Energy Engineering Seminar: Francis Vanek, Civil & Environmental Engineering, Cornell University
Thursday, September 17, 2020 12:40pm to 1:30pm
About this Event
“Testbed Ithaca”: Converting local research and innovation into a replicable model for sustainable energy
As a “living laboratory”, Cornell University is poised to lead the way in pursuing sustainability and confronting climate change, in conjunction with the City of Ithaca and surrounding Tompkins County. Since 2010, I have worked with teams of M.Eng students on feasibility studies of various sustainable solutions that can assist in this effort. Local topics have included large-scale renewable energy, resilient electricity microgrids, sustainable transportation, and repurposing unused industrial buildings. What has emerged is an opportunity to create “Testbed Ithaca” to design, test, and implement solutions that can be replicated elsewhere. In this talk I first review several local projects carried out by student teams from 2010 to 2019. I then take a closer look at two recent projects, one on Effluent Thermal Energy Recovery (ETER) as proposed for our local wastewater management facility, and the other on converting Cornell’s heating loops from steam to hot water. Lastly, I describe how academic researchers, energy professionals, and grass -roots organizations might all leverage this program, and the particular role for Cornell University and its worldwide community of alumni.
Bio: Francis Vanek is Senior Lecturer in Civil & Environmental Engineering at Cornell University, where his teaching focuses on renewable energy, sustainable transportation, green building, and Engineers for a Sustainable World, and his research specialty is energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions of intercity truck and rail freight. He joined the Cornell faculty in 2001, and previously taught at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland, from 1998 to 2001. He grew up in Ithaca and earned bachelors’ degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Asian Studies from Cornell University in 1991, and a PhD in Systems Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania in 1998.
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