News // Forum 2008

Director of Energy Center named Stieglitz lecturer

2008-05-28T06:58:00-04:00

By: William G. Gilroy and Nina Welding
Office of News and Information

Joan F. Brennecke, Keating-Crawford Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and director of the University of Notre Dame’s Energy Center, has been named the 2008 Julius Stieglitz Lecturer by the Chicago section of the American Chemical Society (ACS) and the University of Chicago.

The award, presented since 1940 in honor of Stieglitz, is the highest ACS section award given. This year’s lecture is scheduled for Nov. 19 at the University of Chicago.

As the 2008 lecturer, Brennecke joins the list of lecturers that includes 13 Nobel Laureates and more than 35 members of the National Academy of Sciences, including Linus Pauling, Robert B. Woodward, Herbert C. Brown and George Whitesides. She is the first chemical engineer to be honored.

A faculty member since 1989, Brennecke is internationally known for her research in the development of solvents, specifically supercritical fluids and ionic liquids. Her research interests include supercritical fluid technology, ionic liquids, thermodynamics, environmentally benign chemical processing, and carbon dioxide separation, storage and usage.

Brennecke has received numerous awards for her research, as well as for her contributions in the classroom. Most recently, she was presented with the 2007 John M. Prausnitz Award for outstanding achievement in applied chemical thermodynamics by the Conference on Properties and Phase Equilibria for Product and Process Design. In 2006 she received the Professional Progress Award from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE).

She also received the 2001 Ipatieff Prize from the ACS in recognition of her high-pressure studies of the local structure of supercritical fluid solutions and the effect of this local structure on the rates of homogeneous reactions. In 1991, the National Science Foundation honored her with the Presidential Young Investigator Award.

Brennecke is a member of AIChE, the ACS and the American Society for Engineering Education. She is past chair of the Council for Chemical Research and currently serves on the editorial board of the journal Green Chemistry.

A graduate of the University of Texas, Brennecke received her master’s and doctoral degrees in chemical engineering from the University of Illinois.

Stieglitz was a U.S. chemist who interpreted the behavior and structure of organic compounds in the light of valence theory and applied the methods of physical chemistry to organic chemistry.

2008 Notre Dame Forum Film Festival: Call for Entries

2008-05-01T08:18:00-04:00

The University of Notre Dame will host the first annual, single day festival devoted to showcasing the best and brightest short films that engage the topic of the Presidential Forum. The 2008 topic is ENERGY: Charting a Sustainable Future. This year’s awards include:

A $1400 MacBook with Final Cut Express pre-installed
Film screening at the beginning of the 2008 Presidential Forum
Dinner with Presidential Forum VIP filmmaker guests
Film screening on the Notre Dame home page
Award presentation and participation in Q & A following the festival
Film screening prior to Forum related films throughout 2008–2009

Deadline: The 2008 Call for Entries ends on July 15, 2008

How to submit entries: Online entries are not currently accepted; please download the submission form at http://enlighten.nd.edu. Complete rules and regulations are available on the submission form. Entries must be postmarked by July 15, 2008. An entry fee of 10 dollars must accompany each submission form. There is no entry fee for University of Notre Dame students. Make check payable to the University of Notre Dame or UND, and mail with DVD and submission form to:

Jon Vickers
Managing Director
DeBartolo Performing Arts Center
100 Performing Arts Center
Notre Dame, IN 46556 USA

Dates: 2008 ND Forum Film Festival will take place on Friday, September 19, 2008.

The 2008 Notre Dame Forum on Sustainable Energy represents nothing less than a bold invitation to the entire Notre Dame family to embark upon a thoughtful and comprehensive course of sustainability in our personal lifestyles, institutional practices, intellectual life and research, and civic commitments. Learn more about the forum at http://enlighten.nd.edu.

