Joe Baker and Tao Deng Award Engie North America Fellowships

Mechanical Engineering graduate student Joseph Baker and Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering graduate student Tao Deng have been named the 2018 recipients of the Engie North America Chuck Edwards Memorial Fellowships. These fellowships support students performing research in the areas of waste heat utilization in oil and gas industry (gas liquefaction), carbon dioxide sequestration using waste heat, absorption technology for solar cooling applications and waste heat utilization applications, as well as modeling for Small Autonomous Energy System design and optimization and small capacity combined heat and power (CHP) system laboratory performance. The fellowships of $25,000 each help to fund the students’ research.

Deng’s project, ‘Interface Engineering Enable High-Rate Solid-State Sodium Metal Batteries’, is working to develop a high performance, solid state sodium-metal battery for commercial use. The proposed design of SSSBs would improve the power density and cycling stability by enhancing physical contact and reducing the strain/stress at the electrode/electrolyte interfaces. If successfully, the NBAO based SSSBs would be the most promising candidates for next generation cost-saving energy storage devices that not only provide high energy/power density with enhanced safety, but also help reduce CO₂ emissions by promoting the prosperity of renewable energy market. His advisor is Prof. Chunsheng Wang.

Baker’s project, “Electrochemical Ammonium Compression” began in July. With this project he aims to develop a scaled-up compression device for ammonia gas using an improved electrochemical compressor test facility and will attempt to improve compressor performance through improved delivery of reactant gases to the ion exchange membrane. Furthermore, it has been proposed for applications in power-to-gas energy storage as well as carbon capture and sequestration. His advisor is Prof. Reinhard Radermacher.

Since 2002, Engie (Trigen-Cinergy Solutions as it was then named) has awarded fellowships at the University of Maryland through a fund created to support energy conversion education and research at the A. James Clark School of Engineering. In 2014, the fellowship was renamed the GDF-Suez Chuck Edwards Memorial Fellowship to honor the memory of Mr. Chuck Edwards, the late general manager at GDF Suez Energy North America and long-time fellowship benefactor.

The fellowship provides financial support to fund students' research and graduate assistant positions. A faculty committee selects students based on academic merit, recommendation and alignment of research goals in the area of energy conversion systems and related technology.

Published December 10, 2018