DOE Undersecretary Richmond visits Purdue nuclear and fluid power facilities

On Friday (Jan. 19) Geri Richmond, undersecretary for science and innovation at the U.S. Department of Energy, visited Purdue University to see demonstrations on a variety of projects that would impact the future of energy use. She toured Purdue University Reactor Number One and the Maha Fluid Power Research Center, where she saw demonstration of a new DOE-funded electro-hydraulic actuation system, an energy-efficient, compact and integrated fluid power system currently powering a compact loader. Richmond also met with President Mung Chiang, Executive Vice President for Research Karen Plaut and other campus leaders.                                                

During Friday’s events, Richmond also visited with the Society of Women Engineers and congratulated Purdue’s Nien-Hwa Linda Wang, the Norman and Jane Li Professor in Chemical Engineering, one of 20 winners of the first phase of the Wind Turbine Materials Recycling Prize from the DOE’s Wind Energy Technologies Office. Wang and her team were awarded $75,000 for the first phase of their project, which minimizes the environmental impact of wind turbine decommissioning while efficiently recovering rare-earth elements from used magnets.

Geri Richmond, undersecretary for science and innovation at the Department of Energy, with Nien-Hwa Linda Wang, the Norman and Jane Li Professor in Chemical Engineering, and Karen Plaut, executive vice president for research. Richmond congratulated Wang on her recently announced DOE grant. (Purdue University photo/John Underwood) Download image

Ariel Marshall, chief of staff for the undersecretary for science and innovation, and Geri Richmond, undersecretary for science and innovation at the Department of Energy, met with Mung Chiang, Purdue University president; Karen Plaut, Purdue executive vice president for research; and Leland Cogliani, senior principal for Lewis-Burke Associates LLC (back row) to learn more about Purdue's nuclear research program. (Purdue University photo/John Underwood) Download image