Energy Institute makes plans for growth of green mission

The Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute (RASEI) has announced its first group of fellows and plans for future faculty hires.

RASEI, a new joint institute between the University of Colorado at Boulder and the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, made the announcement Oct. 21 at CU-Boulder's annual Energy Research Symposium. The initial group of 34 RASEI fellows comprises 18 from CU-Boulder (see list below) and 16 from NREL.

"NREL and CU-Boulder, along with research colleagues from Colorado State University and the Colorado School of Mines, are already working together on a variety of critical energy technologies that will help to ensure a clean and sustainable energy supply for our nation's future," said Robert McGrath, NREL deputy laboratory director for science and technology, and one of RASEI's chief architects. "The newly established RASEI significantly strengthens the structural platform enabling CU-Boulder and NREL researchers to take full advantage of the complementary strengths resident within each institution."

A national search will be conducted for RASEI's director. Besides creating the resources to attract a top candidate to lead the new institute, CU-Boulder plans to designate as many as 10 new faculty hires to RASEI over the next several years, with exact levels of support contingent upon the Colorado economy and the university's budget.

Institute management and decision-making will be coordinated by the new director, a private-sector Leadership Board and a set of prominent research fellows appointed from NREL and CU-Boulder.

"CU has a long history of joint institutes with national laboratories that attract the highest caliber leadership and scientific talent," said CU-Boulder Chancellor Philip P. DiStefano.

"With this initiative, CU is fostering an invaluable working relationship with an important partner, and opening up new opportunities for CU researchers to collaborate with Stanford, MIT and other major American Association of Universities research institutions focusing on the development of new energy solutions."

RASEI Fellows from CU-Boulder:

• William Boyd, associate professor, School of Law
• Niels Damrauer, assistant professor, department of chemistry and biochemistry
• Daniel Dessau, professor and associate chair, department of physics
• Kevin Doran, senior research fellow, Center for Energy and Environmental Security, School of Law
• Robert Erickson, professor, department of electrical, computer and energy engineering
• Ryan Gill, associate professor, department of chemical and biological engineering
• Gregor Henze, professor, department of civil, environmental and architectural engineering
• David Jonas, professor, department of chemistry and biochemistry
• Stephen Lawrence, chair, Management and Entrepreneurship Division, and academic director, Deming Center for Entrepreneurship, Leeds School of Business
• Se-Hee Lee, associate professor, department of mechanical engineering
• Julie Lundquist, assistant professor, department of atmospheric and oceanic sciences
• Will Medlin, assistant professor, department of chemical and biological engineering
• Kamran Mohseni, associate professor, department of aerospace engineering sciences
• Richard Noble, professor, department of chemical and biological engineering
• Lucy Pao, professor, department of electrical, computer and energy engineering
• Charles Rogers, professor, department of physics
• Ivan Smalyukh, assistant professor, department of physics
• Alan Weimer, professor, department of chemical and biological engineering