Questions regarding the 2008 ND Forum Film Festival should be directed to Jon Vickers, phone: 574.631.2725, e-mail: jvicker2@nd.edu

Notre Dame to commit $80 million to new research initiatives

2008-04-28T10:00:00-04:00

By: William Gilroy
Office of News and Information

Energy highlight: NDnano will explore alternatives to standard silicon-based transistor technology and will seed research projects on energy extraction technologies, including light-harvesting solar devices and circuits, to develop new energy sources.

The University of Notre Dame announced today that it has committed $80 million in internal financial resources in support of two phases of integrated research initiatives.

The commitment of tens of millions of institutional dollars comes in the wake of the University receiving more than $90 million in external research funding in the past year.

“This infusion of internal funds, combined with significant gains in external support, allows our scholars to significantly advance their contributions to the most pressing issues of our times,” said Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., Notre Dame’s president. “Excellence in research is a central goal at Notre Dame for many reasons, but most of all because it is through the scholarly and creative work of our faculty that the University is able to better serve society, which is our driving ambition.”

$40 million funds first round of projects

The first phase, funded up to $40 million, is for five initiatives, including two that reflect an exciting expansion of existing research strengths at Notre Dame — in nanoelectronics and global health — as well as one for advanced diagnostics and therapeutics through the use of micro-instrumentation; another for an imaging core facility that brings together a broad array of imaging instruments, services and expert users; and one for a new multidisciplinary “think tank” to attract leading scholars who want to germinate research, scholarship and creative thought in the humanistic and faith-based environment that is Notre Dame’s hallmark.

The University has committed another $40 million for a second round of proposals in the next fiscal year, and a third round of similar funding has been proposed and is awaiting approval.

This commitment of internal resources comes in the midst of a period of continuing strong growth in research funding from external grants and gifts. These include:

$20 million from the Gates Foundation in support of research aimed at evaluating existing malaria control programs and designing improved methods for malaria control

a $10 million gift for a cancer research center in collaboration with the Indiana University School of Medicine

$69 million for the construction of an engineering building that will house a nanotechnology research center, a new Energy Center, and a semiconductor processing and device fabrication clean room

a $20 million gift to endow the world-renowned Center for Global Health and Infectious Diseases

$25 million to the Midwest Academy for Nanoelectronics and Architectures, a public-private research consortium

$15 million to $20 million for the creation of Innovation Park at Notre Dame, a joint project between the city, the University and Project Future designed to take ideas to the marketplace

Phase One Research Initiatives

The five initiatives to be supported by the initial phase of internal funding were identified through a grass-roots process that drew 72 faculty proposals. The five projects were identified by the Strategic Academic Planning Committee (SAPC) composed of a dozen faculty and administrators representing the University’s various colleges.

“Overall, the proposals funded are varied in their reach, methodology and emphases, but alike in their potential to address major challenges,” Notre Dame’s Provost Thomas G. Burish said.

“We believe our current faculty and students, and those who are attracted to our ranks, will have the opportunity to make significant discovery that addresses the most important problems of the day,” Robert Bernhard, vice president for research, said.

Details on the five faculty proposals selected in the first phase to receive $40 million over the next three years follow:

Develop micro-sensing devices

Paul Bohn, Arthur J. Schmitt Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, and a team of 22 researchers in the fields of electrical engineering, computer science and engineering, chemistry, biochemistry, biological sciences, and chemical and biomolecular engineering, will focus on developing innovative micro-sensing devices capable of supporting personalized health care and environmental monitoring.

The effort will use nanotechnology spanning biology and chemistry to develop miniaturized monitoring capabilities for environmental and biomedical targets as well as critical distributed monitoring capabilities for developing countries. In healthcare, for example, the researchers envision clinical laboratories being replaced by small bedside monitoring devices which are dedicated to continuously monitoring a wide range of critical indicators. Such advances will enable personalized home health monitoring on a scale not currently imaginable.

The same technologies also will usher in the revolution needed to develop and supply environmental and health monitoring to the developing world, such as “dipstick” monitors and simple kits to detect contamination in wells in Bangladesh.

