History

Energy Center History

The Energy Center (EC) was officially launched in August of 2005 with $2.5 million in start-up funds made available from the January 2005 Lilly Endowment grant for expanding Discovery Park. EC and three other centers won a campus wide competition conducted by Discovery Park administration following receipt of the Lilly Endowment grant. EC faculty had been meeting and developing energy related activities for approximately 18 months as is evidenced by the immediate high level of activity generated in the Center.

The EC launched with nine major research initiatives and an Executive Board of 21 faculty members, each assigned to a particular area of responsibility for advancing the EC agenda. Seventy-five (75) faculty members signed the original EC proposal. Currently approximately 115 faculty and staff members representing nine colleges, Purdue and Discovery Park administration as well as Purdue Physical Facilities are actively engaged in Energy Center activities. Forty-five (45) research projects with a total value of $12 million are currently active in the EC. The EC currently supports 10 major initiative areas: Hydrogen Systems, BioEnergy, Clean Coal Technologies, Social, Economic, and Political Aspects of Energy Use (SEPAE), Wind, Solar, Electrochemical, Power Electronics, Nuclear, and Global Partnerships.