UND, NDSU faculty complete several successful renewable energy-related projects Five energy-related seed grant projects were recently completed by faculty at UND and North Dakota State University as part of the Department of Energy’s North Dakota Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) infrastructure improvement program. The purpose of this seed grant program was to assist in developing UND and NDSU research capabilities related to sustainable energy. Proposals received for this competitive seed grant program were reviewed by a panel of sustainable energy experts from inside and outside the university system. The grants, which ran from May of 2007 through December 2008 were awarded as follows: * Soizik Laguette, assistant professor, UND John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences, Department of Earth System Science and Policy, “Spectral Characterization of Switchgrass for Biomass Energy and Biofuel Quality,” $32,295. * Hossein Salehfar, professor, UND School of Engineering and Mines, Department of Electrical Engineering, “Modeling of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell and Electrolyzer Using Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy Technique,” $18,000. * Julia Zhao, associate professor, UND College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Chemistry, “Development of TiO2 Nanocatalysts for Sustainable Energy,” $50,000. * Sivaguru Jayaraman, assistant professor, NDSU Department of Chemistry, “Imprinting Molecular Chirality During Light-Induced Transformations in Solution,” $22,000. * Chad Ulven, assistant professor, NDSU Department of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics, “Ultra-lightweight Polymer Composites for Wind Energy System – Turbine Blade Structures,” $49,770. Based on the productivity documented by the participants, the seed grant program was an overwhelming success. The grants resulted in 15 refereed publications and 12 technical presentations. Seed grant awardees also submitted 16 proposals for further research valued at $3,352,000 and were awarded seven grants totaling $1,704,000 based on work performed under their seed grants. The ND DOE EPSCoR seed grant program was administered by the North Dakota Sustainable Energy Research Initiative (ND SUNRISE) in coordination with the North Dakota EPSCoR program. The Department of Energy's Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (DOE EPSCoR) is a federal-state partnership program designed to help the Department lead the world in meeting today's and tomorrow's energy needs through increased competition in energy-related research and development across the entire nation. The program supports DOE's overarching mission of advancing the national, economic, and energy security of the United States, by supporting research activities in EPSCoR states that span a broad range of science and technology programs within DOE. SUNRISE is a student-centered, faculty-organized supercluster comprising 31 faculty in 14 academic departments at UND, NDSU, Mayville State University, and the North Dakota State College of Science. SUNRISE research is focused in three areas: the technologies to enable the environmentally sustainable use of coal, the production of fuels, chemicals, polymers, and composites from renewable sources, and the harvesting of energy from diffuse sources (wind/solar/hydrogen). More than 170 undergraduate and graduate students have worked on SUNRISE research projects. -- Juan Pedraza, Writer/Editor, University Relations, juanpedraza@mail.und.edu, 777-6571