Broaden the scope and nature of global health projects

Frank Collins, Jeff Schorey and a team of 20 researchers from such areas as biological sciences, chemistry and biochemistry, computer science and engineering, the Interdisciplinary Center for the Study of Biocomplexity, and the Indiana University School of Medicine at South Bend, will seek to broaden the scope and nature of global health projects on campus.

The effort will build on Notre Dame’s world-renowned Eck Family Center for Global Health and Infectious Diseases, which, for more than a half century, has studied infectious diseases that primarily afflict underdeveloped countries.

The effort will strengthen the University’s capabilities in insect biology and disease analysis to promote the development of new drugs and vaccines for malaria and other infectious diseases. Enhanced understanding of the genomes of mosquitoes and insect carriers of various infectious diseases will provide an opportunity to develop novel pesticides and disease treatments that will specifically target the disease or its carriers and have minimal effect on humans.

The effort will strengthen research capabilities across campus in the area of genomics. As more pathogenic organisms are sequenced, the amount of genetic information will continue to expand and the use of comparative genomic analysis and other techniques should significantly improve our understanding of how these pathogens cause disease. Genomic information on the pathogens, as well as the insects that carry them, will be used by members of the center and others around the world to target the development of new drugs and vaccines.

The dissection of genomic information will require expertise in various areas including computational sciences (bioinformatics). Resources also will be directed to the study of disease transmission in countries where malaria is endemic and to provide the intellectual and education framework for both undergraduate and graduate students to study infectious diseases.

Build on pioneering nanoscience research

Wolfgang Porod and a team of 29 researchers from engineering, science, the Reilly Center for Science, Technology and Values, and the Gigot Center for Entrepreneurial Studies will build on Notre Dame’s pioneering efforts in the field of nanoscience and further the momentum gained with the recent announcement that the University will be home of the Midwest Academy for Nanoelectronics and Architectures.

With the miniaturization of the integrated circuit reaching physical and technological limits, NDnano will explore alternatives to standard silicon-based transistor technology, such as molecular and magnetic Quantum-Dot Cellular Automata, which was invented at Notre Dame. The effort also will seed research projects on energy extraction technologies, including light-harvesting solar devices and circuits, to develop new energy sources.

In recognition of the fact that technological breakthroughs often arise from research into fundamental properties of materials, NDnano will study grapheme, a form of carbon with an extraordinary ability to conduct electrical current, and also will accelerate work on new nitride-based and magnetic semiconductors. Nanoelectronics also will have important applications in the biological and health sciences and the project will seed collaborations in these areas.

The nanoscience researchers are teaming with the Reilly Center to examine the societal impact of the emerging research field. The researchers also will work with the Gigot Center to transfer intellectual property to entrepreneurial ventures.

Create a multidisciplinary think-tank

Mark Roche, O’Shaughnessy Dean of the College of Arts and Letters, and a proposal team of four scholars have designed a multidisciplinary think-tank that will attract leading scholars from around the world to collaborate with Notre Dame faculty and students. The Institute for Advanced Study will build on the University’s distinctive Catholic identity and mission to help universities internationally to rethink the role of religion in modern history and modern knowledge and to explore integrative and ultimate questions as well as questions of value.

The institute will enable 20 scholars and five graduate students per year to spend from two weeks to a full academic year in residence at the University. Applications will be welcome from individuals or teams of scholars.

In its proposal, the group noted that the institute might, for example, offer an engineer working on the environment the opportunity to expand his or her specialized, technical work to include larger social and ethical questions. In return, an ethicist might find her reflections on applied ethics enriched by such conversations. Another example might be a comparative constitutional lawyer exploring the interface and gaps between law and morality.

Augment imaging capacity

Bradley D. Smith, Emil T. Hofman Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and a team of 16 science and engineering researchers will create the Notre Dame Integrated Imaging Facility, a state-of-the-art research resource that will consolidate the imaging capacity that is currently dispersed around the University’s campus and augment it with powerful new imaging methods.

