Energy News

The new RAMP summer camp for incoming women engineering students aims to build their skills and connect them with future mentors so they stay the course. The first-year students say it’s boosting their confidence – and helping them make friends.

Mechanical engineer students, led by senior lecturer Michele Putko, are helping improve energy efficiency at the Lowell Transitional Living Center through an independent study project funded by a mini-grant from the university’s Sustainability Encouragement & Enrichment Development (S.E.E.D.) Fund.

A new research partnership between Avangrid, its subsidiary Central Maine Power and UMass Lowell will bring together researchers from the company and the university to advance the development and implementation of clean energy technologies - including hydropower, wind energy, power grids, energy storage and data sciences - over the next decade. UMass Lowell students will also benefit from the partnership, which calls for them to participate in on-campus research and for CMP to explore opportunities for co-ops, internships and fellowships. 

Two UMass Lowell graduate students were part of the teams that recently won top prizes at two “hackathons” organized by MIT, the U.S. Department of Defense MD5 program and the Naval Postgraduate School.

The university’s new Urban Agriculture Greenhouse, run in partnership with Mill City Grows, will be a testing ground for water and energy efficiency — while also providing food for the local community.

UMass Lowell’s role as a leader in the emerging energy industry got a lift from a recent $95,000 grant from the UMass President’s Science & Technology (S&T) Initiatives Fund.

UMass Lowell professor of energy David Willis gave a presentation on wind power and its benefits, demonstrating specific processes that create clean energy, such as wind rotation, at “Clean Energy Activity Day" at the Manthala George Jr. Elementary School in Brockton.

Renewable-energy entrepreneur Harish Hande, 2011 winner of Asia s Nobel Peace Prize, the Magsaysay Award, spoke with students during his visit to UMass Lowell, his alma mater, on Friday.

The UMass Lowell Police Department has added a Nissan LEAF electric vehicle to its fleet through the Massachusetts Electric Vehicle Incentive Program.

Mechanical engineering students visited Lowell middle schools and after-school programs to get kids excited about science. It was a service-learning project that was part of a required course, Materials Science for Engineers.

Steven Chu was on campus on Nov. 16 to deliver this year’s Tripathy Endowed Memorial Lecture and receive an honorary doctorate.

UMass Lowell today presented its highest honor to Nobel laureate and former U.S. energy secretary Steven Chu for his contributions to the pursuits of clean energy and solutions to climate change.

The university earns gold rating from Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System, becoming one of three institutions in the state to reach that level.

New solar panels on the South Campus parking garage will nearly double the university’s solar power production and slash its annual electric bill by $31,000, just one of several energy-saving projects completed this summer.

A team of 16 students from the Francis College of Engineering and Manning School of Business took second place in the national Collegiate Wind Competition.

Mechanical Engineering Asst. Prof. Juan Pablo Trelles is developing a new process to convert waste carbon dioxide from power plants and factories into sustainable fuels and high-value chemicals.

A team of electrical engineering and computer science students has built and tested a solar/electric-powered quadricycle that could ferry up to four passengers without consuming a single drop of gas.

UMass Lowell is hosting 23 engineering sophomores and juniors from King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, as part of the University’s Nuclear Energy Education and Training (NEET) program.

SELCO founder, UMass Lowell alum Harish Hande, set out to dispel the myths that poor people can't afford or maintain solar technologies.

Samuel Hamill, a senior electrical engineering student from Lawrence, has created a solar-powered lawn mower to help cut down on air pollution, gas consumption and noise.

Carolina Barreto, a doctoral student in the University’s solar energy engineering program, played a key role in “Burning in the Sun,” one of five films that won this year’s Cinema for Peace award in Germany.

For alums Raul Raudales and Richard Trube, an engineer and technical writer who met at UMass Lowell 20 years ago, world change begins with the modest coffee bean.

Nuclear engineering Prof. Gilbert Brown was recently appointed a William C. Foster Fellow by the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C.

A group of UMass Lowell students is putting its engineering skills to the test this week in the U.S. Department of Energy’s biennial Solar Decathlon Competition.

Faculty and students from English, Engineering and Gender Studies have joined forces in the Village Empowerment Program’s ongoing efforts to improve living conditions in Peru and on the Tohono O’odham Nation in Arizona.

A team of engineering and architecture students will participate in the biennial competition this fall in Washington, D.C.

A UMass Lowell engineering graduate is among those from Asia who have been chosen to receive this year’s prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award from the Philippines.

A quick poll of students, faculty and staff reveal what people are reading on campus.

Students in Prof. John Duffy’s Village Empowerment program built a green clinic in remote Huanchay, a village in Peru.

Dozens of local Boy Scouts recently visited UMass Lowell to work on a merit badge in nuclear science.

Hundreds of students in the Village Empowerment Project have traveled to Peru to offer help in a variety of ways. Maia Benavente joined her father on a recent trip, where they created a high-efficiency stove for a school.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission recently awarded UMass Lowell $400,000 to help fund graduate fellowships in health physics and nuclear engineering for the next four years.

Do you want to know what it is like to drive an all-electric vehicle? You will have that opportunity by attending the Electric Vehicle Summit and Workshop on Wednesday, Oct. 6, at the UMass Lowell Inn & Conference Center.

A team of students from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design and UMass Lowell’s Solar Energy Engineering Program will compete in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon next fall.

Grad student Patrick Retelle helps the Chelmsford Water District obtain $3,783,000 in federal stimulus money to build a photovoltaic system to power its treatment plant.

A team of researchers from UMass Lowell’s Mechanical Engineering Department recently received a two-year grant of about $500,000 from the Department of Energy to test wind turbine blades.

A wind turbine capable of producing 2 kilowatts of electricity has recently been added on the roof of Ball Hall in the North Campus.

The College of Engineering kicks off its annual E-Week celebration Friday, Feb. 13.

National Grid and the City of Lowell, in partnership with UMass Lowell, are sponsoring a competition to help property owners get their homes as close to zero-energy consumption as possible.

In early September, the fourth annual IEEE Vehicle Power and Propulsion Conference was held in Harbin, China.

Prof. Jayant Kumar was among a team of researchers whose invention of new solar-cell manufacturing technology recently received a patent from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Prof. Ziyad Salameh discusses sources of renewable energy at a recent engineering meeting in Saudi Arabia.

A battery-powered lamppost was installed recently to illuminate the golden statue in front of Alumni Hall at night.

The Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) has accredited all seven UML engineering programs for the next six years, the maximum allowed by the Board.

Many Americans are concerned about losing U.S. businesses to India. Engineering Dean Emeritus Krishna Vedula, on the other hand, has focused on a project that could boost both countries’ economies.

Prof. John Duffy would say he’s only a small part of the effort to supply remote villages in the Peruvian Andes with renewable and sustainable infrastructure.

Twenty incoming Lowell High School freshmen participated in a 6-week program that exposed them to career options in health care, information technology and engineering.

Volunteering to bring power and water to remote villages in Peru has been life changing for the student participantsߞ;and life saving for the villagers.

The National Council of Examiners for Engineers and Surveyors has presented H. William Flood, retired engineering professor, with “The 2006 Northeast Zone Distinguished Service Award.”

UML Engineering students, faculty and staff held their annual celebration of E-Week, a national event paying homage to the field of engineering. From February 21 to 27, engineers across the U.S. commemorated the accomplishments and advances in engineering sciences with a variety of festivities.