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EnGen Roadshow

Participants

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Faculty

[faculty] Prof. Diana Huffaker, PI/Director
Dept: Electrical Engineering
Email: huffaker@ee.ucla.edu

Focus: Energy Harvesting

Research Group: Integrated NanoMaterials Lab

Research Interests: Directed and self-assembled nanostructure solid-state epitaxy, optoelectronic devices including solar cells and III-V/Si photonics.

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[faculty] Prof. Magali Delmas, co-PI
Dept: Institute of the Environment & Sustainability
Email: delmas@ucla.edu

Focus: Policy and Economics

Area of Expertise: Business, Economics, Public Policy

[faculty] Prof. Laurent Pilon, co-PI
Dept: Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
Email: pilon@seas.ucla.edu

Focus: Energy Conservation

Research Group: Laurent Pilon's Research Group

Research Interests: Radiation transfer, biomedical optics, interfacial and transport phenomena, materials synthesis.

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[faculty] Prof. Kang Wang, co-PI
Dept: Electrical Engineering
Email: wang@ee.ucla.edu

Focus: Energy Harvesting

Research Group: Device Research Laboratory

Research Interests: Nanoelectronics and optoelectronics, MBE and superlattices, micro-wave and millimeter electronics/optoelectronics, and quantum computing.

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[faculty] Prof. Yang Yang, co-PI
Dept: Materials Science & Engineering
Email: yy@seas.ucla.edu

Focus: Energy Harvesting

Research Group: Research Group for Organic Electronic Materials & Devices

Research Interests: We focus on semiconductor devices based on conjugate polymeric materials as well as organic/inorganic nanostructures. Research topics cover: memory devices, light-emitting diodes, solar cells, transistors, graphene.

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[faculty] Prof. Bruce Dunn
Dept: Materials Science & Engineering
Email: bdunn@ucla.edu

Focus: Energy Storage

Research Group: Prof. Bruce Dunn's Lab

Research Interests: Electrical and optical properties of inorganic solids; sol-gel derived materials; solid electrolytes and battery electrode materials; biomimetic materials systems.

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[faculty] Prof. Rajit Gadh
Dept: Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Email: rgadh@seas.ucla.edu

Focus: Energy Conservation

Research Group: Wireless Internet for Mobile Enterprise Consortium

Research Interests: Smart Grid - Communication and control, Electric Vehicle aggregation for Smart Grid Integration, Vehicle to Grid and Grid to Vehicle, Automated Demand Response, Micro-grid modeling, Smart grid for renewable integration, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), Wireless Internet of Artifacts, Reconfigurable Wireless Sensing and Networking Systems, Wireless Multimedia Architectures, CAD/CAM/VR/Visualization.

[faculty] Prof. Eric Hoek
Dept: Civil & Environmental Engineering
Email: emvhoek@ucla.edu

Focus: Energy Conservation

Research Group: Nanomaterials & Membrane Technology Research (NanoMeTeR) Laboratory

Research Interests: Our general research interests revolve around nanomaterials and membrane technologies applied to water purification, renewable energy, and environmental protection - all keys to sustainability. For many years, our research has focused on ways to improve performance, reduce cost, and mitigate environmental impacts associated with membrane-based desalination and advanced water treatment processes. The broader impact of our research is to enhance sustainability in California (and beyond), while training the next generation of environmental engineers.

[faculty] Prof. Richard Kaner
Dept: Chemistry & Biochemistry, Materials Science & Engineering
Email: rbk@chem.ucla.edu

Focus: Energy Harvesting

Research Group: Kaner Lab

Research Interests: Synthesis and characterization of new materials. 1) the development of conducting polymer nanofibers with applications in flash welding, sensors, artificial muscles and memory devices; 2) the expedient low temperature initiated synthesis of high temperature inorganic materials, 3) the synthesis and characterization of ultra-incompressible, hard materials; and 4) new synthetic routes to carbon based materials and composites.

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[faculty] Prof. Chang-Jin Kim
Dept: Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Email: cjkim@seas.ucla.edu

Focus: Energy Storage

Research Group: Micromanufacturing Laboratory

Research Interests: Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), surface-tension-based microactuation, nanotechnology for surface control, microdevices including microfluidic applications, full spectrum of micromachining technologies.

[faculty] Prof. James C. Liao
Dept: Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
Email: liaoj@seas.ucla.edu

Focus: Energy Harvesting

Research Group: Metabolic Engineering and Synthetic Biology Laboratory

Research Interests: Our research has been focused on metabolism, including its biochemistry, expansion, and regulation. We use metabolic engineering, synthetic biology, and systems biology principles to produce next generation biofuels, to study the obesity problem in human, and to develop mathematical tools for such work. Our research integrates molecular biology, genetics, engineering, and mathematics to address problems of societal importance.

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[faculty] Assoc. Prof. Deepak Rajagopal
Dept: Institute of the Environment & Sustainability
Email: rdeepak@ioes.ucla.edu

Focus: Policy and Economics

Personal Blog: Watts Green?

