2016 Application Area 1: Alternative Energy
Recent worldwide economic and social events have illuminated the need for energy independence and a reduction in fossil-fuel-based energy sources. This trend is reinforced by future energy requirements, which are predicted to triple within the next 35 years. Rapidly growing energy requirements, combined with the economic and ecologic problems associated with fossil energy sources, make the development of efficient, inexpensive and environmentally benign energy sources one of the biggest technological challenges of the 21st century. As we migrate to new energy sources—alternatives to fossil fuels—researchers have been addressing many technological challenges to make renewable technologies viable. Research in new energy technologies is extremely diverse, ranging from conceiving and validating new power generation concepts, identifying and engineering novel materials, improving efficiency, lowering costs, to integrating the new technologies into the power grid.
Researchers across UC Berkeley have been tackling energy challenges for decades and are continuing to do so. In the summer of 2016, community college faculty participating in the Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) program at UC Berkeley will have the opportunity to join some of these laboratories to undertake research projects that may have applications in the field of alternative.
Applicable disciplines: engineering, physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, computer science
2016 Application Area 2: Wearable Electronics and Sensors
Wearable electronics and medical technologies have experienced a tremendous interest in recent years. The development of flexible and light-weight electronic systems, such as wearable medical devices, vitality sensors, and health monitors will likely transform medical care and personal diagnostics in unimagined ways. These new devices introduce tremendous versatility in terms of sensing locations in the body, which is currently limited to medical patients’ ear or finger. In addition to these clinical needs of monitoring vitals signs and symptoms with minimal impact for patients, the tremendous interest in wearable electronics is also driven by our increased desire for ‘around-the-clock personal-health monitoring’ using fitness and activity trackers such as Fitbit, Jawbone, and Misfit. Coupled with the advent of the Internet-of-Things, wearable electronics have thus become a hot commodity with an enormous market potential, making this an attractive topic for community college students.
Researchers at UC Berkeley are at the forefront of developing flexible and lightweight electronic systems, such as wearable medical devices and vitality sensors that will likely transform medical care and personal diagnostics in unimagined ways. In the summer of 2016, community college faculty participating in the Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) program at UC Berkeley will have the opportunity to join some of these laboratories to undertake research that aim at enabling wearable electronics.
Applicable disciplines: electrical engineering, physics, chemistry, materials science
2016 Application Area 3: Nanoelectronics
The continued miniaturization of electronic devices and components has been the driving force behind the tremendous growth of the semiconductor industry, which has dramatically transformed science, engineering and society as a whole. Since the famous observation by Gordon Moore in 1965 that transistors undergo continued size downscaling, we have experienced a 1000-fold decrease in device feature size. We have now entered the ‘nano-regime’ (the size range of 1-100 nm) in which entirely new families of materials and electronic components have become available, including nanotubes, quantum dots, nanowires, and two-dimensional materials (atomically thin sheets such as graphene). In contrast to conventional bulk semiconductor devices, the properties of these new nanoelectronic components are governed by quantum mechanics, with enormous potential for downscaling, faster speeds and more energy efficient operation.
Researchers across UC Berkeley are pioneers in nanoelectronic research and have greatly contributed to the development of new materials, devices, and circuit designs. In the summer of 2016, community college faculty participating in the Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) program at UC Berkeley will have the opportunity to work in the laboratories of some of these pioneers on nanoelectronic projects.
Applicable disciplines: engineering, physics, chemistry, materials science
2016 RET Program Participants and Research Projects
Thermal Conduction in Semiconducting Oxide Alloys for Thermoelectrics
Community College Faculty Researcher: Samir Abboud
Home Institutions: Laney College, Oakland, CA
Teaching: Engineering and Computer Science
Hosting Organization: Materials Science and Engineering Department, UC Berkeley
Faculty Advisor: Professor Junqiao Wu
Mentor: Dr. Hwan Sung Choe
Abstract of Research: Topological insulators promise to be highly efficient thermoelectric materials with high Seebeck coefficients and high electrical conductivity through doping. Waste heat produced from cars or in industry can be good resources to harvest electrical energy by thermoelectric materials. To thermoelectric properties, nano-scale materials are made for which electrical conductivity stays high, while thermal conductivity is decreased significantly by boundary effects. To evaluate thermoelectric conversion efficiency, a figure of merit, ZT, is used, where ZT= (Seebeck squared * elect conductivity /thermal conductivity)*T This work explores nanoscale Bi2Te3, Bi2Se3 with the goal to improve ZT of these materials.
