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View the UT Energy Week 2024 Program

Monday, March 25
Tuesday, March 26
Wednesday, March 27
Thursday, March 28
Friday, March 29

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

Tuesday Research Showcase

The University of Texas at Austin, Robert B. Rowling Hall (RRH), 300 W Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, Austin, TX 78705 & Engineering Education & Research Center (EER), 2501 Speedway, Austin, TX 78705

Note: UT Energy Week attendees have the opportunity to earn continuing education units (CEUs) for professional engineering (PE) licensing requirements, provided by Texas Engineering Executive Education at UT’s Cockrell School of Engineering. You may indicate your interest in this option when you register for Energy Week.

Schedule at a Glance

Concurrent Affiliate Events:

Tuesday Research Showcase (8:00 a.m. – 7:30 p.m.)

Quick Navigation

Registration & Breakfast

8:00 – 8:30 AM
Registration & Breakfast
Crum Auditorium Foyer, RRH 1.400F

Research Showcase Opening Remarks

8:30 – 8:45 AM
Research Showcase Opening Remarks
Crum Auditorium, RRH 1.400

Brian Korgel, Director, Energy Institute, The University of Texas at Austin

Texas Nuclear Symposium: Day 2 (Concurrent Affiliate Event)

8:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Texas Nuclear Symposium: Day 2
Engineering Education & Research Center (EER), Room 3.646
7:00 AM
Breakfast
8:00 AM
Welcome & Human Capital

Dr. Dale Klein

8:15 AM
Nuclear Robotics & Augmented Reality

Nuclear Robotics – Dr. Mitch Pryor
Augmented Reality – Corrie Van Sice

9:15 AM
Defense, Nonproliferation & Security

Defense & Nonproliferation – Dr. Derek Haas
Radiochemistry/ORNL – Dr. Joseph Lapka
Safeguards & Security – Dr. William Charlton
Nuclear Test Detection – Dr. Joseph Lapka

10:00 AM
Break
10:15 AM
Medical & Health Physics

Medical/Health Physics & Medical Detectors – Dr. Elena Zannoni
Radiation Physics/Health Physics – Dr. Sheldon Landsberger
Medical Isotopes – Dr. Don Nolting

11:15 AM
Stewardship (Radiation Effects)

Dr. William Charlton

11:30 AM
Future Vision & Closing Remarks

Dr. Derek Haas

Research Presentations, Part 1: Carbon Management, CCUS

8:45 – 9:45 AM
Research Presentations, Part 1: Carbon Management, CCUS
Crum Auditorium, RRH 1.400 • Watch video

Featured Research Teams:

  • Computational Design and Engineering of Biocatalysts for CO2 Conversion — Yi Lu (Department of Chemistry, College of Natural Sciences) and Narayana Aluru (Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering)
  • Combining Quantitative Leakage Risk Assessment with Financial Liability for CO2 Geologic Storage — Sahar Bakhshian and Susan Hovorka (Bureau of Economic Geology, Jackson School of Geosciences) and James Dyer (Department of Information, Risk, and Operations Management; McCombs School of Business)
  • Self-Sealing Capacity of Wellbore Cement Under Geologic CO2 Storage — Charles Werth and Maria Juenger (Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering; Cockrell School of Engineering) and Sahar Bakhshian (Bureau of Economic Geology, Jackson School of Geosciences)
  • Carbon Dioxide Hydrates-Based Carbon Sequestration on the Seabed — Vaibhav Bahadur (Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering) and Yingda Lu (Hildebrand Department of Petroleum & Geosystems Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering)
  • Impacts of Geochemistry on Carbon Dioxide Adsorption in Organic-Rich Mudrocks — Zoya Heidari and Nicolas Espinoza (Hildebrand Department of Petroleum & Geosystems Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering)
  • Laboratory experiments & modeling to accurately evaluate critical CO2 saturation for geologic carbon storage — Hailun Ni and Sahar Bakhshian (Bureau of Economic Geology, Jackson School of Geosciences) and David DiCarlo (Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering)
  • Long-term Surveillance of Plugged and Abandoned Wells for Immediate Detection of CO2 Leakage in Geologic Carbon Storage Sites — Sahar Bakhshian, Susan Hovorka and Michael H. Young (Jackson School of Geosciences – Bureau of Economic Geology)
  • Enabling Zero Carbon Emission by Electrochemical CO2 Reduction Technology — Guihua Yu, Jamie Warner and Yuanyue Liu (Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering, Texas Materials Institute)
  • Study CO2 foams in an effort to improve long-term carbon storage in depleted oil and gas reservoirs — Angel Wileman and Sarah Stuart (Southwest Research Institute); David DiCarlo and Masa Prodanovic (Hildebrand Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering)
  • Study CO2 pipeline flow behaviors as part of a larger effort to facilitate large-scale carbon capture utilization & storage (CCUS) — Kevin Supak and Kelsi Katcher (Southwest Research Institute); Yingda Lu (Hildebrand Department of Petroleum & Geosystems Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering)