Research Interests: Energy markets and policy, Environmental economics and policy, Lifecycle assessment for policy design, Economics of biofuels, Energy and Sustainable Development, Economics of Food and Agri-culture, Renewable energy systems, Integrated assessment of technology, markets and policy.

[faculty] Prof. Sarah Tolbert
Dept: Chemistry & Biochemistry
Email: tolbert@chem.ucla.edu

Focus: Energy Storage

Research Group: Tolbert Research Group

Research Interests: Research in my group focuses around two intertwined goals. These are first, to create complex materials with nanoscale periodicity using self-organization, and second, to produce new physical properties because of that nanoscale architecture.

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[faculty] Assist. Prof. Richard Wirz
Dept: Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Email: wirz@seas.ucla.edu

Focus: Energy Storage

Research Group: Wirz Research Group

Research Interests: Electric and micro propulsion, low temperature plasma and plasma discharges, spacecraft and space mission design, alternative energy generation and storage.

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Fellows

[Fellows 2011]

CGI Fellows 2012-2013
(L-R) Song Luo, Amy Tsang, Alan Farrell, Jesse Ko, Amy Tsang, John Cook

[2012-2013 Fellow] John Cook
Department: Chemistry & Biochemistry
Advisor: Prof. Sarah Tolbert

Research interests: Li-ion batteries, energy harvesting, storage and conversion, artificial photosynthesis, developing catalysts for photoelectrochemistry to split water, nano-science, fuel cells

[2012-2013 Fellow] Alan Farrell
Department: Electrical Engineering
Advisor: Prof. Diana Huffaker

Research interests: nanophotonics, light trapping techniques using photonic crystals, photovoltaics, nanopillar arrays

[2012-2013 Fellow] Jesse Ko
Department: Materials Science & Engineering
Advisor: Prof. Bruce Dunn

Research interests: Na-ion batteries (NIBs), energy storage

[2012-2013 Fellow] Song Luo
Department: Materials Science & Engineering
Advisor: Prof. Yang Yang

Research interests: polymer-based solar cells and LEDs

[2012-2013 Fellow] Amy Tsang
Department: Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
Advisor: Prof. Laurent Pilon

Research interests: energy storage, supercapacitors, mesoporous transition metal oxide systems

[2012-2013 Fellow] Lisa Wang
Department: Chemistry & Biochemistry
Advisor: Prof. Richard Kaner

Research interests: metal organic frameworks (MOF), energy storage

[Fellows 2011]

CGI Fellows 2011-2012
(L-R) Brian McVerry, Hao-Yuan Chang, Tiana Huang, Megan Accordino, Brian Keck, Michael Haddad

[2011-2012 Fellow] Megan Accordino
Department: Economics
Advisor: Prof. Deepak Rajagopal

Research interests: Economic effects of integrating electricity storage into the grid. Specific topics include 1) whether, given the large positive externalities of storage, the structure of U.S. electric power markets will encourage the efficient level of investment in and usage of storage and 2) whether increased storage capacity will increase or decrease the market power of firms.

[2011-2012 Fellow] Hao-Yuan Chang
Department: Electrical Engineering
Advisor: Prof. Kang Wang

Research interests: Developing a novel computing architecture that consumes less energy and efficiently solves problems involving multidimensional data sets.

[2011-2012 Fellow] Michael Haddad
Department: Electrical Engineering
Advisor: Prof. Diana Huffaker

Research interests: Fabrication of III-IV solar cells based on patterned catalyst-free nanopillars using both organic and non-organic approaches. Additionally the study of the morphology of nanopillars grown by metal organic chemical vapor deposition as it relates to the doping of these structures with TESn and DEZn.

[2011-2012 Fellow] Tiana Huang
Department: Electrical Engineering
Advisor: Prof. Rajit Gadh

Research interests: Home area networking, cyber security approaches, and smart energy profile to be applied to smart products, demonstrating energy efficiency aspects of smart buildings such as smart HVAC, smart switch panel, and smart sensors.

[2011-2012 Fellow] Brian Keck
Department: Chemistry & Biochemistry
Advisor: Prof. Sarah Tolbert

Research interests: tbd.

[2011-2012 Fellow] Brian McVerry
Department: Chemistry & Biochemistry
Advisor: Prof. Richard Kaner

Research interests: Developing new materials for more efficient water filtration including desalination, ultrafiltration, and microfiltration. Additionally, the chemical optimization of conducting polymers and graphene/graphite oxide for future electronics.

[Fellows 2010]

CGI Fellows 2010-2011
(L-R) Igor Bogorad, Alexander Williams, Benjamin Feinberg, Leland Smith, Ian McKinley, Omar Asensio, Razmig Kandilian, Brian Roizen, Johnny Chen, Jaime Torres, David Watts

[2010-2011 Fellow] Omar Asensio
Department: Institute of the Environment and Sustainability
Advisor: Prof. Magali Delmas

Research interests: Studying incentives to motivate energy conservation.

