SU stainable e N ergy R esearch I nitiative and S upporting E ducation An Ex Example o of t the I Impact ct o of N NSF EP EPSCoR Funding i in R Renewable En Energy R y Research ch Wayn yne S Seames University o y of N North Da Dakota 1
• Barriers to center-building in EPSCoR Jurisdictions • The SUNRISE model • How well did we do? • Lessons learned • The impact of EPSCoR investments on sustainable energy research via the SUNRISE program • Questions and Commentary 2
WHAT DO WE MEAN BY A CENTER? A multi-disciplinary resource base organized around a general theme, or organized to address one or more specific problems, or organized to take advantage of selected capabilities and/or technologies “ Centers”, “Centers of Excellence”, “Institutes”, “Superclusters” 3
Barriers To Center-building In EPSCoR Jurisdictions • Physical Resources Ø Funds for new/expanded/improved facilities are unlikely Ø Discretionary research funding is rare • Instrumentation/Experimental Resources Ø There may be one of each type on campus Ø Startup funds are limited Ø Discretionary equipment funding is limited 4
• People Ø Small departments mean high teaching and service loads Ø Lack of administrative assistant support § Less support for grants management/proposal preparation § Little or no website support Ø Graduate students difficult to recruit § May be of lower quality 5
• The University Culture Ø Departments and Colleges are not used to accommodating centers into their plans and evaluations § or the participation of their faculty in centers Ø Funds for special assignments to develop centers are rare Ø Research may be expected to fund itself and contribute to the financial resources of the rest of the university Ø Cross college initiatives may have only superficial support § Unit/College leaders may impose requirements that may weaken the overall effort 6
There is only a limited flexibility to modify overall university practices and resource allocation to overcome these barriers. . . . 7
There is only a limited flexibility to modify overall university practices and resource allocation to overcome these barriers. . . . So innovation is necessary in EPSCoR jurisdiction center building efforts to mitigate the impacts of these barriers. 8
CENTER BUILDING • Administration organized Ø Usually for strategic reasons and may be seeded with substantial startup funds ($millions) Ø Often bring in outside researchers for majority of the staffing • Faculty organized Ø Usually in response to a RFP Ø Leverage/match funding often limited to that required by the RFP Ø Successful clusters gradually grow into larger, more sustainable entities 9
CENTER BUILDING • Physical Entities Ø The cluster obtains laboratory space, instruments, and other resources from sponsoring institution(s) Ø Faculty may give up individual space to the cluster Ø Difficult for EPSCoR jurisdiction institutions – research incubator buildings can sometimes be used • Virtual Entities Ø The cluster has no individually defined space, instruments, or other resources. Ø Cluster relies upon the participants to provide and manage the resources used Ø Easier for EPSCoR jurisdictions; requires a paradigm shift for many faculty – can they share and play nice with others? v Overcoming academic cultural barriers is required for success 10
Ø Formed in 2004 • UND Chemistry • UND Chemical Engineering • NDSU Chemistry v Virtual center-type entity Ø Both ND Research Universities Ø Faculty Organized and Administered Ø Funding under NSF EPSCoR RIIs from 2005-2013 11
Past-Director Administrative Stakeholder Mentor Board Panel W. Seames 33 Faculty Participants from: -- 3 Universities UND NDSU Co- Director Co- Director -- 16 Departments A. Kubatova M. Berti Associate Director Research Programs Commercialization Administration & Multi-investigator Principal W. Seames Outreach Proposals/Grants Investigators E. Kozliak 12
• Sustainable Fossil Fuel Utilization Ø Environmentally acceptable use of coal Ø Recovery and reuse of CO 2 13
• Energy from Diffuse Sources (wind/solar/ hydrogen) Ø Combined wind/fuel cell systems Ø Improved photovoltaic materials and systems 14
