private organizations charging forward to address the electric transportation market and infrastructure challenges in the Southeast region of the U.S.

More and more people across the nation are turning to electric vehicles for their cheaper fuel costs and lower maintenance requirements. Challenges remain, however, like finding charging stations during long trips, greater upfront costs, and limited models and sizes of EVs. Transitioning to an all-electric transportation system would provide consumers more EV options, and has the potential to trigger an economic boon of up to $47 billion for the region, according to the new coalition. Other regions are quickly moving in this direction and reaping some of the benefits, but the South is a little behind, prompting the creation of the .

The SETRI coalition will focus on EV market challenges, such as charging and infrastructure gaps, accessibility, EV model availability and cost, policy guidance, and consumer awareness — while unlocking untapped opportunities for economic development, job growth, enhanced energy security, and reduced environmental impacts.

The at �鶹ԭ�� is a leader in electric transportation research and the advancement of electric vehicle initiatives. That’s why joining the group was a natural move for the �鶹ԭ�� center.

“We have a long history in transportation electrification initiatives and research, and we look forward to collaborating with members of the Southeast Electric Transportation Regional Initiative,” says James Fenton, director of the FSEC Energy Research Center. “Electrifying our transportation system and improving our grid infrastructure will accelerate job growth, increase resiliency and help us reach net zero emissions by 2050.”

FSEC ERC is a founding member of Drive Electric Florida, a multi-stakeholder organization promoting the growth of electric vehicle ownership and its related infrastructure in Florida. FSEC ERC also led two federal agency programs focused on alternative transportation deployment and research – the Central Florida Clean Cities Coalition (US DOE) and the Electric Vehicle Transportation Center (US DOT).

“SETRI’s ability to convene and partner with experts around a common table is one of its most promising aspects [of the initiative],” says Rich Simmons, principal research engineer at Georgia Tech and part of the steering committee that conceived SETRI. “While focused closely on regional gaps and opportunities, SETRI can also serve as an important model for other regions.”

View and the list of more than 60 inaugural members.