Fall 2023 Inventing Tomorrow

FALL 2023

Inventing

Sustainability From materials to energy–

Broad spectrum research that results in partnerships, products, and global impact.

A MAGAZINE FROM THE COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

Inventing TOMORROW Fall 2023 • cse.umn.edu

ADMINISTRATION

Dean Andrew Alleyne

Associate Dean, Academic Affairs Beth Stadler Associate Dean, Research Joseph Konstan Associate Dean, Undergraduate Programs David Blank Interim Associate Dean, Graduate Programs Victor Barocas

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On the cover

An experiment in Professor Vivian Ferry’s lab reveals nanocrystals that emit different colors in response to UV light. Sustainability is a growing focus in nano optics, the study of how light interacts with nanometer-scale objects. Ferry is looking for nontoxic ways to make materials that capture solar energy.

LARGEST CLASS IN HISTORY This fall, our college welcomed the largest incoming class in history, as we head for undergraduate growth of 20 percent by 2028. The enrollment of 1,569 freshmen represents an almost 9 percent increase from last year—and includes jumps in underrepresented students and our international population. Overall, undergraduate enrollment now tops 5,800 students, also a record number.

Photo by Rebecca Slater

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I N V E N T I N G TO M O R R O W

Photo by Patrick O’Leary

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TECH DIGEST

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COVER STORY

Everywhere, all at once: Sustainability research in CSE

14

Sustainable Water: Testing the waters

18

Sustainable Materials: Material world

22

Sustainable Transportation: Road ready

26

Sustainable Energy: Energy work

30

IMPACT OF GIVING

34

CSE BUILDS LEADERS

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Photo by Rebecca Slater

DEAN ANDREW ALLEYNE Smart investments that sustain A hallmark of our community lies in our relentless pursuit of game-changing research. Our faculty, students, and alumni are key players in important areas that affect people, our planet, and the economy.

This edition of Inventing Tomorrow is dedicated to sustainability, specifically as it pertains to water, materials, transportation, and energy. As custodians of the future, we recognize the profound impact of our actions on the environment, and we are committed to finding responsible solutions.

I call our approach “smart sustainability.” We harness the power of artificial intelligence (AI) and data modeling to propel work forward—plus we tackle problems with circularity, or full life cycle, in mind.

For example, in the AI-CLIMATE Institute, CSE researchers are leveraging AI for climate-smart practices in agriculture and forestry industries (page 5). In the NSF Center for Sustainable Polymers (CSP), experts are transforming how plastics are made, unmade and remade (page 21)—with the idea of closing the loop with biodegradable plastics.

Circularity in sustainability isn’t just a concept for us.

It’s a practice. We do our best to think about what happens after we innovate, build, shape, solve.

In fact, we are growing a community of leaders with resource conservation and upcycling skills. This fall, as part of a $3 million National Science Foundation grant, we’re offering students a course on this topic, “A Circularity Revolution: Working to Close the Loop on Global Issues.”

By integrating innovation with responsibility, we can make sustainability not just an aspiration but a way of life.

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AMONG THE MOST CITED RESEARCHERS IN THE WORLD It’s no small feat to author so many important scientific papers that you land in the top 1 percent of citations in your field. Four CSE faculty members—R. Lawrence Edwards, Dan Knights, Tony Low, and Donald Truhlar— did just that. They were named among the most “Highly Cited Researchers” worldwide by Clarivate Analytics, showing that they have a broad and significant influence in their field.

TECH DIGEST

TechDIGEST

Photo by Rich Ryan

Read full stories: z.umn.edu/techdigest

NEW $20M INSTITUTE WILL USE AI TO MITIGATE CLIMATE EFFECTS Tackling Earth’s hefty carbon emissions is a mighty task, which is why University of Minnesota researchers are leveraging farms and forests—and AI—to do it. The University recently received a $20 million grant over five years from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) to lead a new National Artificial Intelligence Research Institute.

Dubbed the AI Institute for Climate-Land Interactions, Mitigation, Adaptation, Tradeoffs and Economy (AI-CLIMATE), the research center will use artificial intelligence FA L L 202 3

techniques to create more climate-smart practices that will absorb and store carbon while simultaneously boosting the economy in the agriculture and forestry industries. For example, farms and forests can be used as carbon sinks, which pull more carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere than they release.

Using new AI techniques like deep learning and knowledge-guided machine learning, researchers at AI-CLIMATE can improve accuracy and lower the cost of accounting for carbon and greenhouse gases in these sinks, ultimately making the process more accessible for more people.

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TechDIGEST z.umn.edu/techdigest

FIRST-OF-ITS-KIND KIDNEY CRYOPRESERVATION HAS LIFE-SAVING POTENTIAL Did you know that 20 percent of kidneys donated for transplantation each year can’t be used? Often, the organs don’t reach the recipients in time and can’t be put on ice for longer than a few hours. This year, University of Minnesota scientists and engineers made a breakthrough in the field of kidney cryopreservation—or preserving the organs at ultra-low temperatures—by successfully transplanting a rewarmed, functional kidney into a rat for the first time. Their research has the potential to save thousands of human lives by enabling long-term storage of organs.

CSE FACULTY RECEIVE TOP NATIONAL AWARDS From National Academy inductions to Nobel Prize equivalents, our CSE faculty received some of the highest honors in the science and engineering fields this year. Among them are CSE Dean Andrew Alleyne (elected to the National Academy of Engineering), physics and astronomy Professor Boris Shklovskii (elected to the National Academy of Sciences), earth sciences Professor Emeritus David Kohlstedt (received the Vetlesen Prize, the Nobel Prize equivalent in the earth sciences field), biomedical engineering Assistant Professor Brittany Hartwell (awarded the international Michelson Prize for excellence in vaccine research), and mathematics Professor Svitlana Mayboroda (received a 2023 Blavatnik National Award honoring America’s most innovative scientists and engineers).

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SUSTAINABLE MAGNET STARTUP GETS $17.5M FROM DOE Back in 2014, CSE electrical engineering Professor Jian-Ping Wang developed the technology behind the Clean Earth Magnet, the world’s first high-powered, rare-earth-free permanent magnet. One of the “key building blocks for a sustainable society,” these magnets provide less expensive, more environmentally friendly components for electric vehicles, wind turbines, and other renewable energy technologies.

Last fall, Niron Magnetics, a startup company spun out of Wang’s research, received $17.5 million from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to scale up its magnet manufacturing, paving the way for the U.S. to achieve its goal of net-zero emissions by 2050.

TECH DIGEST

Photo by Rebecca Slater

BREAKTHROUGH TINNITUS TREATMENT GETS FDA APPROVAL

Photo credit: Neuromod Devices

At least 25 million Americans suffer from tinnitus, or “ringing in the ears,” and treatments have long eluded medical researchers. But now a new, non-invasive device may hold the key to treating the pervasive condition— and it just received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for use in the United States. Biomedical engineering Professor Hubert Lim is part of the international team that developed Lenire®, a device that combines sound therapy and electrical tongue stimulation to curb tinnitus symptoms.

In a recent clinical trial, nearly 80 percent of patients’ symptoms significantly improved after a 12-week course of treatment with the device. The device is now available for audiologists and ear, nose, and throat (ENT) doctors to prescribe to their patients.

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TechDIGEST z.umn.edu/techdigest

FACING NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASES HEAD ON Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, mad cow disease, and chronic wasting disease (CWD) all share a common feature—the buildup of misfolded proteins in the central nervous system.