• Renewable Fuels, Chemicals, Polymers, Materials Ø Fatty acid based processes Ø Lignocellulosic biomass based processes Ø Natural filler materials in composites 15
• PowerON!: 5 th -8 th Grade Outreach Program (Engineering, Teaching & Learning) – 12 events, over a thousand contacts in 2012/13 • “ Chemistry vs. Dust”: Air Pollution High School Student Workshop (Chemistry, Chemical Engineering) - 180 high school students participants, 6 schools • NAFRE : Native American Freshmen Research Experience (UND and NDSU Chemistry and Chemical Engineering) – 7 fold increase in NA enrollment at 4 year college for participants over their peers • SUNRISE REU : Research experiences for undergraduates (Chemistry and Chemical Engineering): 11 2013 summer student participants. • INTER-UNIVERSITY COLLABORATIONS : • North West University, South Africa – Articulation agreements for graduate student exchanges • California State Polytechnic University at Pomona – Articulation agreements for bi-university combined BS/MS program; research agreements; course sharing agreements 16
SUNRISE BioProducts Center of Excellence Biobased Chemicals, Polymers, and Composites Launch Date: June 2009 State Funds: $2,950,000 Matching Funds: $8,853,820 Purpose: invent, develop, and commercialize green industrial chemicals, polymers, and fiber composites. Current and Past Private Sector Partners Bayer Crop Science, Bayer Material Science, BenchMark Energy, Chemera, Fiber Composites, Global Green Refining, Kadrmas, Lee, and Jackson, Kuraray Chemicals, Marvin Windows/Tecton Products, Menon and Associates, Northwood Oilseed Processing Company, Ogden Engineering & Associates, Riley IP, Sustainable Oils, Wilcrest Consulting, 17
• Participation is by invitation only: faculty who are interested in interconnected areas in research/education • A virtual center with limited administrative function; the need for this function is mainly due to the group’s size • Research and funding is self-generated by the members of the group not from earmarks or other directed sources • SUNRISE members design/volunteer to administer outreach activities as well as include funding in proposals 18
• Conduct truly collaborative research, including student co- advising • Sacrifice some individuality for the good of the group • Perform some “service” related research for other SUNRISE faculty, who will, in turn do the same for them; for the good of the group. Everyone cooperates, everyone wins. • Try to understand and tolerate cultural differences between different disciplines and between different Universities 19
• Barriers to center-building in EPSCoR Jurisdictions • The SUNRISE model • How well did we do? • Lessons learned • The impact of EPSCoR investments on sustainable energy research via the SUNRISE program • Questions and Commentary 20
Proposal Awards Source ($ millons) ($ millions) External 286 34 EPSCoR 15 11 Internal 13 3 Total 314 48 Data Through 5/13 21
Key Building Block Grants: 1. NSF EPSCoR RII - 1 st 5/05 – 9/08 $979,369 2. Track I Renewal - 2 nd 9/08 – 8/13 $2,955,890 3. ND DOE EPSCoR IIP 7/06 – 6/09 $2,593,384 4. IIP Renewal 7/09 – 6/12 $2,500,000 5. NSF REU Sites - 1 st 5/03 – 5/09 $509,000 6. - 2 nd 5/09 – 9/15 $516,000 7. ND Dept. of Commerce COE 1/09 – 12/11 $2,950,000 8. Bayer CropScience 1/07 – 12/11 $1,250,000 9. NSF EPSCoR Track II 9/13 – 8/16 $3,000,000 with SD EPSCoR 22
Dissemination of Results (through 5/13) 247 Peer-review Publications 399 Presentations 23
Students are our primary MEASURE OF SUCCESS! Over 260 students have been involved in SUNRISE research Since July 2004 152 Grad, 90 Undergrad, 18 Post-doc 24
Five graduate students have won University-wide awards from SUNRISE projects! Yongxin Zhao Ph.D. Energy Alexander Azenkeng Engineering, 2006 John Degenstein B.S/M.S. ChE Ph.D. Chemistry, 2009 Chris Flakker B.S./ M.S. ChE UND’s Outstanding UND’s Outstanding April Hoffart B.S./ M.S. ChE Doctoral Doctoral Dissertation UND’s 2013, 2008, and 2005 Dissertation Award Award Winner Outstanding Masters Thesis Award Winner 25 Winners
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