Clean Hydrogen

9:45 – 10:30 AM
Research Presentations, Part 1B: Clean Hydrogen
Crum Auditorium, RRH 1.400 • Watch video

Featured Research Teams:

  • Hydrogen Production at Natural Gas Wellheads — Yingda Lu and Kishore Mohanty (Hildebrand Department of Petroleum & Geosystems Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering)
  • Controlling Intrinsic Defects in Metal Oxides for High-Performance, Low-Cost Green Hydrogen Production — Delia Milliron, Joaquin Resasco and Wennie Wang (McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering)
  • Integrated Computational & Experimental Microscopic Elucidation of Amorphous Electrocatalysts for Water Splitting — Wennie Wang, Joaquin Resasco and C. Buddie Mullins (McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering)
  • Ammonia Reforming to Hydrogen Using Non-Equilibrium Plasma Discharges — Fabrizio Bisetti and Thomas Underwood (Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, Cockrell School of Engineering)
  • Develop & evaluate an enhanced turbine cooling method to facilitate the use of cleaner hydrogen fuel engine applications — David Bogard (Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering) and Ellen Smith (Southwest Research Institute)
  • Create a cost-effective & environmentally friendly method for producing hydrogen fuel — Thomas C. Underwood (Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics), Fabrizio Bisetti (Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics | Oden Institute), Graeme Henkelman (Chemistry | Oden Institute), C. Buddie Mullins and Michael Miller (Southwest Research Institute)
  • Leveraging Permian Basin Assets for the Emerging Clean Hydrogen Energy Economy in Texas — Michael C. Lewis (Center for Electromechanics, Cockrell School of Engineering) and Ning Lin (Bureau of Economic Geology, Jackson School of Geosciences)

Between Two Cacti with Brian Korgel

10:45 – 11:30 AM
Between Two Cacti with Brian Korgel: The Case for Collaboration – Bridging the Gap Between Industry & Academia to Advance Energy Research
Crum Auditorium, RRH 1.400 • Watch video

Haibin Xu (Shell) and Dominic Clausi (ExxonMobil), in conversation with Brian Korgel (Director, Energy Institute, The University of Texas at Austin)

Hydrogen Workshop: From Hydrogen Market Development to Project Development (Concurrent Affiliate Event)

11:00 AM – 2:30 PM
Workshop: From Hydrogen Market Development to Project Development
Hosted in Partnership with the Association of International Energy Negotiators (AIEN) • RRH 5.210 (5th Floor Special Events Room) • Register here

Hydrogen has been widely discussed as potentially playing a significant role in a decarbonized future. Sitting at the intersection of the “electron” and “molecule” sides of the energy industry, hydrogen has the potential to work in concert with other key energy vectors and decarbonization tools to aid in the push toward a cleaner future. This half-day workshop explores the potential role hydrogen could play in the broader economy and highlights challenges associated with growing the global market.

