News and Events
WISER Issues Request for Proposals for 2011 ISFG Program
Posted 10/26/11
IIT’s Wanger Institute for Sustainable Energy Research (WISER) has issued a Request for Proposals for the 2011 Interdisciplinary Seed Funding Grants (ISFG) program. Initiated in 2009, the ISFG program is designed to support and enhance new and innovative multidisciplinary research concepts that are expected to attract major external funding in areas of national interest related to energy and sustainability. According to WISER Director Hamid Arastoopour, “The ISFG program provides IIT faculty with both the opportunity to develop interdisciplinary research initiatives and to obtain proof of their innovative proposal concepts, which will enable them to develop more nationally competitive proposals.” Proposals must be submitted electronically by November 30, 2011, to the Office of Sponsored Research and Programs in conformance with the Submission Guidelines provided below. For further information, contact Peg Murphy, murphym@iit.edu (ext. 76881).
>>View 2011 ISFG Program Proposal Submission Guidelines
IIT Continues to Increase Campus Sustainability with Installation of Composter
Posted IIT Today, Oct. 6, 2011
IIT marked another milestone in the university's efforts to reduce the amount of trash leaving campus with a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new campus composter on Friday, September 30. Through a partnership between Cook County and the university, including efforts by student groups, a university-sponsored IPRO, the Wanger Institute for Sustainable Energy Research (WISER), and the Office of Campus Energy and Sustainability, the on-site composting operation will significantly reduce the amount of food waste going from campus to landfills, instead recycling the waste for use on campus as fertilizer and soil amendment.
The composting project started when a group of sustainability-minded students identified food waste as an area in which the university could make significant improvement. Under the sponsorship of the OCES, an IPRO was formed to review the process of food waste generation at Main Campus, identify obstacles and opportunities in addressing the possibility of recycling the waste, and develop a solution that would minimize the amount of material sent to landfill.
Around the time the IPRO was identifying a framework for implementing an on-site, organic waste composter at IIT, WISER responded to an opportunity from Cook County to discuss how the county could improve their performance using ideas that IIT planned to implement at its campuses. The on-site composter project was selected for funding by Cook County under the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) program, administered by the U.S. Department of Energy as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Cook County's support for improving the environmental health of the community and IITs commitment to innovation made the project a success and a model for future collaboration.
The composter is another in a series of sustainability initiatives that have been implemented on campus since 2005, including efforts to dramatically increase recycling on campus, reduce trash and food waste generated in campus cafeterias, the Perfect Power smart grid project, the IIT Wind Turbine, and more. These efforts have involved the participation of people throughout the IIT community, combining the passion of students and employees to create a more sustainable campus, the expertise and research of faculty in energy efficiency, the diligent work of faculty and staff to secure grants for the initiatives, and a commitment by everyone to lead by example in our efforts to create a more sustainable campus, city, and world.
Pictured: Director of Cook County Department of Environmental Control Deborah Stone and Henry R. Linden Professor of Energy and WISER Director Hamid Arastoopour
WISER Hosts Symposium to Explore Future of Wind Power
There was a standing-room-only crowd at the Sept. 30 Future of Wind Power Symposium hosted by the Center for Electricity Innovation at WISER to provide an informative and productive debate of the visions, ideals, obstacles, and opportunities of the wind power industry. The event was organized by Mohammad Shahidehpour, Principal Investigator of the IIT Wind Energy Research Consortium, established at IIT in 2010 through an $8 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to establish a University-Industry Consortium for Wind Energy Research, Education, and Workforce Development.
>Read Press Release on IIT Wind Energy Research Consortium Award
"Life-Cycle Analysis: Alternative Strategies for End-of-Life Materials Management"
Morton A. Barlaz
North Carolina State University
Wed., Sept. 15, 2010, 3:30 pm
IIT Chicago Campus, E1 Auditorium
IIT Wanger Institute for Sustainable Energy Research (WISER) and Armour College of Engineering, in conjunction with the 2010 American Academy of Environmental Engineers Kappe Lecture Series, will present a joint seminar featuring Morton A. Barlaz, professor and head of the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering at North Carolina State University, at 3:30 pm on Wednesday, September 15 in the E1 Auditorium. WISER Seminar details.
IIT WISER Offers Fall 2010 Courses in Energy and Sustainability
The following courses are being offered across IIT's various colleges and departments in the area of Energy and Sustainability. Click course name for complete description.
