2019 Distinguished Lectures
This program is designed to bring nationally recognized experts from academia, industry, and government to Notre Dame to discuss best practices, new technologies, and policy developments in energy. Lectures focus on topics most important to faculty and students at Notre Dame.
During 2019, the following lectures were hosted by ND Energy:
The Future of Energy – the promise of renewable energy and critical needs for our future energy system by Danielle Merfeld, Chief Technology Officer of GE Renewable Energy. She discussed the advances in technology that are pushing renewables to be more affordable and offer higher performance.
Perovskite Solar Cell Stability: From Cells to Modules by Jeffrey Christians, Assistant Professor of Engineering at Hope College. He offered some perspectives on the ongoing scientific and engineering challenges of halide perovskite solar cell stability.
Paths and Pitfalls: Albuquerque’s Move Toward 100% Renewable Energy featured a discussion on renewable energy between two ND alumni, Timothy Keller, mayor of Albuquerque, NM, and Khalil Shalabi, Executive VP with the Lower Colorado River Authority.
Bringing Power to Native Americans by Sandra Begay, Director of Environmental Health, City of Albuquerque. Begay shared her story about her life as a Native American woman engineer.
Modular Reactors: The Next Generation of Nuclear Power Plants by Youssef Ballout, Director of the Reactor Systems Design & Analysis Division at Idaho National Laboratory, provided an overview of a project to build a small, modular reactor and considered the future of nuclear energy.
Notre Dame Moves Toward Decarbonization was presented by Paul Kempf, Assistant Vice President for Utilities and Maintenance at the University of Notre Dame. Kempf shared the University's initiatives to increase efficiencies and reduce the carbon footprint of the campus.
An Energy Corridor on Our Southern Border presented by Luciano Castillo, Kenninger Professor of Renewable Energy and Power Systems at Purdue University, outlined a bold proposal to create an energy corridor along the US-Mexico border.
ND Energy Bouts: Fighting for Renewable Energy was moderated by Khalil Shalabi (’88), newly appointed Executive Vice President for Strategic Initiatives and Transformation with the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA). The contenders were Notre Dame’s three most prominent experts in renewable energy: Peter C. Burns, Thomas Corke, and Prashant Kamat.
For more information or to get involved, contact Anne Berges Pillai, Education and Outreach Associate Program Director, at 574-631-9106 or apillai@nd.edu.