UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE

Purpose: The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK) College of Engineering ARI-R2 project will create a world-recognized Sustainable Energy Laboratory for fundamental research in new high-risk science that will lead to critical breakthroughs in sustainable energy-related technologies and materials. Description: The project renovates 9,163 square feet in the 1963-built Dougherty Engineering Building at UTK to create the Sustainable Energy Laboratory (SEL). The renovation will place hundreds of linear feet of flexible casework, a half dozen acid fume hoods, hydrogen safety systems, and other invaluable fixed equipment into 14 laboratories spread over two floors in the building. This renovation will transform some of the most unproductive laboratory space on campus into valuable, information-generating research areas that should enable breakthroughs in sustainable energy research. The newly created SEL will focus on four major research thrust areas: (1) Characterization and Measurement Functions (labs for physical properties characterization, electro-chemical process analysis, spectroscopy, & modelling/simulation), (2) Energy Conversion and Storage (labs for energy storage & energy conversion analysis and device development), (3) Advanced Vehicle Systems (labs for emission research, biofuels combustion characterization, hybrid electric vehicle simulation and control), and (4) Renewable Power Generation (lab for wind and tidal power research). The common thematic thread linking these areas is their connection to end-use sustainable energy technologies. This improvement in research infrastructure will enable a team of 14 faculty researchers and more than 50 students and post-docs to work collaboratively to advance the understanding and development of sustainable energy technologies. In the first year after completion of the renovation, outcomes from the renovated research space will, for example, include studies to significantly enhance the efficiency of fuels cells and development of the next generation of high efficiency and high capacity batteries; to develop highly efficient polyelectrolyte membrane fuel cells that operate at elevated temperatures; and to apply advanced laser techniques to analyze fossil fuel and biofuel combustion to validate chemical kinetic models of biofuels, and improve the combustion efficiency of biofuel sources and devices. These example outcomes will be led by 5 faculty members and 3 postdocs yielding at least 6 papers submitted for publication. Key Broader Impacts will result from encouraging participation in sustainable energy science in grades K-12, including outreach to regional school teachers and high and middle school students; involving underrepresented minorities in sustainable energy-related opportunities, including recruiting summer students from the College of Engineering's (COE) Tennessee Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (TLSAMP) program, which is geared toward African-American, Hispanic-American and Native-American students; increasing undergraduate student participation in research through paid research assistantships, undergraduate research courses taken as electives for their degree and volunteer positions; and creating outreach activities that include workshops to elementary school students at the American Museum of Science and Energy and staffing the summer Materials Camp offered to local high school students. In the first year after completion, outcomes related to Broader Impacts will involve research participation by 8 to 10 UTK undergraduates, 8 to 10 UTK graduate research assistants, and via the Tennessee NSF EPSCoR Infrastructure award, faculty members and undergraduates from two of the six public institutions including an HBCU. Further, a number of investigators involved in these laboratories will submit new proposals with an outreach component to one or more of NSF, DoD or DoE.

Clarification of Codes