Since imaging is such an important and pervasive tool for research, the proposal is likely to benefit a significant portion of the researchers and post-doctoral, graduate and undergraduate students in 50 separate research groups from the Colleges of Science and Engineering, social sciences in the College of Arts and Letters, and the Notre Dame Radiation Laboratory.

The facility will make available to the Notre Dame community an integrated suite of sophisticated microscopes and imaging stations that will enable the expert users to attack the most common complex research problems from nanoscopic to macroscopic scales. The facility also will feature a resident professional staff of technicians and research specialists to guide non-expert users and assist them in conducting experiments that were previously beyond their limits.

The facility will help to create an interactive network of research groups joining forces to solve a wide range of important problems in high priority research fields such as biomedical science, nanoelectronics, systems biology, advanced diagnostics, functional materials and zero emission energy production.

Notre Dame appoints first director of sustainability

2008-04-28T09:50:00-04:00

By: Julie Hail Flory
Office of News and Information

James M. Mazurek, most recently a partner in the Chicago office of the international consulting firm Accenture, has been appointed the first director of the University of Notre Dame’s new Office of Sustainability. He will join the University May 1.

A 1991 Notre Dame graduate, Mazurek’s work at Accenture included the development and implementation of sustainability and business strategies for global companies in the utilities, energy and government areas. He has led major efforts where sustainability has been at the forefront—driving stakeholder value through enabling technologies, influencing end-user behaviors and considering renewable energy sources.

“As Notre Dame progresses toward becoming a more environmentally responsible campus, I am certain Jim will provide the necessary leadership and expertise as we strive to reach our goals,”said Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., Notre Dame’s president. “By building on current institutional initiatives, it is my hope is that he can help draw our efforts together into a coherent, synergistic program that reaches across disciplines as we develop and implement a comprehensive course of sustainability.”

Established in January, the Office of Sustainability will build institutional learning capabilities in support of continual improvement in building design and operations, landscaping, procurement, energy and water conservation, waste disposal, recycling and service provision. The University has provided the office with a $2 million green loan fund for environmental improvements in campus buildings and operations, illustrating a long-term commitment to sustainability efforts.

“Jim’s experience, network, enthusiasm and vision for environmental initiatives will be a tremendous asset for the Office of Sustainability as Notre Dame builds its green program and aspires to be recognized as a global leader in this area,” said James J. Lyphout, vice president for business operations.

In addition to his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Notre Dame, Mazurek also holds master’s degrees in environmental engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology and in business administration from the Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management.

Greenhouses and “green” computing

2008-04-23T02:43:00-04:00

By: William G. Gilroy
Office of News and Information

On the surface, high performance computing and greenhouses appear to have little in common. But the University of Notre Dame’s Center for Research Computing and the City of South Bend have wedded them in a marriage that is environmentally friendly, economically beneficial and worthy of celebration on Earth Day.

The center, established in 2005, supports the research agenda of the University by making available managed computing assets and staff with expertise in the application of these resources to multidisciplinary research interests.

South Bend’s Potowatomi Greenhouses have provided area residents with year-round access to flowers and plants since the 1920s. In 1973, the Arizona Desert Dome was built at the greenhouses to serve as the home of a botanical collection donated by Rev. Joseph Sarto McGrath, C.S.C. The late Father McGrath was a Notre Dame chemist, summer school dean and rector at Fisher Hall, whose hobby was visiting Arizona to obtain many different types of cacti.

Both the center and the greenhouses face energy concerns.

High performance computing utilizes a great deal of energy and, in order for it to succeed, information technology servers must be kept cooled 24 hours a day, seven days a week, resulting in significant monthly energy costs for the University. According to a recent EPA report, the cost of powering and cooling information technology servers will increase by $1.74 billion over the next three years.

On the other hand, the cost of heating a 26,000-square-foot greenhouse can also be daunting. The city’s natural gas heating costs to keep its specimens suitably heated are more than $100,000. Like many municipalities, South Bend is facing budget limitations and the rising costs for heating its greenhouses nearly forced the city to close the facility in 2006.

