Congressman Paul Tonko To Speak at Annual Conference of the Center for Future Energy Systems

U.S. Representative Paul D. Tonko will speak Wednesday evening at the Rensselaer Center for Future Energy Systems (CFES) 2011 Annual Conference and Industrial Advisory Board Meeting.

The event will take place from 2 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies on the Rensselaer campus. The conference will showcase the leading-edge energy research taking place at Rensselaer, and aims to promote and encourage additional collaboration between academia and industry on important energy topics. The program may be viewed at: http://bit.ly/up04Nb

CFES actively partners with industry, government, and educational institutions to accelerate renewable energy research, move technologies from the laboratory to the marketplace, and ultimately build value and create jobs. Funded by Empire State Development through its Division of Science, Technology, and Innovation, the center works with forward-thinking companies to leverage the expertise of Rensselaer faculty and students to advance fundamental research as well as solve specific, real-world energy challenges.

“We are excited about the conference and the presentation by Congressman Tonko,” said Jian Sun, CFES director and professor in the Department of Electrical, Computer, and Systems Engineering at Rensselaer. “We look forward to meeting our partners and collaborators at the conference.”

“It’s a simple fact: Research equals jobs, and we see that evidence in the Capital Region where public and private investments have led to the Albany area being highlighted as a national leader in high-tech and green-collar job growth,” said Congressman Tonko. “Rensselaer and the Center for Future Energy Systems are adding to the equation through partnerships and world-class research that will help drive the innovation in renewable energy that will help power new job creation and our future economy.”

“CFES is a model of the type of results-oriented, industry-university partnership that can accelerate growth in New York’s economy,” said Ed Reinfurt, director of the Division of Science, Technology and Innovation at New York State’s Empire State Development.

As part of the conference, several Rensselaer faculty members will present on their energy research from 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.:

• Nikhil Koratkar | Nano-Engineered Silicon Anodes for Lithium Ion Batteries
• Daniel Lewis | Phase Field Studies of Electrochemical Impedance
• Michael Amitay | Active Flow Control for Green Systems
• Partha Dutta | More Than Just Illumination: Smart Lighting
• Anna Dyson | Integrated Environmental Control Systems
• Jian Sun | Renewable Energy Grid Integration
• Joe Chow | Synchrophasor Research at Rensselaer

After a poster presentation from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m., Tonko will address conference attendees during a dinner at the Heffner Alumni House.

CFES is the center of energy research at Rensselaer, where world-leading science and engineering researchers from all fields gather to collaborate on building a productive, more efficient future. With partners Cornell University and Brookhaven National Laboratory, the center’s research thrusts range from nanomaterials for energy conversation and storage, to smart grids, fuel cells, solar, wind, and many other areas.

More than 30 researchers and 45 students from Rensselaer, Cornell, and Brookhaven collaborate on CFES projects. CFES is a designated NYSTAR Center for Advanced Technology.

For additional information on CFES and energy research at Rensselaer, visit:

• New York State Center for Future Energy Systems at Rensselaer
  http://www.rpi.edu/cfes/
• Energy@Rensselaer
  http://energy.rpi.edu
• Researchers Secure $2 Million Award To Boost Reliability, Sustainability of Power Grids
• http://news.rpi.edu/update.do?artcenterkey=2910
• Jian Sun Named Director of Center for Future Energy Systems at Rensselaer
  http://news.rpi.edu/update.do?artcenterkey=2821