Detecting these molecules is crucial for understanding and diagnosing these devastating disorders. University of Minnesota researchers, including electrical and computer engineering Professor Sang-Hyun Oh, recently developed a new diagnostic technique to make the process faster and easier. Their “NanoQuIC” technology cuts detection times from about 14 hours to four and increases the sensitivity by a factor of 10, opening a door for earlier treatment and mitigation of various neurodegenerative diseases that affect both humans and animals.

Image credit: Sang-Hyun Oh Research Group, University of Minnesota

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TECH DIGEST

Photo credit: Polar Geospatial Center

TINY GALAXY WITH BIG STAR POWER Even the tiniest of stars can have the biggest impact. Or at least that’s what CSE astrophysics researchers found when they looked more than 13 billion years into the past to discover a minuscule galaxy that generated new stars at an extremely high rate for its size. Spotted using observations from the newly minted James Webb Space Telescope, the galaxy is one of the smallest ever discovered at this distance— around 500 million years after the Big Bang. Studying its unique properties could help astronomers learn more about galaxies that were present shortly after the Universe came into existence.

Photo credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, P. Kelly

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REVEALING THE POLAR REGIONS IN STUNNING DETAIL You can now take a virtual, high-definition hike through the Earth’s polar regions, thanks to researchers at the University’s Polar Geospatial Center (PGC). Their recently created maps and videos use high-resolution data from polar-orbiting satellites about 400-700 kilometers above Earth. In addition to being the most detailed polar maps ever created, the images can provide environmental researchers with new insights into the effects of climate change over time.

GROWING THE NATION’S SEMICONDUCTOR WORKFORCE The global semiconductor market is expected to become a trillion-dollar industry by 2030—but with increasing demand for jobs comes the need for those who can do them. CSE’s Technological Leadership Institute (TLI) recently announced the launch of the Minnesota Semiconductor Manufacturing Consortium, a groundbreaking initiative aimed at upskilling Minnesota’s technical workforce for careers in semiconductor manufacturing. The consortium is supported by industry leaders Honeywell, Collins Aerospace, and Polar Semiconductor; the University’s own Minnesota Nano Center; and the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED).

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Sustainability is based on a simple principle: Everything that we need for our survival and well-being depends, either directly or indirectly, on our natural environment.

—U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

1

st

Researchers, led

by Professor Chris Leighton, electrically transformed for the first time the non-magnetic iron sulfide (known as “fool’s gold” or pyrite) into a magnetic material

30-40

343

Number of U.S. patents issued to our faculty in the last three years, many with a sustainability focus

20+

CSE researchers with an emphasis on sustainable polymers or closely related fields

Estimated number of charging stations Minnesota needs to increase e-truck use, reports a MnDOT study led by Associate Professor Alireza Khani

10+

Companies that are supporting work at our Materials Research Science and Engineering Center this year

”

15+

Faculty within our new Data Science Initiative who are engaged in projects that combine data science with sustainable food, energy, and the environment

#9

U.S. News & World Report national ranking of our environmental engineering program

3,000,000,000,000,000 Gallons of fresh water in Lake Superior—Associate Professor Andrew Wickert is leading a North Shore study on river erosion and lake-level changes

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$

$153 million

Total research grants and contracts CSE received in FY22 for wideranging topics, including water, materials, transportation, and energy

$22

million

U.S. Department of Energy award for a new Center for Interacting Geo-Processes in Mineral Carbon Storage and a Center for Programmable Energy Catalysis

S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y

Everywhere, all at once

Sustainability research in CSE is wide-ranging, far-reaching “If you take care of nature, nature will take care of you.” Wise words from Sir David Attenborough, the 97-year-old longtime host of BBC’s “Planet Earth.” He has also said the living world will endure, with or without us: “This is not about saving our planet, it’s about saving ourselves.” To that end, this section—these two pages and the next 18—highlight some of the work and people making an impact in the world of water, materials, transportation, and energy.

Why these four areas? Because it is next to impossible to capture all that falls under the realm of environmental sustainability at the University of Minnesota College of Science and Engineering (CSE) in one magazine. There are too many areas of research—from detecting bird and bat collisions at wind turbines to chemically transforming

$7.1

million

NSF study—involving CSE faculty Xue Feng and John Gulliver with others across the U—on how nature impacts urban areas

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molecules into energy storage for carbon-free fuels. The breadth of work that counts as “sustainable” among our faculty, students, and a lumni when it comes to the environment is impressive.

the world and the way we live our lives—most notably, the pacemaker, flight recorders, and seatbelts. (And, because we play outside and eat: Gore-Tex, the modern toaster, and the Bundt pan.)

“I’ve stayed here for 40 years for a reason,” said Kim Stelson, mechanical engineering professor and founding director of the U’s Center for Compact and Efficient Fluid Power. “It is because of the fact that there are so many of my colleagues, both scientists and engineers, in other departments that I can work with. We really do have a complete portfolio of these different skills, expertise, and technologies that can hasten a research or offer different perspectives to look at a problem.”

So it’s no surprise t hat C SE scientists and engineers across the globe are spurring innovations in environmental sustainability.

In this section Over the next few pages, read what a greener future looks like in

›› Water ›› Materials ›› Transportation ›› Energy

p. 14 › p. 18 › p. 22 › p. 26 ›

For more than 100 years, the CSE community has been behind emerging technologies that changed

$3

million

Grant from NSF to teach students about circularity, which includes resource conservation, waste upcycling, and community impact

$2.9

million

NASA award to Associate Professor Ardeshir Ebtehaj to study the impact of climate change on global snowfall patterns

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ACROSS THE SEVEN CONTINENTS DATA DRIVEN TV STARDOM ARCTIC: The Polar Geospatial Center contributed remote sensing expertise to BBC’s “Frozen Planet,” a TV mini series from the producers of the Emmy-winning “Planet Earth.”

ARCTIC and ANTARCTICA: Professors Shashi Shekhar and Mohamed Mokbel are part of NSF’s Institute for Harnessing Data and Model Revolution in the Polar Regions to address challenges related to climate change, sea-level rise, and the rapidly changing Arctic.

WORLD-CLASS EXPERTS WASTE TO FOOD UNITED STATES: The Almond Board of California is funding Professor Roger Ruan’s study to turn almond hulls into new food ingredients.

CANADA: Pedram Mortazavi, one of 25 new faculty this year, has worked on seismic design and earthquake engineering projects across the country.

WORKING TIRE-LESSLY UNITED STATES: Tire polymers are derived from fossil fuels, and CSE scientists found a way to turn glucose (plant matter) into isoprene, the essential molecule in rubber. Same shape, same performance—less pollution.

CLEAN WATER PANAMA: CSE Global Seminar students traveled to seven different communities to survey drinking water quality, meet local residents, and learn about local conservation efforts.

MARCH OF THE PENGUINS MELTING ICE ARGENTINA: Professor Emi Ito co-led a study of Lago Argentino, the world’s largest ice-contact lake (flanking the Southern Patagonian Ice Field), to better predict glacier changes and rising sea levels.

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ANTARCTICA: For the last decade, research associate Michelle LaRue has been studying Emperor penguin populations and their breeding locations using high resolution satellite images. The information gives us new clues about the effects of climate change.

FAC S UUSLT TAYI N FA E AT B I LUI T RY E

University of Minnesota College of Science and Engineering researchers and alumni are doing their part to sustain our environment. Here are just a few examples. ››

WATERWORKS

PLASMA TECH

NORWAY: Professors Ray Hozalski and Tim LaPara worked with the cities of Trondheim, Bergen, and Stavanger to study how a lack of residual chlorine impacts the microbial communities in their drinking water supplies.

