The Nebraska Center for Energy Sciences Research (NCESR) is taking applications for the summer undergraduate internship in energy sciences research. The Darrell J. Nelson Summer Undergraduate Internship in Energy Sciences Research is being offered for the eighth time in the amount up to $5,000 per recipient for the summer of 2022. 

For additional information about the 2022 application requirements, click here.

http://ncesr.unl.edu/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/2022-NCESR-Summer-Internship-Info-Sheet.pdf. The application form is in DocuSign. Click on the following link, type in your e-mail address and password and then you will see the application form.

https://na2.docusign.net/Member/PowerFormSigning.aspx?PowerFormId=35f17d3e-584b-4b79-92fc-f745ae59e238&env=na2&acct=4feb3629-b3f4-4292-8ebb-68f28d5d88a6&v=2

To learn more about previous summer undergraduate internship projects, go to http://ncesr.unl.edu/?page_id=9451Edit This

The Nebraska Center for Energy Sciences Research is seeking innovative energy sciences research and collaboration ideas from University of Nebraska faculty.  The Request for Proposals was released April 1, 2021. This is the sixteenth annual cycle in which UNL faculty can compete in this internal competition for energy research grants  These grants are considered seed funding to help UNL faculty develop energy-related research capacity and improve their competitiveness for external funding. In addition, the RFP gives guidelines for a Special XPrize competition.  If interested in this competition, please read the guidelines carefully as they are different than the regular Cycle funding opportunities.   Funding for this opportunity is made possible through an investment in energy sciences research by the Nebraska Public Power District.  Preproposals are due May 15, 2021 by 1:00 p.m. Full proposals will be by invitation.   Use https://go.unl.edu/i78w to submit your preproposal.

Four undergraduate students were selected as recipients of the Darrell J. Nelson Summer Undergraduate Internship in Energy Sciences Research for the Summer of 2021. The four recipients and their supervising faculty members are Noah Berkenwald (David Berkowitz, Department of Chemistry; Alisson Ntwali (F. John Hay, Biological Systems Engineering); Jeannette Uzamukunda (Zhenghong Tang, Community and Regional Planning Program); and Pranav Palli (Chi Zhang, School of Biological Sciences). The internship is named after Mr. Darrell J. Nelson, who served 41 years on the Custer County Public Power District and Nebraska Public Power (NPPD) Boards.  In 2005, Mr. Nelson proposed a partnership between NPPD and the University of Nebraska–Lincoln for engaging in energy sciences research.  The following year, the Nebraska Center for Energy Sciences Research (NCESR) was created with NPPD’s support.  At the end of the paid internship, each student will prepare a summary report that describes their experience and will prepare a poster to describe the accomplishments or results of their work experience in energy sciences research.

Demirel, Energy: Production, Conversion, Storage, Conservation, and Coupling. 3^nd Ed., Springer, London 2021 (650 pages). https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007%2F978-3-030-56164-2

In line with the goals of Nebraska Center for Energy Sciences Research, this third edition may contribute toward research on energy sciences in energy production, conversion, storage, conservation, and coupling. It discusses energy production mainly using closed and open cycles of heat engines, energy conversion with an emphasis on the ways to improve the energy conversion efficiency. It also discusses the energy storage by various means, as well as the energy conservation and recovery. It introduces energy coupling with examples from biological systems. it focuses on sustainability and life cycle analyses in energy systems to emphasize the implications of the use of energy on the environment, society, and economy. It also discusses ‘renewable energy’ and ‘energy economics and management with the latest projections. It should be freely downloadable using UNL campus computers and the solution manual is available for the instructors.

The single-celled microorganisms known as methanogens are, no surprise, known for emitting methane: in the guts of humans and other animals, in hydrothermal vents that gash the ocean floor — almost anywhere, really, that oxygen is not.

But biochemist Nicole Buan and colleagues at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln have now genetically engineered a species of methanogen that can also yield sizable amounts of isoprene, the primary chemical component of synthetic rubber. Promisingly, that isoprene production substantially outpaces the yields of other microorganisms engineered for the same purpose.  Engineered microbe excels at ‘breathing rubber’

On April 12-16, 2021, the Office of Graduate Studies, Office of Undergraduate Research, and the Office of Research and Economic Development held virtual Student Research Days. Over 200 students participated in the event. Three students working on Energy Center projects received awards.

Junsi Yang, working with Dr. Ozan Ciftci in Food Science and Technology (Developing a Green Biorefinery Approach for Rural Processing of High-Value Camelina and Sorghum Co-Products), received a $400 travel grant to help with conference travel costs.

Brandi Brown, working with Rajib Saha in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (Conversion of Lignin from Lignocellulosic Biomass into Biodegradable Plastic), received a $400 travel grant as well as top honors and monetary award from the College of Engineering.

Thivani Senathiraja, working with Siamak Nejati in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (Selective H2 Separation Using Mixed Matrix Membranes and Its Utilization), received a $400 travel grant as well as top honors and monetary award from the College of Engineering.

To view these posters and others related to current Energy Center projects, please go to Undergraduate and Graduate Student Research Grant Posters

Eight new research projects were selected for funding by the Energy Center in its fifteenth annual grant competition.  The faculty selected for the awards were Professors Humberto Blanco, Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, Andrea Watson, Department of Animal Science, Sibel Irmak, Department of Biological Systems Engineering, Yinsheng Guo, Department of Chemistry, Jiong Hu, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Nicole Buan, Department of Biochemistry, Alexei Gruverman, Department of Physics and Astronomy, and Li Tan, Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering. To learn more go to 2021/2022 Energy Research Grants (Cycle 15)

Natalie Parker, a summer REU student, created 5 YouTube presentation videos to teach the basics on how to zero dimension plasma kinetics program, ZDPlaskin. She also posted another video on a poster simulating the generation of hydroxyl radicals in plasmas with H₂O, O_2, and Ar.   https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2Vg5r9LO7VzBJACzLrmk9g   From 7/29/2020 to 11/12/2020, these videos were viewed 604 times. This dedicated channel for teaching the plasma simulation software currently has 14 subscribers.  This work is part of Barry Cheung’s (Department of Chemistry) NCESR project “Conversion of carbon dioxide to oxygenates by plasma catalysis”.

PLEASE NOTE:  THE DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS HAS BEEN EXTENDED TO FEBRUARY 28.

The Nebraska Center for Energy Sciences Research (NCESR) is taking applications for the summer undergraduate internship in energy sciences research. The Darrell J. Nelson Summer Undergraduate Internship in Energy Sciences Research is being offered for the seventh time in the amount up to $5,000 per recipient for the summer of 2020.  For additional information about the 2021 application requirements, click here:  2021 NCSER Summer Internship Info Sheet.  For a copy of the application form (Word document),  click here:  NCESR Summer Undergraduate Internship – 2021 Application Form.  To learn more about previous summer undergraduate internship projects, go to http://ncesr.unl.edu/?page_id=9451