Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm visited Georgia Tech Wednesday for an event, co-sponsored by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, at The Kendeda Building for Innovative Sustainable Design. The stop in Atlanta is part of the administration’s effort to promote the value and promise of a national investment in clean energy.

“One key reason why we should focus on clean energy is to be able to focus on affordability,” she said. “A second reason is because of security. Whether it’s in supply chains or in actual fuel, we want to be able to generate the means to our own energy security, homegrown energy, and that’s why we should be going clean.

“A study from the International Finance Corporation estimates the clean energy sector is going to be worth $23 trillion globally by 2030,” she continued. “That’s a massive amount of money. That is the reason why we want to see economic opportunity here and jobs created because of clean energy.”

Tim Lieuwen, executive director of Georgia Tech’s Strategic Energy Institute, welcomed Secretary Granholm, as well as Assistant to the President and National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, and guests.

“It is a privilege for us to welcome this great group of energy leaders onto our campus,” Lieuwen said. “We are deeply appreciative of the partnerships that we have with our city, state government, and federal government. We are at the center of a very exciting developing ecosystem in the region. Having our secretary of energy here is a great opportunity to just quickly highlight Georgia Tech’s multidecade partnership with the Department of Energy (DOE) across all the DOE mission spaces. Whether that’s batteries, electric vehicles, hydrogen, nuclear, or carbon capture, or policy, we have over 1,000 people on this campus working across this whole value chain engaging with our community and policymakers.”

The Strategic Energy Institute (SEI) and the Infrastructure & Sustainability (I&S) unit of the Georgia Institute of Technology signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to collaborate on using campus as a living lab for deployment of clean energy technologies, reduce the campus carbon footprint, while also developing campus testbeds that can be research assets. 

With the recent passage of major federal energy and climate opportunities (both the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act), one of the focus areas of this MOU is to partner on capturing federal and state resources to achieve Georgia Tech’s Living Campus goals.

The projects undertaken within this plan will provide real-time data and examples of energy systems that benefit academic and research leadership and external partners in the energy marketplace. At the same time, by promoting best in class energy management practices, the projects will enable I&S to move towards achieving the campus energy and water reduction goals and the larger goal of reaching carbon neutrality by 2050. This effort is being led by Joe Hagerman (NEETRAC), Scott Duncan (AE), Jung-Ho Lewe (AE), and Greg Spiro (I&S), who have started mapping federal funding opportunities to campus infrastructure development opportunities, as well as engaging with national labs to promote the Georgia Tech campus as a testbed for other research projects.

"By merging academics and research with campus spaces, we have a unique opportunity to form partnerships and provide real-world educational experiences,” said Maria Cimilluca, vice president of Infrastructure & Sustainability. “Leveraging our buildings and environment as a living campus is an exciting vision as we implement the strategic plans, goals, and initiatives that guide the direction of sustainability and resiliency for the Institute.”

The MOU articulates the long-established working relationship between the two units. Projects include the Georgia Tech microgrid located in Tech Square; campus spaces for air quality research; the student-led piezoelectric sidewalk; an actionable data repository for building sensors, meters, building automation systems; and external data streams that enable integrated analytics, as well as supervisory controls of GT campus buildings.

By enhancing this relationship, SEI will better serve I&S and the campus by providing leadership, oversight, and coordination of energy related stakeholders and will provide and recommend resources as needed.

In the near term, the team will start crafting a strategy to tap into the federal funding opportunities available to decarbonize and electrify our infrastructure and campus. They will identify priorities and strategies to collaborate with federal, state, and non-government partners and turn the Georgia Tech into a living campus — and to lead by example.

“SEI is excited to partner with I&S to lower the overall carbon footprint of our campus and design and utilize our campus facilities as a living learning lab,” said Tim Lieuwen, executive director of the Strategic Energy Institute. “As a part of strategic plan, this is a great opportunity to pilot research projects in our own facilities and work together to pursue facilities-focused federal and state funding opportunities.”