GERMANY: Gelsenkirchenborn Professor Uwe Kortshagen’s work spans renewable energy technologies to nanoscale plasma manufacturing, and more.

NANO MATTERS SPAIN: Chemistry department head Christy Haynes spent her recent Guggenheim Fellowship in Valencia, investigating the biological and ecological impacts of engineered nanomaterials.

EARTHQUAKE ZONE TURKEY: Professor Donna Whitney led a global team to investigate the East Anatolian fault and other nearby earthquakegenerating faults, providing data for decisionmaking about infrastructure in the region.

BREATHING EASIER

CLEAN AIR INDIA: The U’s Center for Filtration Research, in collaboration with IIT Bombay and Tata Projects Ltd., have installed two “smog towers” that scrub pollution from the atmosphere.

CHINA: Regents Professor David Pui has collaborated with the Chinese Academy of Sciences on particulate research for years.

CORAL IMPACT AUSTRALIA: A CSE team is partnering with researchers from the Smithsonian Institution and University of South Wales to test cryopreservation techniques on coral samples from the Great Barrier Reef.

SEEING TREES SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA: Scientists and landowners can view over 9.9 billion trees, right down to the carbon in a plant’s roots, with the web-based user interface (trees.pgc.umn.edu/app) Shane Loeffler (ESci M.S. ’18) created for a NASA-led study covered in Nature March 2023.

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KIDS HEALTH MALAWI: UMN-Engineers Without Borders teamed up with St. Pius Primary School and Freshwater Project International in Malawi to install sanitation and water distribution systems.

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WATER

Testing the waters

BY OLIVIA HULTGREN

Of all the things that make the University of Minnesota unique, being perched on the bank of the mighty Mississippi River—right next to a major city—might take the cake. And water isn’t just in our line of sight. It’s a vast area of study in the College of Science and Engineering.

From studying geological change in the Lake Superior basin to working with local breweries to reduce their wastewater output using carbon-eating bacteria, our researchers are making waves that will benefit both the state of Minnesota and beyond. ››

Minneapolis combines the Dakota word for water (mni) with the Greek word (polis) for city.

WAKE SURF WAVES As part of St. Anthony Falls Laboratory’s (SAFL) Healthy Waters Initiative, CSE researchers are studying how waves from boats used for the popular sport wake surfing affect shorelines in Minnesota lakes. By measuring wave height and power from these boats, the researchers found that wakesurf boats produce higher waves than typical boats and are more likely to cause lakeshore erosion.

Mighty Mississippi SAFL researchers leverage the 50-foot drop in the Mississippi River to study water quality, fluid mechanics, renewable energy, and how it all affects the residents of and environment within the Twin Cities.

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S U S TA I N A B L E WAT E R

AN ARTIFICIAL STREAM Adjacent to St. Anthony Falls Laboratory is the Outdoor StreamLab. The large-scale stream and floodplain was built in 2008 with no particular stream in mind but to mimic the flow of meandering stream channels that one might find in Minnesota.

See z.umn.edu/saflnews for what’s new at this lab or scan for videos.

Because it’s open to both the natural elements and experimental control, the facility is ideal for studying topics like ecological roles of streams, flood control, and stream restoration.

Research projects include how sediment affects invertebrates and fish, and how vegetation affects the retention of flood water.

Recently, the Outdoor StreamLab underwent a renovation that included machinery to move heavy instrumentation, safety upgrades, and WiFi to support researchers in data analysis.

2,200 gallons

maximum amount of water that runs through SAFL every second

500+

$25.6

over SAFL’s 85-year history, which include the National Center for Earth-Surface Dynamics

in research funding for SAFL-affiliated projects over the last five years

major projects

million

It’s way more than water under the bridge About 1,200 liters of water per second flow from the Mississippi River into SAFL’s channel and floodplain, through a sediment settling basin, and back into the river. This flow through the lab provides a multitude of research opportunities.

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WATER

COMMITTED TO CLEAN—

RESEARCHERS TAP FUNGI AND PARTNER WITH TWO CITY UTILITIES FOR BETTER WATER QUALITY Of all the harmful effects of climate change on our planet, water quality is one of the most pertinent. Extreme rainfall can lead to stormwater management issues and increased pollution from nitrogen runoff, and rising temperatures cause toxic algae to bloom in our lakes. To address these water quality issues and more, a swath of CSE researchers are turning to chlorine, trees, and… fungi?

Yes, fungi. According to CSE Associate Professor Peter Kang, the spore-producing organisms can actually lend a hand in purifying contaminated water systems.

“One of the major challenges that groundwater scientists face is remediating contaminants that

slowly diffuse into rock and trap there for long periods of time,” he said. “And it’s really hard to extract them. So, our idea was utilizing branching fungi to actively grow and penetrate into this porous rock to access the contaminants.”

Kang’s project is funded through Minnesota’s Discovery, Research, a nd I n noVat ion E c onomy (MnDR I V E) progra m, a University partnership with the state. His lab is also working on a variety of groundwater-related problems, including another MnDRIVE-funded endeavor to mitigate the clogging of biofilms in an underground aquifer on the University’s West Bank. The work was recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

“A better understanding of fluid flow and subsurface systems is key to addressing global climate, water, and energy issues,” Kang said. “Nearly 99 percent of unfrozen freshwater is stored in the form of groundwater, and Minnesota, for example, relies a lot on groundwater systems, so it’s important for both our state and beyond.”

Minnesota actually provides a unique platform for studying water quality, thanks to the proximity of its two major cities—Minneapolis and St. Paul. Civil engineering Professors Ray Hozalski and Tim LaPara have been working closely with the two cities’ water utilities departments for years now to study water quality and implement solutions for cleaner

Photo credit: Joey Talghader

SNAPSHOTS IN THE ICE When earth scientists study ice, they’re not just monitoring ice melt spurred by the planet’s inevitable warming. Frozen water, whether it’s part of glaciers in the mountains or ice sheets in Antarctica, contains an entire world of information that can give us a detailed history of how the Earth has changed over

time. Researchers at the University of Minnesota are at the forefront of this research, and they’re using cross-disciplinary methods to do it.

Electrical engineering Professor Joey Talghader’s research focuses on optics and optoelectronics, or

With NSF funding, the Talghader research team captured data from historic volcanic eruptions at the Siple Dome in West Antarctica with technology that identified ash layers in the ice.

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S U S TA I N A B L E WAT E R

Photo by Bridget Mendel

Flume experiments assist CSE Gibson Chair of Hydrogeology Peter Kang and his team with groundwater prediction modeling, as well as teaching groundwater flow and transport in an interactive manner.

water across the metro area.

these harmful organisms.

Some of their larger projects involve finding ways to prevent harmful bacteria (such as Legionella, the waterborne culprit behind a severe form of pneumonia) from building up in the water supply. They were recently one of four teams in the United States to receive a $2.1 million grant from the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to study the occurrence of opportunistic pathogens throughout the country’s water distribution systems and find out how cities can balance levels of chlorine in water to combat

“Minnesota is a great place to do what Tim and I do,” Hozalski said. “It’s particularly exciting to work with Minneapolis and St. Paul water utilities because we can do fundamental academic work that gets published in top journals, and we’re also solving real world problems at the same time. This, along with the resources, facilities, and our talented students at the University, have enabled us to be really, really successful.”

“

One of those talented students is water

Counting and identifying layers in ice is a bit like tree ring dating.

—Joey Talghader

detecting and controlling light using electronic devices.

Working with colleagues at the University of CaliforniaBerkeley, Talghader helped build a borehole logger—an instrument that can be lowered into drilled ice holes to measure layers of ice and identify their optical properties.

