Letter from the (Interim) Director

Welcome to the summer 2022 edition of the EMS Energy Institute (EI) Newsletter. This edition highlights faculty research in several topical areas, introduces new faculty, and highlights the honors received by our students, faculty, and staff.

It is hard to believe that a year has already passed since publishing our last newsletter. It is also hard to believe that I have served almost two years as EI’s interim director. I have been assured that the hiring of a new director is imminent. While it has been a privilege serving as the interim director, some aspects of the institute have been put on hold while we have been waiting for a new director. Specifically, we have been waiting to prepare our five-year strategic plan so the new director can put their ‘fingerprint’ on it.

The research, education, and outreach efforts of the institute continue to focus on energy and energy-related environmental effects and involve researchers in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences and the College of Engineering, along with collaborators worldwide. Current research projects cover the production and use of energy along with carbon dioxide capture, storage, and utilization, and the recovery of critical materials from various feedstock streams.

The faculty and staff of the institute have been very busy over the last year while still dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. Research labs reopened and all research was ongoing by last summer. Staff had the option to work remotely until August 2021 at which time they could work either in a hybrid mode (some days remotely, other days in the office) or full time in the office. These options were offered through the 2022 spring semester.

Despite the pandemic and difficulties that some encountered working remotely, the institute experienced a very successful year. In the 2021-22 fiscal year, the institute’s staff assisted faculty in preparing 125 proposals, which resulted in thirty three projects being funded for a total of approximately $8.1 million in research funding. From July 2021, through February 2022, seventy-seven proposals were prepared with thirty-six projects funded for a total of approximately $10.2 million in research funding. Two staff members, Kelly Rhoades and Heather Harpster, are mostly responsible for assisting the faculty in proposal preparation. They were assisted by a third staff member, Christy English (until August 2021 when she accepted another position within the University) and then Stephanie Emigh, with post-award activities. I am extremely proud of what these staff members accomplished with pre-award and post-award activities while the institute was short one front office staff member. They are now getting additional support from Paige McCarthy who started at the institute in March.

I want to take this opportunity to thank all EI faculty members, research staff, students, and visiting scholars whose ideas and hard work have advanced energy science and engineering research. I also want to thank all our staff members whose hard work supports our faculty-driven research efforts. I am very proud of how the staff have handled the pandemic and continued to work efficiently, accurately, and productively. And I want to thank all those who assisted me in keeping the operation of the institute running smoothly while we await a new director.

Bruce G. Miller 
Interim Director and Research Professor, EMS Energy Institute