UA, ASU Co-Hosting Renewable Energy Conference

For the second consecutive year, more than 150 University of Arizona and Arizona State University graduate and faculty students will convene to share their cutting-edge energy research.

It's time for the Arizona Student Energy Conference, AzSEC, an annual two-day conference for those working on a range of topics including: the basic science of solar energy conversion and formation of chemical fuels from sunlight; development of new photovoltaic technologies; also, new programs dealing with energy policy and implementation.

AzSEC, to be held April 11-12 from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.,will include student presentations, poster sessions, panel discussions, keynote talks from industry experts, and more. The event will be held at the Tucson Marriott University Park, 880 E. Second St.

All told, the event demonstrates the breadth and depth of research activities being conducted at both institutions and gives participants the opportunity to share their research.

Invited speakers include:

• Kimberly Ogden, who directs the National Alliance for Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts, will present her talk, "Bio-Fuel and Marketable Products from Algae.”
• Michael Woodhouse, Solar PV Technologies and Economics Analyst at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, will present “Analysis Results from The Strategic Energy Analysis Center and The National Center for Photovoltaics.”
• David Hutchens, president of Unisource and Tucson Electric Power Co.
• Gary Dirks, director of the ASU Global Institute of Sustainability and ASU LightWorks director.

“Our inaugural event at ASU in 2012 was great fun. Our students left the conference energized and full of ideas about how to collaborate with their new friends and expand the student energy networks at both schools," said Neal Armstrong, a professor in the UA Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry who co-led the event's organizing committee. 

"We hope to build on that success as we host AzSEC this year," Armstrong said.

"The state of Arizona is uniquely positioned for pioneering energy research and it’s exciting to see both UA and ASU working together to face this research challenge," he also said. "These students will transform the 21st century energy landscape.”

The full AzSEC agenda and more information are available online.

Funding for the conference is provided by the UA Renewable Energy Network (UA REN) and ASU LightWorks.

Photos courtesy of the UA Renewable Energy Network

Contact: Daniel Moseke, program coordinator for the Center for Interface Science: Solar Electric Materials, at 520-621-2761 or dmoseke@email.arizona.edu.