“Counting and identifying layers in ice is a bit like tree ring dating,” Talghader explained. “If layers from one ice core can be matched to layers in another, we can date climate events to a very small period of time, sometimes even to a single relative year. With this information, we can start to better predict the many variables that affect our climate.”

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resources engineering Ph.D. candidate X iating Chen. She is work ing with colleagues in the University’s Department of Forest Resources as part of NSF’s Minneapolis-St. Paul Urban Long-Term Ecological Research program to study how ash trees treated for emerald ash borer infestations respond to a range of urban environmental conditions Her advisor, Associate Professor Xue Feng, recently received an NSF CAREER award to learn more about how global water, carbon, and energy cycles are affected by plants.

Talghader isn’t the only one at the University of Minnesota tapping into the power of ice.

Sara Nadian, a junior studying earth science on the Twin Cities campus, spent a semester analyzing old ice cores from Greenland through Research Assistant Professor Joel Barker’s Polar Biogeochemistry Lab. Her project studied the detrimental effect meltwater can have on our ability to date ice by analyzing the chemical remnants in the ice.

“I had no idea how much information you could get from just two meters of ice,” Nadian said. “It was really cool for me to take what I learned in class and apply it to research. We have really amazing professors in the earth science department who have literally invented the things that a lot of geologists around the world use to date rocks and ice, so there are a lot of opportunities to get involved here.”

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MATERIALS

Material world

BY OLIVIA HULTGREN

Materials are everywhere. Objects we use every day—your cell phone, the sweat-wicking long sleeve you wore to the gym yesterday, that coffee mug you’re probably drinking out of right now—they’re all made up of substances that have been carefully analyzed and designed to function optimally for their respective purposes. And just as the word itself suggests, materials research permeates nearly every department in the College of Science and Engineering.

Our researchers are working every day to engineer more efficient materials with better functionality and lower environmental impacts—from invisible solar panels to plant-based cleaning products.

Curious? See for yourself. ››

“

Sustainability is a crucial and growing focus for the area of nano optics.

We need to make sure that we’re using nontoxic elements in effective ways... There’s always a drive to develop new kinds of materials, and there’s a lot of potential to address different challenges.

—Vivian Ferry

~600

UMN researchers from 35 departments across the University use the Characterization Facility every year. Its investment in world-class equipment, from X-ray scattering machines to spectroscopy instruments, totals more than $25M.

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>$30M

investment in nanofabrication and analysis equipment housed in the Minnesota Nano Center in four different labs spanning more than 10,000 square feet of space on the Twin Cities campus, including a cleanroom facility.

S U S TA I N A B L E M AT E R I A L S

EVERYTHING UNDER THE SUN Imagine working in an office building with floor-toceiling windows. You may not even notice, but the windows separating you from the outside world are also powering the electricity inside the building—through invisible solar cells in the glass.

Although still in development, this is the sort of technology that chemical engineering and materials science Associate Professor Vivian Ferry’s research makes possible. Her lab specializes in solar energy and optical materials, or substances scientists can leverage to harness the power of light.

“We create materials that interact with light—manipulate it, guide it, change reflection, change absorption, etc.,” Ferry explained. “Our goal is to modify all these optical properties and then integrate them into a number of different advanced application spaces, like photovoltaics, clean energy development, and finding ways to increase the efficiency of our solar panels through optical design.”

A big part of Ferry’s research is hands-on—physically fabricating materials and devices in the lab and adding tiny patterns on their surfaces in order to alter their properties for the better. The other half of her research is computational.

Ferry and her students use computer modeling and realworld weather data to test how well their innovations would work, say, integrated into solar panels in an agricultural field. Her group is working with mechanical engineering Professor Uwe Kortshagen to plan how they can install their technology in greenhouses and farms to create more seamless energy-saving, sun-powered systems.

It’s that collaborative spirit present in both the College and the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science that initially drew Ferry to the University of Minnesota. That, coupled with the one-ofa-kind facilities and resources on the Twin Cities campus like the Characterization Facility and the Minnesota Nano Center, both of which Ferry and her researchers frequently use.

“I think the fact that we are chemical engineering alongside materials science is really beneficial because you get that perspective from lots of disciplines to tackle problems that are inherently interdisciplinary,” Ferry said.

“Materials span lots of other disciplines in lots of ways.

I love that being a ‘college of science and engineering’ is useful for being able to make those kinds of connections.”

Photos by Rebecca Slater

Grad student Kristine Loh (left) shines a UV light on glass coated with nanocrystals, which emit different colors in response to UV (top image). Their luminescence helps Professor Vivian Ferry make better materials. like see-through solar collectors.

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MATERIALS

RESEARCH TO INDUSTRY:

REWRITING THE CHEMISTRY PLAYBOOK In the process of biomass pyrolysis, thousands of chemical reactions happen in the span of a few seconds. Bio-based ingredients like plants, grass, and corn are heated to extremely high temperatures until they melt into a substance that resembles crude oil.

It’s an exercise in chemical experimentation that scientists never truly understood—until 2014 when UMN chemical engineering Professor Paul Dauenhauer and his then Ph.D. student, Christoph Krumm, found a way to study it. They developed a reactor system that essentially allowed them to spread chemical reactions out over long periods of time so that they could analyze what was really happening.

That innovation eventually allowed the researchers to discover new ways to create useful biofuels and chemicals from plants. In 2016, they commercialized their findings and formed Sironix Renewables, a startup with a mission to replace petroleum-based materials in cleaning products with eco-friendly, plant-derived ingredients that actually work better than their fossil fuel counterparts.

Dauenhauer’s lab is well-known for being a treasure trove of sustainable technology. In addition to Sironix, his research has spun into two other startups in the last decade. One of those is Carba, a carbon dioxide removal company that won the 2023 Minnesota Cup Grand Prize of $85,000. The other is Låkril Technologies, which specializes in converting lactic acid from corn into acrylic acid for use in products such as diapers and paint. The startup plans to open a pilot plant by the end of next year.

Låkril leverages a catalysis process drummed up by Dauenhauer’s former chemical engineering Ph.D. student Yutong Pang, who now works as a senior research specialist at Dow Chemical Company in Houston, Texas. Pang said one of the most important things she learned from her former mentor is to approach all projects with a mindset for sustainability.

“Paul’s innovative mindset really triggered us to always think about new ideas,” Pang said. “In his lab we did biomass conversion, plastic recycling, plastic pyrolysis—these are all hot topics in the industry right now, and we got to grow in that academic Photo credit: Sironix Renewables

“Green and bio-renewable products are becoming increasingly important, and companies are making strong commitments to it,” said Krumm, who’s now the CEO of Sironix, based in Seattle, Wash.

“But it’s still a big barrier for businesses to switch

from petroleum. Over the next five years, we plan to rapidly scale the process where we can produce large quantities of the product and actually sell it to customers.”

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The Sironix Renewables team, with CEO and CSE alumnus Christoph Krumm (center, back row), is discovering new ways to create biofuels and chemicals from plants.

S U S TA I N A B L E M AT E R I A L S

Dauenhauer Lab startups Carba Field: Carbon dioxide removal

Låkril Technologies

Sironix Renewables

Field: Catalysis

Field: Cleaning products

Innovation: A reactor device that converts plant waste into a charcoal-like substance that can then be buried to store carbon underground.

Innovation: A new process to convert lactic acid derived from corn into sustainable acrylics that can be used in everything from acrylic paint to children’s diapers.

Innovation: A method that turns plants into nontoxic, sustainablysourced surfactants to replace petroleum-based ingredients in a variety of cleaning products.