CGI role: External Symposium

[2010-2011 Fellow] Igor Bogorad
Department: Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
Advisor: Prof. James Liao

Research interests: Combine computational models with directed evolution to synthesize de novo enzymes involved in cellulosic degradation for renewable biofuel production.

CGI role: EnGen Roadshow Research and Development

[2010-2011 Fellow] Johnny Chen
Department: Materials Science & Engineering
Advisor: Prof. Yang Yang

Research interests: Develop new potential in synthesizing low-bandgap polymers to realize highly efficient organic solar cells.

[2010-2011 Fellow] Benjamin Feinberg
Department: Civil & Environmental Engineering
Advisor: Prof. Eric Hoek

Research interests: Microbial fuel cells.

CGI role: City/Industry liaison

[2010-2011 Fellow] Razmig Kandilian
Department: Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
Advisor: Prof. Laurent Pilon

Research interests: Optical properties of microalgae and radiation transfer in photobioreactors for biofuel production.

[2010-2011 Fellow] Ian McKinley
Department: Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
Advisor: Prof. Laurent Pilon

Research interests: Pyroelectric material characterization and synthesis for waste heat energy harvesting using the Olsen cycle.

[2010-2011 Fellow] Brian Roizen
Department: Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
Advisor: Prof. Chang-Jin Kim

Research interests: Designing and fabricating a millimeter scale fuel-cell system with low energy requirements.

CGI role: Media Relations

[2010-2011 Fellow] Leland Smith
Department: Materials Science & Engineering
Advisor: Prof. Bruce Dunn

Research interests: Electric double-layer capacitors.

CGI role: EnGen Roadshow Liasion

[2010-2011 Fellow] Jaime Torres
Department: Chemistry & Biochemistry
Advisor: Prof. Richard Kaner

Research interests: Carbon-based nanomaterials for use in energy harvesting and storage.

CGI role: City/Industry liaison

[2010-2011 Fellow] David Watts
Department: Chemistry & Biochemistry
Advisor: Prof. Sarah Tolbert

Research interests: Electrochemical methods to generate energy.

[2010-2011 Fellow] Alexander Williams
Department: Materials Science & Engineering
Advisor: Prof. Diana Huffaker

Research interests: nanostructured third generation photovoltaics.

[Fellows 2009]

CGI Fellows 2009-2010
row 1 (L-R): Jessica Wang, Amy Ferreira, Brion Bob, Nicholas Nairn-Birch, Rita Blaik, Mark Lewis
row 2: Joshua Shapiro

[2009-2010 Fellow] Rita Blaik
Department: Materials Science & Engineering
Advisor: Prof. Bruce Dunn

Research interests: Enzymatic biofuel cell architectures.

CGI role: External Relations

[2009-2010 Fellow] Brion Bob
Department: Materials Science & Engineering
Advisor: Prof. Yang Yang

Research interests: Solution-processable chalcogenide semiconductors and devices.

CGI role: Campus Relations/Event Coordinator

[2009-2010 Fellow] Amy Ferreira
Department: Chemistry & Biochemistry
Advisor: Prof. Sarah Tolbert

Research interests: Low cost solar cells constructed form an amphiphilic assembly of semiconducting polymers.

CGI role: Outreach Coordinator

[2009-2010 Fellow] Mark Lewis
Department: Electrical Engineering
Advisor: Prof. Kang Wang

Research interests: Fabrication of magnetic tunnel junctions for spin transfer torque random access memory.

CGI role: Media Relations/Documentation

[2009-2010 Fellow] Nicholas Nairn-Birch
Department: Environmental Science and Engineering
Advisor: Prof. Magali Delmas

Research interests: Measuring the relationships between business strategy, energy dependency and emissions of greenhouse gases.

CGI role: External Relations

[2009-2010 Fellow] Joshua Shapiro
Department: Electrical Engineering
Advisor: Prof. Diana Huffaker

Research interests: Growth and characterization of high quality three dimensional heterostructures for optoelectronic devices.

CGI role: President

[2009-2010 Fellow] Jessica Wang
Department: Chemistry & Biochemistry
Advisor: Prof. Richard Kaner

Research interests: Synthesis and device fabrication of nanostructured semiconductive materials.

CGI role: Campus Relations/Event Coordinator

Departments

Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science

Electrical Engineering

California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI)

Institute of the Environment and Sustainability

Environmental Science and Engineering

Materials Science & Engineering

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering

Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

Chemistry & Biochemistry

Center for Excellence in Engineering and Diversity (CEED)

Anderson School of Management

Center for Climate Change Solutions

Clean Tech Los Angeles

Others

[IP advisor] Shahin Farshchi, Ph.D.
Senior Associate, Lux Capital Management
Email: shahin.farshchi@luxcapital.com

Role: advises fellows and faculty on helping to identify strategies for commercializing technologies, identify potential business models & opportunities around the technologies, and prepare business plans for potential startup companies.

[Program Coordinator] Mariko Walton
Program Coordinator
Assistant to Prof. Diana Huffaker
IGERT.org 2011-2012 Program Coordinator Advisory Board Member
Email: mariko@cnsi.ucla.edu