11:00 – 11:45 AM
Hydrogen Market
An overview of the global hydrogen market, including a view of foundational supply and demand dynamics.

Amy Herbert, CEO, Arcadia Fuels
Ryan Eslicker, Business Development Director, EDF
Ryan Macaluso, Manager of New Energies & Carbon, Motiva Enterprise

Moderator: TBA
12:30 – 1:15 PM
Hydrogen & Geopolitics
The interplay of national and regional actors in driving demand and supply for clean hydrogen globally.

Chris Hardy, Hydrogen Origination, Chevron
Lindsey Bok, Lower Carbon Manager, Equinor
Dickson Chin, Partner, Jones Day

Moderator: Michael Webber, Professor, The University of Texas at Austin
1:30 – 2:15 PM
Hydrogen Project Commercialization
Navigating the project commercialization process and assessing new commercial models required to make hydrogen projects bankable.

Abby Spring-Mann, Managing Partner, Société Generale
Marc Van Den Boom, Senior Vice President of Operations US Gulf Coast, Worley
Kyle Doherty, Senior Associate, Baker Botts LLP

Moderator: Drake Hernandez, Hydrogen and Low-Carbon Fuels, Charles River Associates

Lunch & Research Poster Session

11:30 AM – 12:30 PM
Lunch | Research Poster Session for Morning Research Teams: Carbon Management, CCUS, & Clean Hydrogen
Rowling Hall Atrium, RRH 1.300 | Crum Auditorium Foyer, RRH 1.400F

UT Energy Symposium

12:30 – 1:30 PM
UT Energy Symposium: Can Business Models Accelerate Sustainable Energy Transitions in the Commercial Sector Without the Need for Government & Utility Incentives or Feed-In Tariffs? The Budderfly Case Study
Crum Auditorium, RRH 1.400 • View PDF slides • Watch video

Matthew Nemerson, Vice President, Strategic Partnerships, Budderfly

Panel Discussion: Student Energy Startup Founders

1:30 – 2:15 PM
Panel Discussion: Getting a Head Start on Innovation – Insights from Student Energy Startup Founders
Crum Auditorium, RRH 1.400 • Watch video

Featured Panelists:

Moderator: Jeremy Pitts, Managing Director, Activate Houston • View PDF slides

Research Presentations, Part 2: Environmental Monitoring, Supply Chain, Circular Economy & Policy

2:15 – 3:00 PM
Research Presentations, Part 2: Environmental Monitoring, Supply Chain, Circular Economy & Policy
Crum Auditorium, RRH 1.400 • Watch video

Featured Research Teams:

  • Uncertainty Quantification for Circular Economies & Supply Chains — Michael Baldea (Oden Institute and McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering) and Erhan Kutanoglu (Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering)
  • Developing a Network of Ecological Sensors for Analysis of Long-Term Acoustic & Environmental Data — Timothy Keitt and Andrea Contina (Department of Integrative Biology, College of Natural Sciences)
  • Go Clean Fast: The Political Economy of Green Industrial Policy — Joshua W. Busby (Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs) and Nathan Jensen (Department of Government)
Industrial Decarbonization
  • Breaking the Hydrocarbon Cascade in Electric Process Heating: Strategies for Upgrading Fuel Gas Streams — Michael Baldea, Thomas C. Underwood and Buddie Mullins (McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering; Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics)
  • Modernizing Brownfield Electric Power System Reliability & Quality to Support the Electrification of Industrial Processes — Surya Santoso and Brian Johnson (Chandra Family Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering)
Water Use & Conservation
  • The Effects of Surfactants, Salt Concentration & Suspended Solids on Selective Oil Permeation — Lynn Katz and Frank Seibert (Department of Civil, Architectural & Environmental Engineering; Center for Energy and Environmental Resources)

Research Presentations, Part 3: Power Grid & E-Mobility; Low/Zero-Carbon Fuels & DERs

