Devesh Ranjan Selected to Receive 2023 ASME Gustus L. Larson Memorial Award
May 09, 2023 —

Portrait of Devesh Ranjan
Devesh Ranjan, Eugene C. Gwaltney, Jr. School Chair and professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech, has been selected to receive the 2023 Gustus L. Larson Memorial Award from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and Pi Tau Sigma. The award is presented to an engineering graduate who has demonstrated outstanding achievement in mechanical engineering, within ten to twenty years following graduation.
Full story is available on the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering news page.
Georgia Tech Engineers Develop Carbon Membranes Enabling Efficient Removal and Concentration of Organic Molecules from Water
Jun 05, 2023 — Atlanta, GA

Newly Developed Carbon Membranes Enable Efficient Removal and Concentration of Organic Molecules from Water
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.
Tim Lieuwen Named Interim Chair of AE School
Jun 15, 2023 — Atlanta, GA

Portrait of Tim Lieuwen
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.
Jason Maderer (maderer@gatech.edu)
Georgia Tech Strategic Energy Institute and Infrastructure & Sustainability Sign MOU for Joint Collaboration Opportunities
Jun 27, 2023 — Atlanta, GA
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.
The McDowell Lab at Georgia Tech is Shaping the Future of Battery Technology
Jun 29, 2023 — Atlanta, GA

The McDowell Lab at Georgia Tech is Shaping the Future of Battery Technology
Batteries. They come in numerous shapes, sizes, and lettered designations; they power everything from telecoms satellites to children’s toys; your TV remote goes through them too quickly and a dead one in your car will have you asking strangers for help.
Like so many items of convenience we only register the impact batteries have on our day-to-day life when they begin to falter. On most occasions these failures are at worst a nuisance, but as the number of hybrid and fully electric vehicles on the market grows, and as more economies aggressively pursue alternative fuel sources, the reliability and longevity of batteries will play a dominant role in how we create, store, and use energy.
Researching new materials for the next generation of high-capacity batteries is Matthew McDowell, associate professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering and director of the McDowell Lab. By understanding how these different materials react to numerous charging cycles, his team hopes to help lead the charge toward longer-lasting batteries.
Alumni Spotlight: Laura Stoy Transforms Research into Clean Technology Startup
Sep 06, 2023 — Atlanta, GA

Laura Stoy gives a presentation as part of the Techstars Alabama EnergyTech Accelerator.
Since leaving Georgia Tech, Laura (Mast) Stoy, PhD EnvE 21, has continued to pursue her research, this time as an entrepreneur.
The environmental engineering graduate founded Rivalia Chemical Co. with her sights set on commercializing her work as a PhD student. Over the past two years, Stoy has been selected for a competitive business incubator and a prestigious fellowship for entrepreneurs.
Stoy and her advisor, Turnipseed Family Chair and Professor Ching-Hua Huang, discovered that by applying an ionic liquid directly to solid coal fly ash, rare-earth elements (REEs) can be successfully removed in a safe process that creates little waste.
REEs are a set of elements that are necessary to manufacture technology like smart phones and LED screens, and play important roles in clean tech applications like electric vehicles and wind turbines.
Melissa Fralick (melissa.fralick@ce.gatech.edu)
Lieuwen to Give National Academy of Engineering Keynote on Net Zero Pathways
Sep 18, 2023 — Atlanta, GA

Tim Lieuwen, Executive Director of SEI
The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) chose Adjunct Professor and alumnus Tim Lieuwen, M.S. ME 1997, Ph.D. ME 1999, to give a keynote address about net zero pathways in the U.S. energy system as part of the 2023 Global Grand Challenges Summit. Lieuwen’s talk, which took place on September 19, surveyed transitions of the three major elements of the energy system — energy sources, energy carriers and storage, and energy users. He discussed how these elements will evolve as the U.S. decarbonizes, including current modeling results for the lowest-cost mix of energy sources and carriers.
Lieuwen is the interim chair of the Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering; Regents’ Professor; the David S. Lewis, Jr. Professor; and the executive director of the Strategic Energy Institute.
Jason Maderer (maderer@gatech.edu)
Christopher Jones Wins 2023 Institute Award for Excellence in Industrial Gases Technology
Aug 28, 2023 — Atlanta, GA

Professor Chris Jones
Professor Christopher Jones was selected as the recipient of the 2023 Institute Award for Excellence in Industrial Gases Technology from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. (AIChE).
Jones, the John F. Brock III School Chair of Georgia Tech's School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (ChBE@GT), will receive the award at the AIChE meeting in Orlando, Florida, this November.
This award recognizes his contributions to ultra-dilute CO2 separations, such as the extraction of CO2 from air, also referred to as “direct air capture” or DAC. The Jones group has played a foundational role in developing materials and processes for CO2 removal from air, and in conjunction with the Lively, Realff, Sholl, and other groups in ChBE@GT, no academic institution has authored more publications on DAC than Georgia Tech.
Professors Jones, Matthew Realff, and Ryan Lively are founding members of the Georgia Tech Direct Air Capture Center, or DirACC.
Assistant Professor Akanksha Menon Awarded $3 Million for Research as part of DOE's Energy Earthshots™ Initiative
Oct 18, 2023 — Atlanta, GA

Pictured left to right: Associate Professor Matthew McDowell (ME), Assistant Professor Akanksha Menon (ME), and Assistant Professor Claudio Di Leo (AE).
Akanksha Menon, assistant professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, has been awarded $3 million in funding from the Department of Energy (DOE) as part of their Energy Earthshots™ Initiative to advance clean energy technologies within the decade.
The initiative includes a total of $264 million in funding that will support 11 new Energy Earthshot Research Centers (EERCs) led by DOE National Laboratories and 18 university research teams addressing one or more of the specific Energy Earthshots™ that aim to accelerate affordable and reliable clean energy solutions to mitigate the climate crisis to reach a net-zero carbon goal in 2050.
Menon's project, titled Thermo-Chemo-Mechanical Transformations in Thermal Energy Storage Materials and Composites, will bring together Matthew McDowell, associate professor in the Woodruff School, Claudio Di Leo, assistant professor in the Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering, and Jeff Urban from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, to provide a fundamental understanding of the coupled thermo-chemo-mechanical phenomena in thermal energy storage (TES) materials that will enable low-cost and stable storage.
Chloe Arrington
Q&A with Deepakraj Divan and Suresh Sharma: Authors of "ENERGY 2040"
Apr 25, 2024 — Atlanta, GA

ENERGY 2040: Aligning Innovation, Economics and Decarbonization" was published by Springer in April 2024.
Deepakraj Divan and Suresh Sharma experts in energy technologies and entrepreneurship, shed light on the challenges and opportunities in bringing disruptive technologies to market in their new book “ENERGY 2040: Aligning Innovation, Economics and Decarbonization”.
In an insightful interview, Divan, a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar and director of the Center for Distributed Energy (CDE) in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Sharma, an entrepreneur in residence at CDE, trace the historical roots of the current energy landscape, highlighting missed opportunities and gaps in understanding, and emphasizing the energy transition as a paradigm shift to offer insights into how to navigate it effectively.