Click HERE for the project poster.
Exploring the effect of cavity geometry in Thermophotovoltaics
Community College Faculty Researcher: Binod Dhakal
Home Institution: Diablo Valley College, Pleasant Hill, CA
Teaching: Physical Science and Physics
Hosting Organization: Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS), UC Berkeley
Faculty Advisor: Professor Eli Yablonovitch
Mentor: Patrick Xiao
Abstract of Research: The main goal of this work was to investigate the theoretically predicted high efficiencies of thermophotovoltaic (TPV) systems. The geometric arrangement of the emitter, the PV cells, and the rest of the cavity have a significant impact on the efficiency of the system. Ray tracing methods were used to build a computational model of photon flux in a 3D TPV cell cavity. Efficiency of TPV cell depended on the view factor of the cavity and how well the cell can reflect below bandgap radiation to be recycled. Efficiency levels around 50% were observed for uniform emitter at temperature off 1600 0C for a PV cell with 98% reflectivity. Future work will focus on exploring the expected increase in efficiency with Gaussian temperature distribution of emitter.
Click HERE for the project poster.
Statistical Evaluation of the Performance Stability of a Sweat Biological Sensor
Community College Faculty Researcher: Leonard Filane
Home Institution: College of Marin, Kentfield, CA
Teaching: Physics and Mathematics
Hosting Organization: Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences Department, UC Berkeley
Faculty Advisor: Professor Ali Javey
Mentor: Wei Gao
Abstract of Research: Human sweat contains much information about the physiological condition of a person. Biological sensors monitor concentrations of important sweat components such as potassium, sodium, glucose, lactate. Sensors are placed in direct contact with human skin. This approach allows for direct and continuous monitoring of the physiological parameters which is paramount for real-time health monitoring. Data obtained with sweat sensors is rich. The reliability of such data depends directly on the sensor’s performance stability. This study is focused on the statistical evaluation of the performance stability of a glucose sensor.
Click HERE for the project poster.
Efficient Energy Pathways: Smart Microgrids for Sub-Saharan Africa
Community College Faculty Researcher: Rose-Margaret Itua
Home Institution: Ohlone College, Fremont, CA
Teaching: Engineering
Hosting Organization: Renewable & Appropriate Research Lab, UC Berkeley
Faculty Advisor: Professor Daniel Kammen
Mentor: Deborah & JP
Abstract of Research: 1.6 billion people world wide have no access to electricity. In Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), fewer than 10% of rural households have electricity connections. Access to grid electricity in Sub-Saharan Africa remains low; a problem generally ascribed to differences in settlement patterns. Mean Interhouse Distance (MID) and Penetration Rates (PR) are factors in population settlements that affect the cost of energy pathways. This research looks into the optimization of MID and PR in energy pathways through Smart Microgrids.
Click HERE for the project poster.
Rinf Opening Alkyne Metathesis Polymerization (ROAMP)
Community College Faculty Researcher: Kofi Opong-Mensah
Home Institution: College of Marin, Kentfield, CA
Teaching: Engineering
Hosting Organization: Chemistry, UC Berkeley
Faculty Advisor: Professor Felix Fischer
Mentor: Hyangsoo Jeong
Abstract of Research Roject: Various polymeric organic compounds are explored for their usefulness for applications for electrical and electronic components, among others. The present synthetic pathways for selected intermediates of some organic compounds explore whether Molybdenum complex with a trianionic pincer ligand could be synthesized. Synthetic products with Ring-Opening Alkyne Metathesis Polymerization (ROAMP) reactions are investigated. Specific contribution made for the Summer 2016 included synthesis of intermediates for high-oxidation state of molybdenum complexes with OCO trianionic pincer ligand, which have been shown to have increased nucleophilicity at the carbyne ligand. Using the intermediate compounds ROAMP reactivity with Mo precursors and its metalation may be further investigated.
Click HERE for the project poster.