About the Strategic Energy Institute
The Georgia Tech Strategic Energy Institute (SEI) is one of Georgia Tech's ten Interdisciplinary Research Institutes. Founded in 2004, the Institute serves as system integrator for more than 1000 campus researchers working across the entire energy value chain. SEI is deeply engaged in building community, developing resources, and projecting thought leadership, all with the aim of marshalling the full resources of Georgia Tech around tackling the tough energy and environmental problems society faces – from generation, to distribution, to use. Whether it’s commercializing a technology to address a specific challenge or designing a roadmap for focusing resources, the team at SEI understand the systems, technologies, and context of the ever-evolving nature of energy production and use.

About I&S
Infrastructure and Sustainability (I&S) is comprised of more than 600 dedicated professionals throughout 15 departments who provide operational excellence via a framework of services for the Georgia Tech campus. I&S sets the standard for how to deliver an environment that is safe, sustainable, resilient, and innovative through the empowerment of our people and stewardship of our campus resources.

Workforce diversity in science and technology is widely seen as necessary for continued innovation. For Georgia Tech, striving toward inclusivity starts with a simple but crucial goal: building deep, lasting research partnerships.

Research Next, a planning initiative for Georgia Tech’s research enterprise, was launched by Executive Vice President for Research Chaouki T. Abdallah in 2020 and co-chaired by Tim Lieuwen and Mark Whorton. As part of Phase 3, project teams worked throughout the past year to implement its goals.

One Research Next project team has paved the way for inclusive research collaborations to thrive at Georgia Tech and beyond. The team was charged with identifying opportunities and developing support systems to facilitate research collaborations between Georgia Tech and HBCUs (historically Black colleges and universities) and MSIs (minority-serving institutions).

Since kicking off in March 2022, the project team solidified new research partnerships, developed a digital networking tool to connect Georgia Tech and HBCU researchers, and created and hired a full-time position at Tech for ongoing engagement with HBCUs and MSIs. The group was co-led by George White, senior director for strategic partnerships in the Office of the Vice President for Interdisciplinary Research and principal research engineer at Georgia Tech, and Thomas Martin, chief scientist for the Electro-Optical Systems Laboratory at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI).

“The goal of our work is not only to support collaborative research with HBCUs and MSIs, but also to strengthen the pipeline of top graduates who will enhance diversity in our state and nation’s workforce,” White said. “One of the first key steps was to hear from the groups we were charged to work with.”

Defining the Challenge

The team began by leveraging GTRI’s longstanding work and connections with HBCUs, which include federally funded collaborative research projects and workforce development initiatives. The group invited representatives from the Tougaloo College Research and Development Foundation (TCRDF), a consortium of HBCUs whose mission is to advance research collaborations between HBCUs and the Department of Defense. Members of TCRDF educated the project team about challenges HBCUs face in obtaining federally sponsored research.

“GTRI has been fortunate to collaborate with TCRDF in support of the U.S. Army’s Combat Capabilities Development Command (CCDC) Aviation & Missile Center’s mission to accelerate research collaborations with HBCUs and MSIs and enrich the workforce with a pipeline of talented graduates,” Martin said.

Throughout the year, the project team hosted seminars with HBCUs where they highlighted research activities at the Institute and discussed how HBCUs could participate in areas of mutual research interests. The team also joined TCRDF’s open virtual meeting hours every week to talk about research engagement opportunities at Georgia Tech.

In addition, they recommended that Georgia Tech create a dedicated, permanent position to facilitate ongoing engagement with HBCUs. Taiesha Smith, the first senior program manager for Georgia Tech’s HBCU/MSI Research Collaboration Initiative, will lead outreach efforts to increase and foster enduring research collaborations.

“I'm excited to be the connective tissue between Georgia Tech, HBCUs, and MSIs in building sustainable and mutually beneficial relationships that lead to successful research collaboration,” Smith said. “I aim to accomplish this goal through a commitment to understanding the needs of HBCUs and MSIs, communicating their value to all stakeholders, and supporting them in making appropriate connections across Georgia Tech and beyond.”

