IGERT

The NSF-sponsored Sustainable Energy from Solar Hydrogen IGERT program at the University of Delaware focuses on developing new approaches to sustainable energy which is based on the conversion of solar energy using hydrogen as an energy carrier. We want our students to recognize and develop new multidisciplinary approaches to solar hydrogen components, systems, and implementation.

The program draws students and faculty from Electrical and Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, Chemistry, Physics, and Economics and Policy. Each student will have a research focus in one area but the background, knowledge, and skills to draw from and interact with colleagues from multiple technical disciplines and ultimately aim to contribute to the broader context of sustainable energy systems. The program provides future graduate students with the opportunity to venture into a wide range of research endeavors. There are numerous areas of research for potential graduates to focus on; photovoltaics, fuel cells, catalytic processes in fuel cells and fuel reforming, hydrogen storage and energy policy and economics.

The combination of using solar-based energy generation and hydrogen as an energy carrier and storage offers a sustainable solution to many aspects of the energy issues, including transport and electricity generation. The goal of the IGERT on Solar Hydrogen and Sustainable Energy is to provide the resources and opportunities for graduate students to address the scientific, technological, and policy challenges in solar hydrogen systems.

Some of the biggest attractions to our IGERT, besides the very generous stipend, is that students get the opportunity to be involved in  numerous outreach activities, partake in international internships and network with some of the ‘names’ in the Solar Power industry.  We hope that our new graduate course will enable the students to realize that by working together in interdisciplinary teams, their graduate experience will be vastly improved.