Energy Science & Technology

Principal investigators with world-class expertise in chemistry, physics and engineering—and their multidisciplinary teams—develop innovative solutions to critical energy problems.

The diverse range of research includes thermal science and technology, nanotechnology, experimental and computational fluid mechanics, intelligent control systems and nuclear thermal hydraulics, with broad application to many energy challenges.

VSTC research addresses reduced carbon dioxide emissions, greater fuel economy in vehicles, increased capacity of rechargeable batteries, improved designs for wind turbine energy and assures the safety of nuclear reactors.

News

Next Generation Refrigeration Technology: Magnetic Refrigeration with Nanoparticles

In the advancement of alternative energy sources, and the critical importance of the global warming, magnetic refrigeration is a promising energy efficient and environmentally friendly technology to replace conventional vapor-compression techniques. Our research aims to design, develop, and implement the first scalable commercially viable compressor-free magnetic refrigerator system.

Professor Hsu Awarded $1 Million Grant to Increase Fuel Economy of Vehicles

Stephen Hsu, a professor in the GW School of Engineering’s Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, is developing an innovative friction reduction technology with a recently awarded $1 million, three-year grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to increase the fuel economy of vehicles. His new technology will potentially save the United States 140 million barrels of oil per year and help the automobile industry meet new fuel economy regulations. Prof. Hsu is leading a project team consisting of a car manufacturer, an oil company and several additive companies.

Remembering Fukushima: Unique GW Model Improves Understanding of Nuclear Reactor Behavior during Earthquakes

GW's research team is leading the way to new discoveries about the behavior of nuclear reactor cores during earthquakes.

GW Researchers Introduce New High-Energy Rechargeable Batteries

While electric vehicles offer many advantages—including reducing greenhouse gas emissions and the country’s dependence on imported petroleum—at least one barrier stands in the way of their large-scale adoption: “range anxiety.”

GW Professor Appointed to Commonwealth's Virginia Nuclear Energy Consortium Authority

Governor McAuliffe announced the appointment of Dr. William Briscoe to serve on the Virginia Nuclear Energy Consortium Authority. Dr. Briscoe became the first GW faculty member to serve on one of the Governor's commissions.

Solving the Proton Radius Puzzle

Three of GW’s physics faculty, Evie Downie, William Briscoe and Andrei Afanasev, are leading the way in solving the “Proton Radius Puzzle,” along with more than 45 researchers from around the globe participating in the MUon proton Scattering Experiment (MUSE) Collaboration. GW was awarded a $277,000, 18-month grant in July 2014 from the Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Science Foundation (NSF).

GW Hosts International Physics Conference at Virginia Campus

GW professors Edward Teller and George Gamow, pioneers in nuclear physics, began a long and distinguished history for GW’s Department of Physics. Current faculty members continue in their footsteps with cutting-edge research and recent leadership in organizing the International Workshop on Partial Wave Analysis for Hadron Spectroscopy.

GW Professors Receive Renewable Energy R&D Grant from Dominion Virginia Power

Professor Andrei Afanasev, GW Department of Physics and Professor Mona Zaghloul, chairman of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, have received a $150,000 grant over two years from Dominion Virginia Power. Their project seeks to engineer solar cells that use the unique properties of quantum dots to raise conversion efficiency of solar light into

Featured Faculty

Stephen Hsu

Dr. Stephen Hsu

Professor Stephen Hsu's Energy Efficiency Lab and Nanomaterials Lab conducts research on renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies in buildings, transportation, and machinery. His expertise includes fluid mechanics, thermal science and technology, mechanical engineering, nanotechnologies, solid mechanics and materials science.

Bardet

Dr. Philippe Bardet

Professor Philippe Bardet's research focuses on experimental fluid mechanics and nuclear thermal hydraulics. He specializes in developing new laser-based diagnostics for multiphase and fluid-structure interaction flows. On-going research efforts include gas transfer in aquatic environments, plume dispersal in the environment, and seismic response of nuclear fuel assemblies.

Dr. Bennett

Dr. Lawrence Bennett

Professor Lawrence Bennett and his students: 1) operate a unique magnetic refrigeration test bed laboratory providing unique data and theory; 2) carry out leading-edge research in the magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE), including combining MOKE with electrochemistry to drive magnetic fields by electric currents, with important applications to devices; and 3) theoretical modeling in hysteresis.

Leftwich

Dr. Megan Leftwich

Professor Megan Leftwich's Biologically Inspired Energy Laboratory investigates natural fluid dynamics phenomena and applies their findings to engineering problems. Curent projects include the wake dynamics of vertical axis wind turbines is standard and complex configurations, the hydrodynamics of pinniped swimming (in collaboration with the Smithsonian National Zoo), and the fluid dynamics of human birth.