The Center for Research Computing and the city, with the help of Notre Dame’s Computer Science and Engineering Department, have teamed up in an innovative partnership that is helping to solve both energy concerns.

The center has created a grid-heating framework for the greenhouses by moving a cluster of high performance computer servers to the Arizona Desert Dome. The relocation of servers for use in grid heating substantially lowers the cooling expenditures associated with high performance computing on the University’s campus.

In turn, the heat associated with the computer cluster now provides a heating infrastructure for the Greenhouses at a cost much lower than the city would pay for natural gas. The projected reduction in heating costs offers hope that the city will be able to keep greenhouses open.

The center and the city also are exploring other methods where the electrical energy expended in high speed computing can be converted into a thermal asset.

And, to further support the greenhouses, on April 5 students from Notre Dame’s Fisher and Siegfried resident halls, in a display of human energy, prepared the interior walls of the Arizona Desert Dome for a new mural, washed and cleaned its windows and weeded its garden.

Read coverage of this story in the South Bend Tribune

Earth Week Events for April 21-27

2008-04-21T01:48:00-04:00

Speed Dating/Coffee and Discussion
April 21
7:00-8:30 p.m.
O’Shaughnessy Great Hall

Earth Day Festival
April 22
2:00–5:00 p.m.
Fieldhouse Mall
Features campus and community environmental groups, food, and live music

Vegetarian No-Waste Dinner
April 23
5:00-7:00 p.m.
Coleman-Morse Lounge
Bring your own plate and eating utensils

Nature Film Festival
April 24
9:00 p.m.–midnight
155 DeBartolo Hall

Power Plant Tours
April 25
2:00-4:00 p.m.
Space is limited
E-mail tfurlong@nd.edu to reserve your space!

Tree Planting in the South Bend Community
April 26
CSC Canned Food Drive
10:00 a.m.
Meet at Legends

Best Buddies Earth Picnic
April 27
2:00-4:00 p.m.
Stepan Center

Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., announces Forum panelists

2008-04-11T02:29:00-04:00

The 2008 Notre Dame Forum, which will focus on sustainable energy, will be held on Wednesday, September 24 in the Joyce Center Arena from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. To date, we have confirmed the participation of the following individuals as panelists: Jeff Immelt, chairman and CEO of General Electric; Ernest Moniz, the Cecil and Ida Green Distinguished Professor of Physics, director of the Laboratory for Energy and Environment, and director of the Energy Initiative at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and Anne Thompson, chief environmental affairs correspondent for NBC News and a Notre Dame alumna, who will serve as moderator.

Pope Benedict XVI recently called attention to the world’s growing energy needs and “the unprecedented race for available resources.” He expressed special concern for regions of the world in which development is blocked by rising energy costs and scarce energy sources, and he urged nations to continue their dialogue and search for more efficient ways to consume and invest in resources.

These views are among many that are beginning to emerge at the intersection of energy utilization and Catholic social teaching. How do Western nations, and the United States in particular, reconcile their consumption with the energy poverty afflicting billions of people in the Southern Hemisphere and Asia? Is there a sustainable energy future that can maintain an acceptable standard of living for all humans without jeopardizing the environment and future generations?

The 2008 Notre Dame Forum will build on current institutional initiatives that collectively support, across all of the University’s endeavors, the development of a comprehensive course of sustainability. The issues addressed will extend across multiple disciplines and can engage the entire University community.

We expect to be able to announce additional panelists soon, and we will keep you informed of other Forum-related details in the weeks ahead. For more information on sustainable energy and activities surrounding the Forum, you may visit the new Notre Dame Forum website at enlighten.nd.edu

View panelist profiles

Class of 2008 earmarks Senior Class Gift for EcoFund

2008-03-23T14:52:01-04:00

Notre Dame’s Class of 2008 voted to make the inaugural gift to the EcoFund, a new fund established to advance environmentally responsible and sustainable practices at Notre Dame.

