message from the interim director
Welcome
to our web-site! Let me begin by welcoming our new Director, Prof. Tom
Richard.
Tom will officially begin his new duties on January 1st, 2008, but he is already involved in
many of the PSIEE initiatives.
PSIEE is organized under the Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR). Our mission is to assist in recruitment and hiring of faculty in energy and the environment, and to provide infrastructure and other support that will enable success in research, teaching, and outreach. The breadth of PSIEE involvement at Penn State is indicated by the membership of our advisory committees - Executive Committee and Coordinating Council. PSIEE also collaborates with other Penn State Institutes, for example the Center for Molecular Toxicology and Carcinogensis is supported by both PSIEE and the Huck Life Sciences Institute.
Penn State and PSIEE have continued our growth in the environmental area. The annual average contract value per PSIEE faculty co-hire increased from $176K/yr in 2004 to $505K/yr in 2007. Penn State ranked 13th nationally in total R&D expenditures in environmental sciences in 2005 (the most recent NSF rankings), 8th in earth environmental sciences, 10th in atmospheric environmental sciences, and our environmental engineering, agriculture and biological engineering, and other associated programs also ranked in the top twenty.
Penn State has provided resources and administrative support to PSIEE to expand our efforts in the energy area. PSIEE will collaborate with the Colleges to provide funds for at least 24 new faculty hires during the next few years, with a focus on thrust areas that were identified in the 2006 Energy Task Force report and on other emerging areas or opportunity in which Penn State can become a national leader. Eight proposals for co-hires were selected by the PSIEE Coordinating Council and Executive Committee in October ’07 in following areas: coal liquefaction, coal molecular modeling, catalysis of hydrocarbon conversions, fuel-flexible combustion systems, CO2 sequestration, biological engineering, enzymes for cellulose conversions, and agent-based modeling for bio-energy systems.
Penn State’s commitment to energy and the environment is timely. The NSF FY’08 Budget Request to Congress in Engineering asked for large increases for R&D in energy and environment. Chevron and Penn State recently concluded an agreement that could bring $3.5M/yr to Penn State in support of R&D dealing with coal liquefaction and associated topics. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania will assist with start-up of new faculty in energy areas in addition to collaboration on opportunities to solve energy and environmental issues that are important to Pennsylvania.
Please feel free to contact us if we can be of service to you.