Co-founder: Andrew Jones, ChemE ’09; Chem ’10

Key Innovator: Yutong Pang, ChemE Ph.D. ’22

CEO: Christoph Krumm, ChemE Ph.D. ’16

environment. Since sustainability is also a big component at Dow, being exposed to different ways that you can practice sustainable chemistry was very important for me.”

“Paul is someone who approaches a problem barely within the constraints of what our physical world is capable of,” Krumm said. “He’ll push research to the very edge of the laws of thermodynamics and come up with really unique ideas. Not all of them work, but the one thing that does has a massive impact. That’s something I’ve really taken to heart. There aren’t enough crazy ideas being tried. If no one’s tried it, then why not?”

In 2020, Dauenhauer received the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship, widely referred to as the “genius grant,” honoring his contributions to renewable materials research and the green technology industry.

THE CENTER FOR SUSTAINABLE POLYMERS The University’s NSF-funded Center for Sustainable Polymers (CSP), directed

by Professor Marc Hillmyer, plays a critical role in generating environmentally friendly solutions for the plastic industry and fostering collaboration both within and outside of UMN.

What is a polymer?

Polymers are chemical compounds made up of long chain molecules containing repeated units. They are found in everything from proteins in our body to the plastics and rubber materials we use every day.

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Since its inception in 2009, CSP has grown to be one of the most prolific research centers in the sustainable polymers realm:

>$40 million

invested from NSF over the past 14 years

6

startups spun out of research from CSP, including Sironix Renewables and Låkril Technologies

Foam it up

CSP origin startup Valerian Materials, which makes sugar-derived monomers and polymers for sustainable products, received a $1.1 million BioMADE grant last year to fund further development.

Another company, BKB Floral Foam, Inc.—co-founded by CSE Ph.D. student David Goldfeld—took first place at the 2022 Minnesota Cup and expects to reach $50 million in annual revenue by 2027.

Looking to the future

The Midwest Sustainable Plastics Innovation Regional Engine (M-SPIRE), a U of M-led effort to drive the global transition to sustainable plastics, was chosen as one of 16 finalist in NSF’s Regional Innovation Engines competition with the potential for $160 million in NSF funding over 10 years.

21

OPTIMIZING THE BIG MACHINES

DOE INVESTS OVER $8 MILLION IN OFF-ROAD VEHICLE STUDIES AT UMN

Articulated Hauler

Motor Grader

“Carbon-based fuels like gasoline or diesel have 40 times more energy

We believe it’s possible to cut their [off-road vehicles] greenhouse gas footprint in half.

Simply put, Stelson and the other main investigators—Perry Li, Will Northrop, Zongxuan Sun, and Jim Van de Ven—are building a better system.

—Kim Stelson

Close industry partnerships have been vital in progressing the team’s research. CNH Industrial has been a key partner in recent projects. In addition to providing an engine for experiments aimed at learning how to operate a wheel loader most efficiently, the company

“

Stelson is part of a multidisciplinary team looking to achieve net-zero carbon emissions for off-road vehicles by 2050. Since 2019, the U.S. Department of Energy has

24M 26M 40M 43M

22

“We believe it’s possible to cut their greenhouse gas footprint in half with things that are not exotic, using technology that could be developed and commercialized within yea rs,” he sa id. “To potentially save 1.2 quads (351 billion kilowatt-hours) of energy, we must operate the engine efficiently, eliminate the throttling valves, store and release energy better, and install smarter controls to manage everything.”

SSL & CTL

One reason that off-road vehicles are difficult to decarbonize is their demanding energy and power requirements.

invested more than $8 million into studies at CSE on this topic.

TH & Masted RTFL

“There are many universities in the U.S. that work on passenger cars and new technology for them, but there are very few who work on medium and heavy equipment or off-road vehicles. That is what we’re focused on,” said Kim Stelson, founding director of the Center for Compact and Efficient Fluid Power at the University of Minnesota.

per unit mass than batteries—and that factor of 40 is what has made them necessary in these machines,” he explained. “All a car has to do is move itself along a road. But something like an excavator also has to dig soil and dump it. So its power levels as you dig goes up and down, and the engine has to go fast or slow, while fully loaded or lightly loaded. All of this variation reduces the efficiency of the engine and it increases the emissions.”

Ag Tractor 100hp+

While more cars are running on biofuels and electricity, their off-road cousins—specifically in agriculture, construction, forestry, and mining—have not changed much. Most of them still run on fossil fuels. Off-road vehicles represent 10 percent of transportation CO2 emissions in the United States, and this number will keep climbing if attention remains with on-road vehicles.

Dozer

68M

101M

In the United States, nearly all heavy construction equipment burns diesel.

S U S TA I N A B L E T R A N S P O R TAT I O N

Road ready

BY PAULINE OO

gave a compact track loader to a study on optimally pairing hydraulic and electric power transmission.

“The University of Minnesota is well-positioned to lead in this area because we have significant research expertise in fuels, energy conversion, actuation, sensing, and control for target applications,” said Stelson.

So, what’s the best net-zero solution for off-road vehicles? Is it going to be green hydrogen, green ammonia, or biofuels?

Will we combust it or use fuel cells? Will some of these vehicles be fully electric, or will they combine electricity with other power sources?

“The answer probably is yes to all of those options,” said Stelson. “There’s not a simple answer. W hat’s right for working in a mine might be different from what’s right for working in a corn field.”

CSE is leading the way we move from place to place. Here’s a sample. ››

$20.35 million

Total state and federal funding for existing studies on sustainable heavy-duty transportation

Name of Gopher Motorsports’ fully electric vehicle that placed 7th out of 75 international rivals at the 2023 Formula SAE Electric competition

Assistant Professor Michael Levin is studying signal timing models for better traffic flow and less pollution from idling cars

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The National Cooperative Highway Research Program is funding Professor Mihai Marasteanu’s studies on asphalt binders and mixtures

$10-$20

6,000

Bulk price estimate for plasma igniters that Assistant Professor Sayan Biswas is building to replace automotive spark plugs

Size of the Thomas E. Murphy Engine Research Lab, which includes a mobile emissions test site in a retro-fitted semi-truck

dollars

Wheel Loader

253M

Go4-23e

sq. ft.

Excavator

366M

Gallons Consumed

23

Photo by Rebecca Slater

The college’s inaugural Electroposium included industry exhibitors such as Tektronix, H.B. Fuller, EvoCharge, Metro Transit, The PLUM Catalyst, and Apadana Solar Technologies.

LEADING ELECTRIFICATION WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

PARTNERSHIP RESULTS IN NATION’S FIRST GRAD CERTIFICATE PROGRAM IN ELECTRIFICATION The University of Minnesota’s Technological Leadership Institute (TLI), in collaboration with the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), Toro, Polaris, and Design Ready Controls, recently launched the Minnesota Center for Electrification Opportunity (MN CEO).

This pioneering consortium will lead workforce development training and industrial upskilling through a partnership between the University of Minnesota and nationwide industry leaders in electrification.

“The conversion of fossil fuel technologies to electric and hybrid power systems promises to be a decades-long process requiring enormous talent and organization,” said Allison Hubel, director of TLI and mechanical engineering professor in the College of Science and Engineering. “MN CEO is going to be a very important player in building the electrification infrastructure.”

In December 2022, TLI partnered with Thermo King, a leader in transport temperature control solutions, to launch the nation’s first-ever graduate credential in electrification engineering.

24

The in-person and online program covers the breadth of technologies used to convert traditional mechanical systems into hybrid or electric platforms. It is designed for industry professionals and new college graduates— and driven by industry demand for a robust talent pipeline in fields including renewable energy policy.