Steps Forward

The project team led the development of a software tool, CollabNext, that facilitates research interaction and collaborations between HBCUs and Georgia Tech. Using the tool, researchers can find partners at HBCUs based on specific disciplines and areas of interest. The tool is currently in beta version and has expanded to include Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College, Texas Southern University, Fisk University, and the Atlanta University Center (AUC) Data Science Initiative. A website hosts the tool and provides information about the initiative.

The team also is planning a forum that will bring together researchers from Georgia Tech and several HBCUs/MSIs, as well as government officials and industry leaders from top STEM companies. A major goal of the event will be for participants to develop white papers to better position HBCUs and MSIs to compete for large federal funding opportunities. The multi-day event will be organized by the Office of the Vice President for Interdisciplinary Research and is set to take place in November.

Additional steps taken to establish and solidify research partnerships:

• Submitted a joint proposal for an NSF Regional Innovation Engine with TCRDF and seven HBCU/MSI partner institutions.
• Submitted a joint NSF proposal with the AUC Data Science Initiative, Morehouse College, and TCRDF to establish the inaugural research collaboration forum at Georgia Tech.
• Launched the Biomedical Data Science Summer Research Program.
• Prepared a memorandum of understanding (pending) to establish a semiconductor research initiative with HBCU/MSIs.
• Modified an agreement with Ford Motor Company to allow HBCU/MSI institutions to participate in sponsored research projects in collaboration with Georgia Tech.
• Participated in the 2022 National HBCU Week, hosted by the executive director for White House Initiatives on HBCUs. Georgia Tech will participate again in 2023 to introduce CollabNext and present best practices for engaging in collaborative research.
• Submitted proposals to the Department of Energy’s Hydrogen Hub (with Battelle Memorial Institute) and Direct Air Capture Hub (with Southern States Energy Board) to develop a collaborative research and community engagement consortium made up of HBCUs and MSIs.
  • Georgia Tech will serve as an unbiased science convener for the HBCUs/MSIs, which will receive the majority of funding and engagement. This work is in partnership with Tech’s Serve-Learn-Sustain.

“This Research Next project provided the opportunity not only to coordinate efforts across Georgia Tech to enhance research collaborations with HBCUs and MSIs, but also to position Georgia Tech as thought leaders in this initiative,“ said Martin.

Team co-leader George White attended Hampton University, a prominent HBCU, and saw firsthand some of the resource challenges that the institutions face when trying to secure federally sponsored research. The initiative’s mission continues to be important for him personally. 

“Our work with HBCUs supports Georgia Tech’s strategic plan by increasing accessibility and improving the human condition,” he said. “With the vast resources we have here, it is important to work together to find solutions to these pressing challenges.”

Visit hbcumsi.research.gatech.edu to learn more about the initiative.

We would like to hear from you about any research collaboration with an HBCU or MSI. Please use the following link to complete the Share Research Collaboration form.

https://hbcumsi.research.gatech.edu/collabnext-tool

Tim Lieuwen has been selected to serve as interim chair of Georgia Tech’s Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering, effective August 1. Lieuwen is a Regents’ Professor; the David S. Lewis, Jr. Professor; and has been an AE School faculty member since 1999.

He’s also the executive director of the Strategic Energy Institute, managing overall strategy and external relations for more than 315 faculty members and 1,000 Georgia Tech researchers working in energy research, development, and demonstration. Lieuwen will continue in the role while serving as interim chair.

What started as a simple errand to deposit a check at a bank drive-through became the kind of “aha” moment found mostly in books and movies.

Georgia Tech researchers had been working on an idea to simplify traditional direct air capture (DAC) systems. Their approach used ambient wind flow to draw air across a new kind of coated carbon fiber to grab CO2. That would eliminate the loud fans used in many systems. And the carbon fiber strands could be quickly heated to release the captured carbon dioxide with minimal heat loss, boosting efficiency.