CAE 544: Urban Transportation Planning
CAE 555: Transportation Systems Evaluation
CHE 541 Renewable Energy Technologies
ECE 580 Elements of Sustainable Energy
ECE 581 Elements of Smart Grid
ENVE 545 Risk Assessment: Public Health and Ecological Risk
INTM 561 Energy Options for Industry
MMAE 426/MMAE 522 Nuclear, Fossil Fuel, and Sustainable Energy Systems
IIT to Establish $12.6 Million Smart Grid Training Center
Illinois Institute of Technology has received $5 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding to support a total $12.6 million collaborative effort to establish a Smart Grid Education and Workforce Training Center.The center will be completed within three years and will offer smart grid technology courses and certificate programs for people of all ages via on-campus and distance-learning classes.
IIT's current smart grid and power engineering infrastructures led by the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering will help train groups from utilities, corporations, labor unions, veterans, K-12 educators, universities, and community colleges to take on global challenges in smart grid technology, energy independence, clean tech, and sustainable energy. The new center is expected to train nearly 49,000 people in a three year period. Full Article
View Governor Quinn's Announcement at IIT [May 12, 2010]
WISER Formula Hybrid Team Wins GM Best Engineered Hybrid Systems Award
Posted IIT Today 5/17/10
The IIT formula hybrid racing team, WISER Scarlett Hawk Racing, traveled to New Hampshire the first week of May to compete in the 4th annual Formula Hybrid International Competition, and came away with the top GM Best Engineered Hybrid Systems Award. A new category of award this year, the GM Best Engineered Hybrid Systems Award rewarded teams for the level of complexity of their hybrid systems. 26 teams entered the Formula Hybrid International Competition this year, and three were awarded a GM Best Engineered Hybrid Systems Award. The IIT team took first place, which includes a $2500 prize, followed by Yale and Lawrence Tech.
C2ST Event at IIT: Storing Alternative Energies
Posted IIT Today: 1/28/10
As we near the end of the 21st century's first decade, it has become painfully clear that the current forms of energy storage currently in use are obsolete and inadequate. With the world's demand for energy growing ever steadily, the need for innovative, economical, and environmentally sound ways of storing and distributing power is at the forefront of today's energy research.
Join the Chicago Council on Science and Technology (C?ST) and Mohammad Shahidehpour, Bodine Distinguished Professor and Chair, Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, IIT, Michael R. Wasielewski, director, Argonne-Northwestern Solar Energy Research Center and Jeff Chamberlain, senior account manager, Office of Technology Transfer, Argonne National Laboratory as they discuss state-of-the-art solar, battery, and smart grid technologies that might one day redefine our understanding of energy use and storage.
This event will take place at the IIT McCormick Tribune Campus Center (3201 S. State Street) on Thursday, February 18. Registration and a reception begin at 5 pm, and the main program begins at 6 pm.
Note: Registration is required: $10 in advance, $15 at the door. A discounted rate of $5 is available for students (email info@c2st.org for the promo code). Register here
WISER Announces Interdisciplinary Seed Funding Grant Winners
Posted: 12/13/09
WISER Co-Sponsors Chicago-Kent Sustainability Conference
More than 100 members of the Chicago legal and environmental communities gathered at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law on July 22 for a sustainability conference titled "Moving the Midwest Forward: The Benefits of Building a Low-Carbon Economy."
The program, co-sponsored by IIT's Wanger Institute for Sustainable Energy Research (WISER) and Jules F. Knapp Entrepreneurship Center, and the Chicago law firm of Foley & Lardner LLP, brought together entrepreneurs, policymakers, environmentalists and scholars for three panel discussions on timely topics in energy and sustainability.
Henry R. Linden Endowed Chair in Engineering Investiture
Chemical engineeering professor and the Director of Wanger Institute for Sustainable Energy Research (WISER), Hamid Arastoopour was invested as the Henry R. Linden Endowed Chair in Engineering at a ceremony on April 30 in the MTCC.
The Henry R. Linden Endowed professorship was established in 2000 by Roger W. Sant, chairman emeritus and co-founder of the AES Corporation, to honor and recognize the accomplishments of Linden, an IIT professor, director of the IIT Energy and Power Center and the co-founder of the Gas Research Institute (GRI). The award preserves and expands Linden's legacy at IIT by supporting the teaching and research of an individual who will assume a leadership role in industrial ecology and design for the environment.
Arastoopour served as chairman of the chemical engineering department from 1989 to 2003 and as dean of Armour College of Engineering from 2003 to 2008.
Source: IIT Today, 5/7/09