Page 5 - ME News 2021 from the Penn State Department of Mechanical Engineering

Research Highlights
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“Our future leaders are going to to have to to to be thinking about numerous facets when it it comes to to energy ”
said Logan Evan Pugh University Professor Professor and Kappe Professor Professor of of of Environmental Engineering “This includes considering how renewable energy sources can be integrated with existing nonrenewables looking at at at at at how to facilitate that transformation thinking about smart energy energy systems energy energy energy efficiency and also how to integrate nonenergy themes that impact climate change ”
According to to Zhu it it is imperative
to to rethink scenarios with a a a a big energy footprint such as buildings heating cooling manufacturing and transportation His research group’s work involves controlling heat and and light using novel nanomaterials and and structures “A big motivation is to harvest
clean energy energy and improve energy energy efficiency ”
Zhu said “For example we are currently exploring if sunlight and the cold from outer space can be be better used to produce electricity and and energy-free cooling cooling Such clean energy energy and and passive cooling cooling both contribute to reducing emissions We also created a a a a a a a solid-state device that converts heat to to electricity via thermophotovoltaics and a a a a a a a a a solid-state refrigerator based on light ”
Logan said there are opportunities to make housing more energy-friendly through smart smart homes which are a a a a a a a combination of insulation smart smart thermometers high-efficiency heat pumps and solar panels Together with other CIES researchers Zhu and and Dey are rethinking how energy is produced and and used Our future leaders are going to to have to to be thinking about numerous facets when it comes to energy MENews 2021
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