But they were struggling with how to deploy these new sorbent-coated carbon fibers for maximum effect.

“I had to go deposit a check at the bank, and I went through the drive-through. They had the old pneumatic tubes that come down to transport documents,” said Ryan Lively, Thomas C. DeLoach Professor in Georgia Tech’s School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (ChBE). “There are not many times you have a light bulb moment in your career, but I saw the tubes and I realized, we could put the fibers in something like a bank teller tube canister.

“That’s pretty much what we did, and it worked.”

Read the full story on the College of Engineering website.

The Vice President for Interdisciplinary Research (VPIR) and the Office of Undergraduate Education (OUE) are excited to announce an institutionalization plan for Serve-Learn-Sustain (SLS) that will advance two of Georgia Tech’s Institute Strategic Plan (ISP) initiatives - Sustainability Next and Transformative Teaching and Learning (TTL) - and strengthen our service learning, community engagement, and sustainability ecosystems at Georgia Tech. Established as Georgia Tech’s last Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP), SLS launched in 2016 as a unit in OUE and concluded its official QEP work in 2021. Its work on the QEP earned Georgia Tech a commendation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges and established a strong foundation to build on moving forward.

Effective July 1, 2023, the current SLS team will establish a new center, the Center for Sustainable Communities Research and Education (CSCRE), under the VPIR. The Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems (BBISS), which is serving as a hub for coordinating Georgia Tech’s Sustainability Next Strategic Plan initiative, will serve as the administrative home for the new center.

CSCRE will collaborate with the sustainability cluster of the Interdisciplinary Research Institutes (IRIs), including BBISS, the Strategic Energy Institute (SEI), and the Renewable Bioproducts Institute (RBI), as well as Infrastructure and Sustainability, another key Sustainability Next hub, to enhance Georgia Tech’s competitiveness in applying for grants that require meaningful community partnerships as a key component of their research and education plans. It will also continue to support sustainable communities education, in close collaboration with the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL), OUE, and Education and Learning, to assure the continuity of SLS’s signature programs.

Established as Georgia Tech’s last QEP, Serve-Learn-Sustain launched in 2016 as a unit in OUE and concluded its official QEP work in 2021. Georgia Tech earned a commendation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges in 2021 for the “exceptional execution” of the 2016 QEP, citing, among other things, that the program “inspired a closer dialogue among faculty regarding research and instructional practices, and thus serves as a model of how a QEP can transform an academic culture.”

To continue advancing and scaling undergraduate service learning and community engagement as a high-impact practice, OUE will establish a new service learning team, as a priority that supports the Transformative Teaching and Learning ISP initiative. Institutionalizing the service-learning functions of SLS within OUE and aligning it with other high impact practices - such as undergraduate research, student innovation programs, first-year seminars, co-op and internships, and learning communities - will position these programs to work collectively in support of the development of Georgia Tech’s next QEP, which will begin in 2025.

Thank you to the SLS staff and to everyone who has collaborated with and supported the work that SLS has spearheaded to make Georgia Tech a better place for our students, our faculty and staff, and our surrounding communities. We look forward to continuing to advance this work, together.

Georgia Tech’s newest interdisciplinary degree program, the Environmental Science B.S. degree (ENVS), developed jointly by faculty of the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences and the School of Biological Sciences, has launched and is now enrolling students. 

The ENVS degree will provide a strong foundation in the basic sciences, requiring core content in mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, earth sciences, and environmental policy. Flexible electives in upper-level coursework will allow students to customize their program of study to their interest and career goals.  

A launch event for the degree program will take place at the Kendeda Building on the afternoon of Friday, August 25, 2023.

“The new degree will prepare students to be future leaders who are well-versed on how the Earth's systems can be influenced by human activity and contribute to human well-being,” says Greg Huey, professor and chair of the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. “Graduates will be positioned to be leaders in industry, academia, education, and communication to create innovative solutions to the most significant environmental challenges of our time.”