“

MN CEO is going to be a very important player in building the electrification infrastructure.

—Allison Hubel, director of TLI

The Electroposium, a recent event showcasing the University’s electrification expertise, drew about 350 leaders in industry, government, and academia, including Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

“To use a very Minnesota metaphor, we don’t want to end up chasing the puck,” Walz said. “Through these programs, we’re finding ways to bring more Minnesotans into the labor market, grow our economy, and help businesses and workers thrive.”

S U S TA I N A B L E T R A N S P O R TAT I O N

ALUMNUS BUILDS A BETTER E-BIKE

LECTRIC IS ONE OF THE FASTEST-GROWING COMPANIES IN THE U.S. R o b b y D e z i e l ’s s t o r y i s a n inspiration to any engineer with an entrepreneurial spirit. As co-founder and chief innovation officer for Lectric eBikes, he gets to combine his knack for mechanical engineering, leadership, and design with his passion for clean energy.

Fresh out of college in 2018, with mechanical engineering degree in hand, Deziel co-founded the company with his longtime friend, Levi Conlow. At the time, the national market for electric bikes was relatively limited and expensive.

With inspiration and funding from Conlow’s dad, the two started their business with an ambitious mission: “to provide the most accessible and adventurous e-bikes ever.”

They had a rough ride with their first model, which simply wasn’t selling.

To find out why, they gathered extensive feedback from their target customers. The consensus was that

CUSTOMER-POWERED DESIGN The XP Step-Thru 3.0, Lectric’s most popular e-bike, reflects five years of innovation and input from customers.

30 under 30

by 2020. Today, Lectric is one of the fastest-growing companies in the United States, with 120 employees and 350,000 bikes in circulation.

20,000 pairs

Deziel’s UMN experience gave him the confidence to lead his team at Lectric. He credits the mechanical engineering senior design capstone in particular. During this course, Deziel led five students in a 3M-sponsored competition to develop an impactresistant airdrop container for emergency medical supplies.

Robby Deziel (ME ’18) named to Forbes 30 under 30 in 2021.

Lectric donated shoes to kids at nine schools in South Africa.

the bike looked uncomfortable and it was too hard to get on and off.

“We basically went back to the drawing board,” said Deziel. They changed everything from the frame and wheel size to the seat, handlebars, and tires. They also made the bike foldable so riders could easily transport and store it.

Enter the Lectric XP. The totally new e-bike model earned them $1 million in three weeks.

Lectric went from selling just a couple bikes per month in 2019, to $2 million worth of XPs per month

Quiet but powerful motor

“We had these talented people with their own strengths and abilities, and I was learning how to get the most out of them as a leader,” he said. “We had roadblocks, personality conflicts, design issues. We had to develop testing procedures and protocols, and get buy-in from stakeholders.

That capstone experience was super beneficial to me and the closest thing to how it actually is out there in the real world.” — BY EVE DANIELS

Comfortable and foldable

45 to 65 mile range

Hydraulic disc brakes FA L L 202 3

25

ENERGY

Energy work

BY PAULINE OO

#1

The nation’s first indoor solar simulator was installed in the Mechanical Engineering Building (Solar Energy Lab)

>300

The amount of suns, or equivalent sunlight, it can replicate

2015

Year Kerry Wang (MatSci Ph.D. ’19) founded the UMN Energy Club

Researchers across our college are working in all areas of energy—and they are helping to shape the future of renewables for future generations. ››

1st

California company Resynergi has licensed Professor Roger Ruan’s process of turning plastic waste into fuels, chemicals, and materials

>100,000

Number of Twin Cities 3rd, 4th, 5th graders our Energy and U program has reached— sponsors include NSF, Medtronic, 3M

US 5,670,711A Patent for a portable rock strength evaluation device invented by CSE researchers Emmanuel Detournay, Andrew Drescher, and David Hultman

Professors Jian-Ping Wang, Tony Low, and Andre Mkhoyan are the first to use an industry-compatible process on a topological semimetal that has the potential to reduce energy consumption in computers and electronics

Class 8

The electric truck model a CSE team is testing for a $3.8 millon Volvo Trucks North America-led project on extreme weather testing

Top 50

Scientific American named the late Regents Professor Emeritus Lanny Schmidt, who extracted hydrogen from soybean oil, among its most outstanding scientists

Using snowflakes to improve turbines In a wind farm with multiple turbines, the interaction between an upstream turbine’s wake and one downstream can cause 10-30 percent of energy to be lost. Jiarong Hong, associate director of the Eolos Wind Energy Research Consortium, and his team brave blizzards to visualize the movement and behavior of air behind wind turbines.

Watch how they do it: z.umn.edu/snowstudy_video Photo by David Hansen

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S U S TA I N A B L E E N E R GY

IS GREEN STILL GREENER?

$20+ MILLION FOR CLEANER, STEADY, AND AFFORDABLE AMMONIA SUPPLY Everyone’s talking about ammonia.

It’s a leading candidate in Earth’s race to decarbonize. The pungent gas does not emit carbon dioxide when burned, but making it requires electricity, which current manufacturers typically generate from fossil fuels like coal or natural gas. Prodromos Daoutidis is one of many researchers across the University of Minnesota who’s working on ways to green the process.

“Ammonia is really responsible for feeding the world,” said Daoutidis, professor of chemical engineering and materials science. “It’s produced at a massive scale—200 million tons per year—and it’s used as the basis for fertilizers that can dramatically increase crop yields. If you look at the rate that ammonia production is growing, it really follows the rate of the population growth.”

Yet, he add s, t he i ndu st r y is responsible for 500 metric tons of CO2 per year and nearly two percent of greenhouse gas emissions and fossil energy consumption.

Ammonia that’s 100 percent powered by renewables isn’t a new concept.

It just ha sn’t been a fea sible, commercial option. Daoutidis hopes to change that.

“If you produce a chemical at a large scale, your rate of production is constant. It operates at a steady state as we say,” he explained. “In the case of green ammonia, because

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your feedstock is the wind or the sun, the feed stock fluctuates. This means you need a hugely oversized storage of hydrogen or a hugely oversized battery if you try to operate the system at a constant rate.”

His research group has developed new design and operation algorithms that adjust for intermittency.

“To build such a system, you cannot do a cookie-cutter design. You have to look at the particular location, wind or sun profile, and price of the electricity from that wind and sun capacity,” said Daoutidis, recipient of the 2023 AIChE Sustainable Engineering Forum Research Award for his significant technical contributions relative to the sustainability of products, processes, or the environment. “You also need to regularly adjust the level of production and create new safety precautions with regards to pressure or temperature, which will increase or decrease as you change the production rate.”

Demonstration studies will be conducted at the U’s West Central Research and Outreach Center in Morris—site of the world’s first windto-hydrogen and ammonia model plant.

The project builds on previous UMN green ammonia studies funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, totaling over $20 million. It also involves other colleagues in chemical engineering and materials (Qi Zhang, Alon

McCormick, Paul Dauenhauer), plus faculty in mechanical engineering ( W i l l N o r t h r o p), e l e c t r i c a l engineering (Sairaj Dhople), and the Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs (E. Harrington).

International industry partners include Casale Switzerland and Shell.

“We definitely see potential for using renewable ammonia for largescale storage of renewable energy, grid stabilization, regional-scale sustainable agriculture and energy, and community-scale applications,” Daoutidis said. “Minnesota has a huge tradition in ammonia. We have the experts and the infrastructure to be a world leader.”

“

As a college, we are uniquely positioned to lead this effort.