Their gift will impact the following initiatives:

Energy Conservation

Installing compact fluorescent light bulbs and occupancy senors in common areas or setting temperature limits in buildings

Water Conservation

Testing rain-gauge sprinklers, utilizing motion-activating sinks, and installing low-flow faucets, showerheads, and toilets

Campus Ecosystem

Maintaining native plants in campus landscaping and composting food waste at the dining halls.

Recycling

Expanding day-to-day recycling efforts by installing permanent outdoor recycling containers and establishing recycling programs for home football games

Members of the senior class or others can contribute to the EcoFund by visiting http://donate.nd.edu.

Notre Dame Energy Center research seeks to improve Indiana Dunes facilities

2008-03-13T15:02:01-04:00

By William G. Gilroy and Nina Welding

The University-National Park Energy Partnership Program (UNPEPP) has funded a joint project between the Notre Dame Energy Center and the National Park Service at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore to provide energy related consulting services to the park during this coming summer.

During the course of the project, three undergraduate students from the University will work with park officials, conducting onsite research that will result in specific recommendations for capital improvement at the Indiana Dunes facilities.

According to Joan F. Brennecke, Keating-Crawford Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and director of the Notre Dame Energy Center, the students’ work will focus on energy conservation and savings.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for the students to put their training into practice in a real-world setting that encompasses project management skills, teamwork and leadership opportunities,” she said. “It also promotes discussion on a realistic and responsible use of resources.”

As part of the project, students will be required to track and quantify the cost savings — and projected payback in terms of resources, such as energy use reduction and lower greenhouse gas emissions — relating to their recommendations.

Participants in the 10-week project are Tom Furlong, a junior studying aerospace and mechanical engineering; Brian Klein, a senior political science major; and Jackie Mirandola Mullen, a sophomore pursuing degrees in German and history.

Among the projects the students are scheduled to complete during the summer program are energy audits of one-third of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore buildings, designs for a geothermal heat pump system for the Paul H. Douglas Center for Environmental Education, designs for a grass roof system for Building 110 at the park headquarters, and the creation of educational materials for park guests that describe the proposed improvements and energy savings.

UNPEPP is a nationwide program that links universities with national parks to address energy issues within the parks. Through these partnerships, parks gain assistance with energy related issues, while students obtain problem-solving experience in the energy field. Since its inception in 1997, UNPEPP has funded numerous partnerships between universities and national parks. Funding typically ranges from $15,000 to $20,000 per project and is used to support students, and faculty and equipment purchases.

The Notre Dame Energy Center works to develop new technologies to meet the global energy challenge. Housed in the College of Engineering, the center focuses on five areas of expertise: energy efficiency, safe nuclear waste storage, clean coal utilization, carbon dioxide separation, and storage and renewable resources. The center, which was established in 2005, is also committed to playing key roles in energy education and literacy, the development of energy policy and the exploration of the ethical implications associated with energy.

Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., announces 2008 Forum topic

2007-10-17T12:00:01-04:00

Message from Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C.

I am pleased to announce that the topic for the 2008 Notre Dame Forum has been selected. It is “Charting a Sustainable Energy Future,” a subject that implicates a host of timely and difficult issues, including climate change and the condition of the environment, the costs and benefits of economic development, the fairness of wealth and income distribution, and the appropriate roles of nations and individuals in creating such a future.

Frank Incropera, professor of aerospace and mechanical engineering and former dean of the College of Engineering, has graciously agreed to serve as chairman of the forum organizing committee. Other members of the committee will be announced shortly.

Since our first Notre Dame forum three years ago, these events have brought to our campus some of the most important figures in their fields of expertise and activity—religion, global health and immigration—and have become highlights of our academic year. We expect that next year’s forum will do and be no less.

Details and developments will be provided throughout the semester. I hope you share my enthusiasm as we begin planning for 2008.