In the past two years, UMass Lowell faculty received approximately $16 million in research funding related to energy.

Energy Funding

Principal Investigator (PI)Co-PI(s)Project TitleAgencyAmount
Agar, ErtanMurat Inalpolat, Alireza AmirkhiziManufacturing of Fabric Electrodes using a High-Throughput Screening Platform for Redox Flow BatteriesUS Department of Energy (DOE)$500,000
I-Corps: High-Stability Bio-Inspired Non-Aqueous Redox Flow BatteriesNational Science Foundation (NSF)$50,000
Apul, OnurXiaoqi ZhangIncreasing Biogas Production from Wastewater Residual Sludge by a Novel, Single-Step Nano-Enabled Thermal Pretreatment MethodMass Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) Catalyst$65,000
Hunter MackNano-Enabled Combustion of Natural Gas in Constant Volume Isothermal ChambersColumbia Gas$150,000
Hunter MackEnhanced Combustion of Natural Gas using Nano-AdditivesColumbia Gas$150,000
Chen, JulieChristopher Neizrecki & Joe HartmanUMass Lowell (UML) / Fraunhofer CSE integrationMassCEC$1,200,000
Adam Shine, Matthew Plummer, & David WaggerChemical Recycling of Mixed Plastics and Precious Metals in the Electronic Wastes Using Solvent-based ProcessingThe REMADE Institute$89,000
Chow, Kwok-FanTextile based capacitor using Iridium oxide (IrOx) nanoparticles for use in energy storageU.S. Army$125,000
Hansen, ChristopherChris Niezrecki, Siavash Pakdelian, Richard Gaschnig, & Chi Zhang 
Creating the Next Generation Offshore Wind WorkforceMassCEC$244,457
Hsien-Yuan Hsu, Yanfen LiExpanding Access to Opportunity in Offshore WindMassCEC$48,000
Inalpolat, MuratChristopher Niezrecki & Yan LuoDevelopment of an Acoustics-based Automated OffshoreDOE$1,400,000
Christopher Niezrecki & Yan LuoB1-19 Long-duration testing of the Acoustic Blade Monitoring System in a Wind FarmNSF Industry/University Collaborative Research Center (I/UCRC) WindSTAR$64,450
Christopher Niezrecki & Yan LuoB1-18 System Integration of a Wind Turbine Blade Acoustic Monitoring SystemNSF I/UCRC WindSTAR$60,080
Christopher Niezrecki & Yan LuoB1-17 Intelligent Damage Detection from Wind Turbine Blades using Acoustic ExcitationNSF I/UCRC WindSTAR$65,000
Christopher NiezreckiDevelopment of an Integral Off-Shore Wind Turbine Blade Structural Health Monitoring SystemMassCEC$150,000
Jin, XinfangElectrochemical Thermal Coupled Model and Model DevelopmentUniversity of South Carolina$80,000
SusChEM: Collaborative research: A New Class of Chemical Potential Driven Plug Flow Membrane Reactors for Combined Gas Separation and Direct Natural Gas ConversionNSF$129,890
A Multifunctional Isostructural Bilayer Oxygen Evolution Electrode for Durable Intermediate-Temperature Electrochemical Water SplittingDOE$287,540
Kosny, JanCordula Schmid & MegSobkowicz-KlineMultipurpose Latent Heat Storage System for Building ApplicationsDOE, Dept. of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy$1,949,980
Kumar, JayantLian Li & Youngju BaeDevelopment of flexible perovskite photovoltaic power sources for soldier applicationsUS Army CCDC Soldier Center (CCDC SC)$213,220
Dhandapani Venkatarama (UMass Amherst)*Development of high performance flexible perovskite photovoltaic power sources for soldier applicationsCCDC SC$79,540
Ramaswamy Nagarajan & Claire LepontOptimizing reliability, performance and conformability of organic photovoltaic fibersCCDC SC$266,430
Lian Li & Claire LepontOptimizing performance of Organic Photovoltaic FibersCCDC SC$331,140
Lam, StephenVyacheslav Bryantsev (Oak Ridge National Laboratory), Santanu Roy (Oak Ridge National Laboratory)Accelerating the development of reliable and robust machine-learning based interatomic potentials for the prediction of molten salt structure and propertiesDOE – Nuclear Energy University Program$400,000
Lin, YuzhangCyber Security of Power System Model Dataset: Threats, Impacts, and DefensesNSF Energy, Power, Control, & Networks (EPCN) Program$287,053
Liu, FuqiangPFI-TT: Prototype Development of Portable Rechargeable Solar BatteriesNSF$249,997
Mack, HunterNoah Van DamEnabling compression ignition of natural gas through noble gas additionColumbia Gas$150,000
**PI: Peter Russo (Blackburn Energy), UML = SubcontractorEfficacy Test for Variable Uses of Blackburn RelGenMassCEC Innovate Mass$201,000
Hsi-Wu Wong (UMass Lowell), *Thomas Schwartz (Univ. of Maine),
*Clayton Wheeler (Univ. of Maine) & *Paul Yelvington (Mainstream Engineering)
Renewable Fuel Additives from Woody BiomassDOE$1,001,700
Hsi-Wu WongRenewable Fuel Additives from Woody Biomass (Add-on Funding)MassCEC Amplify Mass$215,476
Stephen Johnston, Hongwei Sun, Meghan Sobkowicz-KlineEnabling Improved Microclimate Cooling Systems Through Custom Materials and Design ModificationsHEROES$175,000
Maiaru, MariannaChris Hansen, Scott StapletonWind blade repair optimizationWindSTAR$65,000
Scott Stapleton, Chris HansenCure Cycle Optimization of Wind Turbine Blade BondlinesWindSTAR (NSF I/UCRC)$69,000
Alireza Amirkhizi, Todd Griffin* (Univ. of Texas-Dallas)Project A1-19: Mechanical property enhancement prediction for matrix materials$79,988
Nagarajan, RamaswamyClaire LepontPhotovoltaic (PV) Energy Harvesting Textiles for Homeland Security Ensembles (Phase 1)Department of Homeland Security-Sillicon Valley Innovation Program (SVIP),
UML is a sub-contract to Protect The Force
$118,951
Niezrecki, ChristopherJulie ChenUMass Lowell – Central Maine Power Company Collaboration and Master FundingAvangrid$500,000
Murat Inalpolat, Scott Stapleton, Marianna Maiaru
& Chris Hansen
Phase II IUCRC University of Massachusetts Lowell: Center for Wind Energy Science, Technology and Research (WindSTAR)NSF$582,050
Clean Energy Center of Excellence StudyMassCEC$100,000
Sukesh Aghara, Juan Pablo Trelles, Hunter Mack,
Ertan Agar, Fuqiang Liu & Walter Thomas
Clean Energy Innovation Institute (CEII)UMass President’s Office:
Science and Technology Initiatives Fund
$95,000