Two faculty members in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences (EAS) and a faculty member in the School of Biological Sciences will serve as inaugural leadership: Jennifer Glass, associate professor, is program director; Samantha Wilson, academic professional, is director of Undergraduate Studies; and Linda Green, senior academic professional in the School of Biological Sciences, is director of Experiential Learning.

The foundational science classes in this new degree will be complemented by courses in Public Policy and City Planning, including Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and Environmental Policy and Politics, before opening up and providing students with flexibility in course options to better fit their career paths and interests. 

“Past EAS students have been interested in careers related to environmental consulting, environmental law, and continuing their studies in graduate school,” Wilson says. “The variety of environmental career paths was the driver behind allowing students to diversify their options within the degree.”

“This degree will give Georgia Tech students a unique opportunity to customize their environmental science program of study to their interests and career goals in science, policy, public service, non-profit, government, industry, academia, or beyond,” adds Glass. “We are committed to building an academic community in ENVS that values student leadership, diversity, inclusion, equity, accessibility, and belonging.”

Hands-on learning opportunities will include field station experiences and field trip excursions, study abroad programs, and internships, Green says. “This major sustains the Institute’s strategic plan to lead by example, champion innovation, and connect globally — particularly in an area so critical as addressing Earth’s environmental issues.”

Glass added that the Schools of Chemistry, Biological Sciences, and Earth and Atmospheric Sciences are currently revamping several classes to meet United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Students will advance to be global leaders of environmental solutions that draw upon the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals and incorporate awareness of environmental justice issues. 

“We can’t wait for August to celebrate the ENVS launch with our incoming and current students,” Glass says.

More information on the Environment Science (ENVS) degree; 

General information: jennifer.glass@eas.gatech.edu

Curriculum and enrollment: samantha.wilson@eas.gatech.edu

Co-curricular initiatives: linda.green@gatech.edu 

Learn more: Three new EAS undergraduate degrees

Beginning Summer 2023, prospective and current Georgia Tech students will have three new Bachelor of Science degrees to choose from in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. The expanded undergraduate offerings target a wider range of job and research opportunities — from academia to analytics, NASA to NOAA, meteorology to marine science, climate and earth science, to policy, law, consulting, sustainability, and beyond.

The Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia has approved two new specific degrees within the School: Atmospheric and Ocean Sciences (AOS) and Solid Earth and Planetary Sciences (SEP). Regents also approved Environmental Science (ENVS) as an interdisciplinary College of Sciences degree between the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences and the School of Biological Sciences. The existing Earth and Atmospheric Sciences B.S. degree will sunset in two years for new students. Learn more.

Amid the surge in demand for lithium-ion batteries, which power everything from smartphones to electric vehicles (EVs), there is a greater need to properly recycle them. The Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) is working to optimize Georgia’s EV battery supply chain by developing cost- and energy-efficient methods to recover materials from spent batteries so that more of them can be reused – and pose fewer environmental risks.

Georgia is quickly emerging as a hub for the electronic transportation industry. According to data from the Georgia Department of Economic Development, since 2018, 35 EV-related projects have contributed $23 billion in investments in the state.

South Korea-based Hyundai Motor Group recently broke ground on its first fully dedicated EV manufacturing facility in Savannah’s Bryan County. The company has also teamed up with LG Energy Solution to invest $4.3 billion in building an EV battery cell manufacturing plant at the same location.

EV manufacturer and automotive technology company Rivian, which is based on Irvine, Calif., has announced a $5 billion investment in its second U.S. plant located east of Atlanta in Morgan and Walton Counties.

Hyundai’s new facility is expected to reach full production capacity at the end of 2025, with 30 gigawatt hours (GWh) of energy anticipated to support the production of 300,000 EVs. Rivian, meanwhile, anticipates its Georgia plant will employ over 7,500 workers while producing up to 400,000 vehicles each year.

