Special Seminar: Energy Engineering at the Interface—From novel materials design to system applications

**In-person seating is limited. Please arrive early or join via Zoom**

Optional ZOOM LINK
Meeting ID: 915 6409 2601
Passcode: 393324

Scientific and engineering challenges of critical societal importance are not often solved from a narrow perspective. Novel and impactful solutions often lie at the "interface" between traditional disciplines. Energy engineering, by definition, falls within this category and so engineers and scientists that embrace an interdisciplinary yet rigorous approach to education, research, and practice throughout their career are uniquely prepared to make an impact on next generation energy practices and policies, including enabling the energy transition underway.  

This presentation will overview several areas in which inherently interdisciplinary solutions spanning from novel materials design and manufacturing to system level integration have been successfully demonstrated, initially beginning from first scientific conception and laboratory demonstrations to maturation and ultimately commercialization with system level impacts. A combination of materials science and engineering, electrical engineering, and physics principles and practices have been instrumental in all cases, with adoption requirements often including a human centered perspective. Emphasis will be placed on development and integration of "nanocomposites" into device level applications, a class of materials in which multiple phases can be mixed at nm-scale with great flexibility of property tuning to achieve a wide range of unique properties. Use cases include energy efficient windows integrating low-emissivity coatings, in-situ and embedded sensor technologies for energy infrastructure monitoring based upon optical sensing platforms, and engineered magnetic components for electric power conversion.

About the Speaker(s)

Paul Ohodnicki Jr.
RK Mellon Faculty Fellow in Energy, U Pittsburgh

Paul R. Ohodnicki Jr. is the RK Mellon Faculty Fellow in Energy in the Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science Department at the University of Pittsburgh, with a secondary appointment in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering as well as the Department of Physics & Astronomy.  In addition, he is the Engineering Science Program director and founding director of the Advanced Magnetics for Power and Energy Development Consortium, and he recently established the INfrastructure Sensing for Intelligent Transportation and Energy Systems Consortium. He also serves as chief technology officer and co-founder of CorePower Magnetics, a startup commercializing intellectual property developed during his time at the US Department of Energy. Additionally, he is the co-founder of Sensible Photonics, a startup seeking to commercialize intellectual property developed in his current role at the University of Pittsburgh.  

Prior to his current roles, he was a materials scientist and technical portfolio lead in the Functional Materials Team of the Materials Engineering & Manufacturing Directorate of the National Energy Technology Laboratory and a visiting research engineer at PPG Industries. He graduated from University of Pittsburgh with a BPhil in engineering physics and a BA in economics, and subsequently earned his MS and PhD in materials science and engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. Ohodnicki has published more than 200 technical publications and holds more than 40 patents, with more than 40 additional patents under review. 

Contact

For more information, contact Ashley Parker at ashley.l.parker@dartmouth.edu.