current news
Logan wins Popular Mechanics 2005 Breakthrough Award
September 29, 2005
Bruce Logan, Kappe Professor of Environmental Engineering, was one of eight winners of the Popular Mechanics 2005 Breakthrough Award. The purpose of the award sponsored by the Popular Mechanics magazine is to recognize people whose “innovations promise to improve lives and increase our understanding of the world.” Winners were selected from a diverse range of fields including robotics, medicine, aeronautics, and chemistry.
Logan was chosen for his work on biological production of hydrogen using microbial fuel cells. His innovative technique uses microbes to produce hydrogen from wastewater – specific microbes use the wastewater as a source of food and generate hydrogen in the process. The benefits of his research are twofold: production of hydrogen for energy and the cleansing of wastewater.
The award winners were selected from an initial group of 60 candidates that were recommended by their peers. An advisory panel of ten scientists, authors, thinkers, and academics helped to make the final selections.
The award winners and their work will be featured in the magazine’s November issue.
Except from Popular Mechanics November Issue:
(http://www.popularmechanics.com/specials/features/1762911.html)
Hydrogen-Energy Leap: Using microbes to generate hydrogen could speed a shift toward renewable fuels
Innovators: Stephen Grot, Hong Liu, Bruce Logan“We talk about a hydrogen economy, but most hydrogen is made using fossil fuels,” says Penn State professor of environmental engineering Bruce Logan. Working with Hong Liu, a postdoctoral researcher, and Stephen Grot, founder of Ion Power, Logan has devised a way to produce hydrogen while cleaning wastewater. “It’s based on a microbial process that’s been going on for billions of years,” he says.
Logan had been working on a fuel cell that generated electricity as microbes broke down organic matter. Grot suggested rejiggering the apparatus to produce hydrogen instead of electricity. The BioElectrochemically Assisted Microbial Reactor (BEAMR) cleans water while yielding four times the hydrogen of fermentation alone.
Logan is the director of the College of Engineering’s Environmental Institute and director of Penn State’s Hydrogen Energy Center.
Contact:
Dr. Logan
blogan@psu.edu
814-863-7908