“This level of industry engagement in Georgia is unprecedented,” said Kevin Caravati, a GTRI principal research scientist, who is supporting this project. “The Hyundai plant, for example, could create tens of thousands of jobs in a very rural part of Georgia, which would be a step in the right direction for the entire state.”

The lithium-ion batteries that power EVs are seen as desirable over other battery technologies because of their high energy density, which allows electric cars to travel longer distances on a single charge. These types of batteries also have a low self-discharge rate, which means that the stored energy remains available for an extended period of time even when the vehicle is not in use. 

However, these batteries can easily turn into fire hazards – especially at the end of their life cycle. Very few batteries ever end up being recycled and those that do get recycled are often mishandled.   

“Currently, there are no recycling standards in place, which poses challenges for the entire supply chain,” said Milad Navaei, a GTRI senior research engineer, who is leading this project. “Our goal is to create circular economy for batteries in Georgia where we can reduce our dependence on raw materials that often come from overseas and can be very expensive.”  

Lithium-ion batteries use metals including lithium, nickel, manganese, and cobalt that are mined in locations such as Africa’s Democratic Republic of the Congo, Chile and Argentina. During the production process, the metals are combined with other materials to form the two key components of a battery cell – the cathode and the anode. Inside a battery, the cathode, which has a negative charge, and anode, which has a positive charge, interact to generate electrons that power the electronic device. Most lithium-ion batteries are currently made in China.  

Navaei noted that geopolitical sensitivities and lingering supply chain challenges in many of these regions makes GTRI’s work all the more crucial.

GTRI’s research consists of two parts: One, develop more advanced analytics capabilities for fleet management companies to monitor the health and performance of EV batteries, and two, optimize the recovery of raw materials from batteries at the end of their useful life.  

“The battery is the most important part of an EV, and it’s critical to know the battery’s state of health (SoH), which is the ratio of the present capacity to the initial capacity,” said Navaei. “Our goal is to utilize technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) to monitor the SoH of these batteries and estimate the life cycle, which heavily depends on the usage and the type of battery for its safe and reliable implementation in the next life application.”

GTRI aims to integrate these technologies into companies’ existing inventory management systems to streamline process management and reporting.

For the second part of the research, GTRI is utilizing a statistical technique known as parametric modeling to aggregate data about known behaviors and characteristics of EV batteries to help companies make more informed decisions about properly depowering them and repurposing their raw materials with minimal environmental impact.

“Developing a robust system-modeling approach to support our energy research is a primary focus of ours,” said GTRI Principal Research Scientist Ilan Stern, who is also supporting the project. “Since our ultimate goal is to utilize domestic sources in our supply chain, really the only way to do that is by building out strong recycling models to account for the fact that these companies are working with finite materials and many of them are coming from conflict zones.”

GTRI is working with a number of industry partners on this project, including many companies that participated in Georgia Tech Battery Day earlier this year. At the event, over 230 energy researchers and industry participants convened to discuss emerging opportunities in energy storage research. Some of the companies represented at the event included Hyundai Kia, Delta Airlines, Cox Automotive and Panasonic.

Writer: Anna Akins 
GTRI Communications
Georgia Tech Research Institute
Atlanta, Georgia

The Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) is the nonprofit, applied research division of the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech). Founded in 1934 as the Engineering Experiment Station, GTRI has grown to more than 2,900 employees, supporting eight laboratories in over 20 locations around the country and performing more than $800 million of problem-solving research annually for government and industry. GTRI's renowned researchers combine science, engineering, economics, policy, and technical expertise to solve complex problems for the U.S. federal government, state, and industry.

The need to remove organic contaminants from surface waters continues to grow due to an increasing influx from industrial, municipal, and agricultural sources. But these contaminants are challenging to remove outside of thermally driven separation processes, such as distilling or drying, which consume significant amounts of energy.

However, researchers in Georgia Tech’s School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (ChBE) have developed rigid, carbon membranes that effectively remove and concentrate small organic molecules (such as solvents) from water, based on the affinity between the organic species and carbon membrane.