—Prodromos Daoutidis

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ENERGY

IN DEEP, OFF SHORE

SIMULATIONS TARGET WIND TURBINE PERFORMANCE AND STABILITY Nea rly a decade ago, Lia n Shen’s research group pioneered the use of computer simulation i n t he st udy of w i nd a nd wave interactions. Now he’s added another element to that mathematical modeling—a wind turbine that floats.

them first. In this regard, a simulation is a very powerful research tool,” said Shen, who co-chairs the consortium’s R&D Advisory Group. “Our computer simulation is the first in the world that considers wind and waves, with the energy-carrying wind

“

Offshore wind energy is the next frontier.

“Offshore wind energy is the next frontier. It is an important part in the future of renewable energy, with the potential to generate over 2,000 GW of capacity per year just in the U.S.,” said Shen, the Kenneth T. Whitby Professor of Mechanical Engineering who directs the U’s St. Anthony Falls Laboratory.

—Lian Shen

turbulence eddies and water wave components explicitly resolved, and their coupled nonlinear dynamics.”

Their study—backed by the National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, and New York State Energy Research and Development Authority—revealed the importance of ocean waves.

“We quantified the kind of impact, instantaneously and on average, they can impose on wind turbines,” Shen explained, “and how much energy can be harvested from an offshore wind farm.”

To a w i nd f a r m oper ator, this means an opportunity to minimize the impact of wake effects and potentially increase overall power output.

“The wind is in general stronger and steadier in the ocean than on land because it’s open—there are no mountains to block it. But offshore wind energy imposes a lot more challenges,” Shen said.

“We wanted to simulate this on the computer, to sort of create this virtual reality first so, hopefully, we can provide some guidance for industry development in the coming years.”

“Before investing in these massive offshore wind turbine farms, it’s better to really understand

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Photo credit: Lian Shen

Most offshore turbines today are built in shallow waters or close to shore, with a fixed-bottom foundation and 6 to 10 megawatts (MW) of power. Shen and his colleagues are focused on those built in deep, open water. These 10 to 15 MW monsters with rotor diameters up to 240 meters will appear over the next 10 years, according to a report by the National Offshore Wind Research and Development Consortium, as shallow sites become scarcer.

Professor Lian Shen continues to pioneer research in wind energy with the mathematical modeling of a floating wind turbine.

S U S TA I N A B L E E N E R GY

PATENT LESSON

RESEARCHERS TO TRAP CO2 WITH PHOSPHATE KNOWLEDGE Valérie Pierre knows a lot about phosphorous. The chemistry professor and her research team spent six years developing a process to detect it and remove it from surface water. Now she’s taking that patented knowledge and applying it to carbon dioxide (CO2).

Pierre has joined forces with two colleagues: Beth Stadler in electrical and computer engineering (also the college’s associate dean for academic affairs) and Emmanuel Detournay in civil, environmental, and geo- engineering (director of the U’s new $11 million Center for Interacting Geo-Processes in Mineral Carbon Storage).

“The challenge is how much do we capture and what do we do with it after we capture it,” Pierre said. “Fortunately, we’re not starting from zero. We’re starting from every success we’ve had with phosphate.”

That work—“Lanthanide Complexes for Catch-and-release of Phosphate Ions in Water”—is on its way to becoming a startup. Major companies are exploring partnering to commercialize it.

Pierre is also driven by the fact that “nobody’s done this,” she said. The general approach of others involves aggressive electro-chemicals and a lot of energy. “We’re proposing something different—low-energy, passive, scalable,”

she added. “And we’re going for t he ocea ns instead of lakes because oceans are bigger and t h e r e ’s 45 t i me s more CO 2 in them than air.”

Although only months into the research, the team has the molecules they need to experiment.

Like CO2, surplus phosphorus in any form is harmful. Although in the early stages, Pierre’s research has achieved exciting results.

“Now let’s see how much we can scale it up and optimize it,” Pierre said. “That’s why we have this collaboration—Emmanuel is really good at doing this at a really gigantic scale; Beth has the expertise to make the structural materials for the chemical receptors that can catch and transport the carbon dioxide.

Our team really highlights the strength of this college and what you can do when you have scientists working together with engineers.”

WORKFORCE FOR ENERGY TRANSITION

CSE LEADS GLOBAL COMMUNITY OF SCHOLARS TEACHING ELECTRIC POWER ENGINEERING More than 400 faculty from 235plus institutions across the United States have joined the Consortium of Universities for Sustainable Power (CUSP™) to equip the next generation with the skills to steer the power grid and electricity usage toward a greener and more secure future.

Estimates suggest the demand for electric power engineers could be in the

FA L L 202 3

hundreds of thousands over the next 5 to 10 years, as the world combats climate crisis and industries jump on available clean energy incentives.

The 15-course CUSP™ online curriculum for workforce development was developed at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities and funded by federal agencies such as DOE, NSF, ONR, and NASA.

“The enrollments in power courses have dramatically declined nationwide, just when we need them evermore,” said Ned Mohan, a University of Minnesota electrical and computer engineering professor who leads the initiative. “By building this workforce we can provide a more sustainable future for our energy needs.”

Find out more: cusp.umn.edu

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“

This project puts us on the leading edge of chemistry instruction and will enhance student outcomes and impact.

—Dean Andrew Alleyne

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I M PAC T O F G I V I N G

New $144M Chemistry Teaching Labs Private philanthropy will play a key role in building the future STEM workforce The University of Minnesota began construction this fall on a new $144 million Chemistry Undergraduate Teaching Laboratories Facility. The renovation reimagines 95-year-old Fraser Hall on the Twin Cities campus.

When completed, the updated 117,000-square-foot facility will house 18 active learning labs, tutoring and informal student collaboration spaces, and general purpose classrooms. Renovating and modernizing the outdated spaces—used by more than 5,000 undergraduate students each semester—will transform the way chemistry is taught and provide a strong foundation for our sustainability workforce.

“We are incredibly grateful for elected leaders who are making a commitment to all of Minnesota through the University— from the shovel-ready project that puts Minnesota companies and crews to work, to the generations of students who will use these new labs as they become Minnesota’s future chemists, chemical engineers, physicians, veterinarians, nurses, dentists, teachers, entrepreneurs and more,” said University of Minnesota Interim President Jeff Ettinger.

The project was made possible by an initial $3.2 million investment from the Minnesota Legislature in 2020 for project design and $92.6 million in 2023 capital funds. Private philanthropy and other investments are critical to covering the remaining one-third of the project’s cost. The project is expected to take two years, with the renewed Chemistry Undergraduate Teaching Laboratories fully opening for fall 2025 classes.

“This project puts us on the leading edge of chemistry instruction and will enhance student outcomes and impact,” said College of Science and Engineering Dean Andrew Alleyne. “We look forward to meeting with alumni, friends, and companies and telling the story of this building’s importance and what it means to students and the state.” >> Read more and watch a timelapse video of the construction so far at z.umn.edu/chemteachinglabs.

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Let’s talk.

If you’d like to support a project in this magazine or are curious about other opportunities, contact us today.

