University at Buffalo’s RENEW Institute
Dr. Amit Goyal
Director, RENEW,
Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering,
Professor of Empire Innovation, SUNY-UB,
University at Buffalo, New York, United States
Dr. Thomas Thundat
Professor of Empire Innovation, SUNY-UB
University at Buffalo, New York, United States
Location: QNC 1501
Abstract: The University at Buffalo (UB) recently established the institute for Research and Education in eNergy, Environment and Water (RENEW - https://www.buffalo.edu/renew.html) in 2015. The RENEW Institute is a university-wide, interdisciplinary research institute that focuses on complex energy and environmental issues, as well as the social and economic issues with which they are connected. The institute unites researchers and builds upon the strengths of faculty from seven UB schools and colleges including the School of Architecture and Planning, College of Arts and Sciences, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Law School, School of Management, School of Public Health and Health Professions and the School of Medicine. The goal is to create transformative change through research, education and community engagement activities. The institute’s over-arching goal is to advance Energy, Water and Environmental Sustainability as a foundation for a Regenerative Economy. The institute’s strategic planning process resulted in the creation of five interdisciplinary focus areas that leverage existing UB faculty strengths and UB facilities. These are – (a) Next-Generation Materials and Technologies for Energy, Environment & Water Sustainability; (b) Freshwater Coastal Ecosystems and the Blue Economy; (c) Sustainable Urban Environments; (d) Environmental Exposures, Genomes and Health and (e) Climate Change and Social-Economic Impacts. About ~20 UB faculty are engaged in each focus area or about 100 faculty across the campus and the institute has ~ 20 new faculty positions. This talk will provide an overview of the institute and review ongoing research in the various focus areas of the institute.
Bio: Dr. Amit Goyal joined UB in January 2015 as Director of RENEW, the University at Buffalo’s new interdisciplinary institute dedicated to research and education on globally pressing problems in energy, environment and water. One of the most expansive initiatives launched by UB in recent
years, RENEW (Research and Education in eNergy, Environment and Water) will harness the expertise of more than 100 faculty members across six schools and colleges and add more than 20 new faculty members.
Goyal has developed clean energy technologies for over two decades. He is known for his research in the area of large-area, low-cost, high performance, “flexible electronic” devices, including superconducting devices, photovoltaics, ferroelectrics, multiferroics, etc., as well as in 3D selfassembly of nanodots and nanorods for device applications. He has authored more than 350 technical publications and has 85 issued patents comprising 68 US and 17 International patents, and over 20 patents pending. His work is highly cited and a recent analysis of citations and papers published world-wide in the field of high-temperature superconductivity, between 1999-2009, conducted by Thompson-Reuters’s Essential Science Indicators (ESI), ranked him as the most cited author worldwide. He has received numerous accolades including the presidential level DOE’s E. O. Lawrence Award in the inaugural category of Energy Science & Innovation. The US Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary on behalf of the President of the United States bestows the award. Other key honors include: Nine R&D100 Awards which are widely regarded as the Oscars for innovation; Three Federal Laboratory Consortium (FLC) Awards for Technology Transfer; the 2012 World Technology Award in the category of “Materials”; 2010 R&D 100 Magazine’s Innovator of the Year Award; 2010 Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Indian Institute of
Technology; the 2008 Nano50TM Innovator Award; the 2007 Pride of India Gold Award; University of Rochester’s Distinguished Scholar Medal in 2007; the U.S. Department of Energy Exceptional Accomplishment Award in 2005; the UT-Battelle Inventor-of-the-Year Awards in 2005 and 1999;
the 2005 Global Indus Technovator Award; in 2001 the Energy-100 Award for the finest 100 scientific accomplishments of the U.S. Department of Energy since it opened its doors in 1977; the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Technical Review TR100 Award; and the Lockheed-Martin
NOVA Award for technical achievement in 1999.
He has been elected Fellow of nine professional societies: the National Academy of Inventors, the American Association for Advancement of Science, the Materials Research Society, the American Physical Society, the World Innovation Foundation, the American Society of Metals, the Institute of Physics, the American Ceramic Society and the World Technology Network.
Bio: Dr. Thomas Thundat is a professor at the University of Buffalo, NY. Until 2017 he was a Canada Excellence Research Chair professor at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. He is also a Distinguished Professor at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, and Centenary Professor at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. He was a research group leader and a Corporate Fellow of the Oak Ridge National Lab until 2010. He received his Ph.D. in physics from the State University of New York at Albany. He is the author of over 400 publications in refereed journals, 45 book chapters, and 40 patents. Dr. Thundat is an elected Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS), the Electrochemical Society (ECS), the American Association for Advancement of Science (AAAS), the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the SPIE, and the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). Dr. Thundat’s research is currently focused on developing new concepts in nanomechanical sensing, energy conversion, electrical energy transmission using single wire, and novel concepts for charge separation and storage.