3:30 – 4:30 PM
Research Presentations, Part 3: Power Grid & E-Mobility; Low/Zero-Carbon Fuels & Distributed Energy Resources (DERs)
Crum Auditorium, RRH 1.400 • Watch video

Featured Research Teams:

  • Lower Grid Emissions & Better Grid Performance — Kara Kockelman (Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering) and Benjamin Leibowicz (Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering)
  • Toward Equitable Transportation Electrification in Austin, TX — Junfeng Jiao, Kijin Seong and Abigail Johnson (Community and Regional Planning, School of Architecture)
  • Advanced Algorithms for Optimizing Electricity Demand of Electric Vehicle Fleets in Texas to Support the Grid & Local Communities — Javad Mohammadi and Sergio Castellanos (Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering)
  • A Modular & Flexible DC-AC Converter Cell for Future Grid Systems — Brian Johnson and Alex Hanson (Chandra Family Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering)
  • High-rate, large-area deposition of magnetic materials for next-generation energy technologies — Alex Hanson and Jean Anne Incorvia (Chandra Family Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering) with Jianliang Lin (Southwest Research Institute)
  • Manufacturing of High-Strength Nanolattice Coating for Cryogenic Liquid Hydrogen Fuel Storage — Chih-Hao Chang and Li Shi (Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering)
  • Analysis of Permian Basin Clean Ammonia Production, Distribution, & Market Demand — Michael Lewis (Center for Electromechanics), Ning Lin (Bureau of Economic Geology) and Vaibhav Bahadur (Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering)
  • Microbial Reactions during Underground Hydrogen Storage — Kishore Mohanty and Wen Song (Hildebrand Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering)

The Future of Geothermal in Texas (Concurrent Affiliate Event)

4:00 – 5:30 PM
The Future of Geothermal in Texas: Exploring Technology Breakthroughs & Policy Solutions
Hosted by PowerHouse Texas and the Texas Energy & Climate Caucus • Texas State Capitol Extension, Hearing Room E2.030 (see page 5 of the Capitol visitor map) • Register here

This Energy Innovation Forum brings together leading experts to discuss the latest geothermal technology breakthroughs, the status of implementing geothermal-related legislation from the last legislative session, and what more the legislature can do to support this rapidly growing industry.

Featured Speakers:

Moderator: Matt Welch, Executive Vice President, Texas Geothermal Energy Alliance

Startup Night Keynote Address

4:30 – 4:45 PM
Startup Night Keynote Address
Crum Auditorium, RRH 1.400

Nicole Iseppi, Director, Global Energy Innovation, Bezos Earth Fund

Startup Night: Energy Startup Spotlight Presentations

4:45 – 5:30 PM
Startup Night: Energy Startup Spotlight Presentations
Crum Auditorium, RRH 1.400

Featured Speakers:

Startup Night: Evening Reception

5:30 – 7:30 PM
Startup Night: Evening Reception
RRH 5.210 (5th Floor Special Events Room)

Energy Startup Showcase & Mixer (5:30 – 7:30 PM)

Featured Guests:

  • Activate Houston
  • Austin Technology Incubator
  • Austin Urban Technology Movement
  • Bedrock Energy
  • Capital Factory
  • Energy Umbrella
  • Genesis UT
  • Horizen
  • IC2 Institute
  • LaunchPad at UT
  • MACH Transit
  • Mars Materials
  • Pike Robotics
  • Texas Entrepreneurship Exchange for Energy (TEX-E)
  • Texas Venture Labs
  • Tech Ranch
  • UT Inclusive Entrepreneurship & Innovation
  • Verified Carbon

Research Poster Session for Afternoon Teams (5:30 – 6:30 PM)
Topics: Environmental Monitoring, Supply Chain, Circular Economy, Policy, Industrial Decarbonization, Water Use & Conservation, Power Grid & E-Mobility, Low/Zero-Carbon Fuels and Distributed Energy Resources (DERs)

Energy Ventures Practicum: Elevator Pitches (6:30 – 7:00 PM)

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