Justin Miedema Assistant Dean for Advancement

612-624-4318 • jmiedema@umn.edu

Sarah Barsness Chemistry

612-625-5972 • sbarsnes@umn.edu

Courtney Billing Chemical Engineering and Materials Science 612-626-9501 • cbilling@umn.edu

Jennifer Clarke Industrial and Systems Engineering Mechanical Engineering

612-626-9354 • jclarke@umn.edu

Anastacia Davis Electrical and Computer Engineering Institute for Math and its Applications

612-625-4509 • aqdavis@umn.edu

Brett Schreiner Corporate and Foundation Engagement

612-625-7051 • bschrein@umn.edu

Emily Strand Computer Science and Engineering Medical Devices Center School of Mathematics

612-625-6798 • ecstrand@umn.edu

Lexi Thompson Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics Earth and Environmental Sciences 612-626-4040 • lexi@umn.edu

Shannon Weiher Biomedical Engineering School of Physics and Astronomy

612-624-5543 • seweiher@umn.edu

Shannon Wolkerstorfer Civil, Environmental, and Geo- Engineering History of Science, Technology, and Medicine St. Anthony Falls Laboratory 612-626-6035 • swolkers@umn.edu

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Donors invest in education Postiglione Scholarship to support students and the planet

Edith “Edie” Postiglione’s concern for the environment manifested when she and her husband Gary took her 10-yearold daughter Cindy on a cross-country trip. Edie had enjoyed similar trips as a child, and she was eager to show Cindy the beautiful tree-covered mountains she remembered. But the mountains they saw were changed; the hills were nearly bald.

From then on, Edie looked for ways to help the environment.

She became a vegetarian, participated in a protest march over glyphosate and GMO food, received a citation for yanking buckthorn from the wooded park behind her home, and was even arrested in Chicago when protesting the KXL Pipeline.

Later, she limited her actions to financially supporting environmental and animal welfare organizations.

Establishing the Edith (Edie) and Gary Postiglione Scholarship in Environmental Engineering in CSE is the result of their pondering. Gary’s younger brother, James, is also an alumnus—CivE ’82, MS ’87—and a longtime environmentalist like Edie.

“By providing access to all the University has to offer— guidance of educated, insightful professors; research laboratories; and collaborative opportunities—we hope that intelligent, motivated students who receive the Postiglione Scholarship will develop implementable ways to save our planet,” she said.

Sadly, Gary passed away unexpectedly on Nov. 1, 2022 just weeks after making their gift—but his legacy lives on. The first Postiglione Scholarship recipients will be selected in spring 2024.

Start a fund for the cause you care about: cse.umn.edu/give Photo credits: Edith Postiglione

As her 75th birthday loomed, Edie and Gary questioned what to do with their life savings. Gary had earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Minnesota in 1970. The couple met in 1976 when she started at Western Electric, where Gary happened to work. They

married seven years later.

Edie Postiglione and her late husband, Gary, shared a love of the outdoors. Their gift supports environmental engineering students.

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I M PAC T O F G I V I N G

Photo by Rich Ryan

William Wade’s wife, Daler, surprised him with a trip from Texas to Minnesota for his 50th Reunion.

Reason to return

Reunion brings back fond memories of the University When Daler Wade saw the college postcard for the Class of 1973 Reunion, she knew it would be the “perfect” gift for her husband. William Wade grew up in Minneapolis, and over the years the couple would fly up from Houston (Daler’s hometown and where they currently reside) to visit his family. However, nearly a decade had passed since any return trips. “My wife put that postcard on the refrigerator and said ‘let’s do this for your birthday,’” recalled William.

“So it was a great surprise—almost as good as a wonderful honeymoon.”

What was your favorite part about your 50th reunion?

I found the department-hosted research showcase sessions, plus student group presentation, to be very informative and interesting. The lunch was great, and we had time for networking. It was also good to meet new alumni that I had not met before.

Why are alumni events important?

As alumni, we have an opportunity to help engineering students maintain their excitement for their career goal and meet their critical financial needs. The Golden Medallion Scholarship Fund helps to keep student dreams alive.

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What’s your favorite U of M memory?

Living in Dinkytown, working with Cedar Riverside Associates and interacting with [former School of Architecture head] Ralph Rapson, spending countless hours in classes and group projects in the architecture building, grabbing a quick breakfast or lunch in Coffman Union, and catching Gopher football games. * Wade holds a bachelor of environmental design, formerly part of the Institute of Technology/CSE

2024

CSE offers alumni events year-round, including the 2024 Reunion. Join us to reconnect, learn, and celebrate this May! More info available soon at cse.umn.edu/50reunion.

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Our leaders Across the world, CSE alumni are powering the companies that impact lives and AMY ABOUELENEIN ChemE ’89

General Mills Vice President of Innovation, Technology & Quality, International

“Everything we do in business requires collaboration. My education at the U, including my involvement with the Society of Women Engineers, taught me the importance of teamwork and leveraging each individual’s unique talents for successful outcomes.”

$18.1B+ 35.5B ~50 ANNUAL RETAIL SALES—PORTFOLIO INCLUDES CHEERIOS, PILLSBURY, NATURE VALLEY, AND HÄAGEN-DAZS

9

GOOGLE PRODUCTS WITH MORE THAN ONE BILLION USERS

3 trillion GOOGLE SEARCHES PER YEAR

JEFF DEAN

Google Chief Scientist

CompSci ’90 “The University of Minnesota gave me my first taste of conducting independent research. This experience, with excellent faculty advisors, led me to pursue a Ph.D. and ultimately have a career rooted in research to advance computer science and AI.”

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INVESTIGATIONAL MRNA MEDICINES TO CLINICAL TRIALS OVER THE NEXT 5 YEARS

MEALS ENABLED BY GENERAL MILLS FOOD DONATIONS AND PHILANTHROPIC PARTNERS SINCE 2019

120+

COUNTRIES POLARIS SERVES

KEN PUCEL

Polaris Chief Technology Officer

ME ’89

“CSE started it all for me. I could pursue a first career at Boston Scientific because Professor Perry Blackshear crafted a program for me before there was a biomedical engineering degree.

In addition, I learned leadership concepts that I have relied on for 30+ years in industry.”

CSE LEADERS

s in Industry national economies. The list of names is long—here is just a small sample.

STÉPHANE Moderna Inc. Chief Executive Officer BANCEL

BILL KRENIK

ChemE M.S. ’95

EE ’84

“If you surround yourself with missionminded people, you will do great things.... What were the odds that a kid from Marseille, France, sitting in the 1995 University of Minnesota graduating class, would have the opportunity to build a company like Moderna?”

5,150+

Texas Instruments, Chief Technical Officer, Custom Products

“My most valuable takeaway is the value of interacting with others. I learned an incredible amount from the many fantastic professors, fellow students, teaching assistants, and friends that I was so lucky to encounter at the U.”

~80,000

PRODUCTS THAT HELP OVER 100,000 CUSTOMERS

1,000,000,000x10

EMPLOYEES ACROSS 17 LOCATIONS WORLDWIDE IN 2023

TEXAS INSTRUMENTS PRODUCES TENS OF BILLIONS OF COMPUTER CHIPS EACH YEAR

$5M

PARTNERSHIP WITH THE NATIONAL FOREST FOUNDATION TO PROTECT FORESTS AND LANDS

>40 NUMBER OF INDUSTRIES ECOLAB SERVES

ANGELA BUSCH ME ’88

$5M

ECOLAB FOUNDATION GIFT TO UMN FOR ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY RESEARCH AND EDUCATION

Ecolab Executive Vice President, Corporate and Business Development

“The U provided me with real-world, practical application in my classes, an Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program [UROP] position and my mechanical engineering co-op experience, building an execution mindset and drive for results.”

More alumni online: z.umn.edu/industryleaders FA L L 202 3

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University of Minnesota 105 Walter Library 117 Pleasant Street SE Minneapolis, MN 55455

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25 NEW TENURE-TRACK

FACULTY on our way to hiring 60 in the next 3 years.

Meet them:

z.umn.edu/2023-24faculty

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