Development of a National Offshore Wind Research AgendaMassCEC$50,000
Multiple Co-Pis & Stony Brook UniversityUniversity – Navy Research Collaboration on Energy ResiliencyOffice of Naval Research$3,673,000
Multiple Co-Pis & Stony Brook UniversityUniversity – Navy Research Collaboration on Robust Energy Infrastructure and ResiliencyOffice of Naval Research$3,243,000
Ryan, DavidSafe and Efficient On-Demand Hydrogen Production and Regeneration System Based On Thermal Catalytic Splitting of Water with Nano-Structured CobaltMassVentures - MassCEC Catalyst Award Program$65,000
Sherwood, JamesTechno-Economic Modeling for the Insertion of Automation to Advance the State of Composite Wind Blade ManufacturingMass Clean Energy Center$100,478
Techno-Economic Modeling for the Insertion of Automation to Advance the State of Composite Wind Blade ManufacturingInstitute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation (IACMI)$100,000
Techno-Economic Modeling for the Insertion of Automation to Advance the State of Composite Wind Blade ManufacturingMass Clean Energy Center$150,000
Techno-Economic Modeling for the Insertion of Automation to Advance the State of Composite Wind Blade ManufacturingIACMI$150,000
Sobkowicz-Kline, MegDongming Xie, His-Wu WongPlastics in the Circular Carbon Economy AOI 8b: Designing novel methods for deconstructing and upcycling existing plasticsDepartment of Energy Bioenergy Technologies Office$1,921,237
Sun, HongweiAlkim AkyurtluThermal Management of Fibers and Films- Smart Textile Platforms for Heating, Cooling and SignatureUS Army$303,024
Javier Vera-Sorroche, Marianna Maiaru & Ramaswamy NagarajanNovel Thermoresponsive Fibers for Lightweight Smart Thermal InsulationUS Army$176,465
Trelles, Juan PabloNonequilibrium Phenomena in Plasmas in Contact with LiquidsDOE: Early Career Research Program$750,075
CAREER: Sustainable Chemical Synthesis by Plasma-Enhanced Solar EnergyNSF$513,120
Hunter Mack, Hsi-Hu WongHydrogen Production from Solids via Atmospheric Pressure Non-ThermalU.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development
Command (CCDC) Soldier Center
$180,000
Turcotte, DavidTNEC-CSEA Ensuring a Safe Offshore Wind Workforce ProjectMassCEC - Offshore Wind Works$300,000
Wong, Hsi-WuCAREER: Molten Polymers for Selective Biomass Fast Pyrolysis to Produce Value-Added ChemicalsNSF$500,000
Zhiyong GuEAGER: Catalytic Reaction Coupling of Bio-oil Hydrodeoxygenation and Alkane DehydrogenationNSF$100,000
TOTAL$24,226,337

*Noted if affiliated organization or institution is other than UMass Lowell.

**Noted where UMass Lowell is the sub-contractor and there is a different non-UML PI listed.