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Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute: Trustee Makes Donation To Start New
Solar Energy Research Center at Rensselaer; Thomas R. Baruch '60 gift
to launch research on cutting-edge sources of solar energy
(M2 PressWIRE Via Acquire Media NewsEdge)
RDATE:31102008
Thomas R. Baruch, a member of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Board of Trustees and alumnus of the Class of 1960, has donated a gift
that will help to establish a new center at the Institute devoted to
bio-energy research. The new center -- the Baruch '60 Center for
Biochemical Solar Energy Research -- will conduct unprecedented
research on biochemical solar technology.
Researchers at the center will work to develop the next generation of
solar technology by studying one of the most powerful energy converting
machines in world -- plants.
Researchers will use sophisticated new technologies and techniques to
understand the energy converting power of plants to develop new
technologies that mimic this extremely efficient natural system.
"We are grateful to have a partner in Tom Baruch who fully understands
the vision of The Rensselaer Plan, and the pressing need to pursue
visionary and innovative efforts to develop new approaches to energy
security around the world," said Rensselaer President Shirley Ann
Jackson. "The center will expand the energy research network that
Rensselaer is actively building across the Institute, and will offer
researchers around the globe fundamental scientific research on the
original solar panel -- plants -- as well as technological solutions to
create the super-efficient man-made solar technologies of the future."
"It is my hope that this center will expand on Rensselaer's very strong
foundation in energy research and establish Rensselaer and its faculty
and students as leaders at the forefront of solar energy research,"
Baruch said. "The research talent and infrastructure of Rensselaer
create the perfect storm of ideas and innovations that I believe will
result in the creation of solar technologies with greater efficiency of
even the most sophisticated silicon solar panels available on the
market today."
The center will include faculty from a variety of disciplines and
research backgrounds. In the initial stages, the research will center
on molecular chemistry and biochemistry to map out the step-by-step
processes that nature's perfect green machines go through to convert
solar rays into life-sustaining energy, according to Rensselaer Provost
Robert Palazzo. "The research will begin by looking at the processes
that plants use to intake and utilize the energy from the sun at such
an amazing level of efficiency," he said. "This scientific knowledge
could provide other Rensselaer scientists and engineers information to
develop new technologies that present an entirely new means of
harnessing energy from the sun."
Jonathan Dordick, director of the Center for Biotechnology and
Interdisciplinary Studies and a chemical engineer, also envisions
strong possibilities for entirely new forms of light-capturing
technologies. "Ultimately, biomimetic designs will be integrated with
nature's biological machinery to provide scalable, efficient, and
broadly applicable systems that convert light into usable and storable
energy. This has the potential to revolutionize future energy
generation and secure our future as a safe and sustainable society."
K.V. Lakshmi, assistant professor of chemistry and chemical biology,
will help lead the effort at the center to capture the extremely
complex reactions of photosynthesis in action, which is a vital first
step in the research process. One of the recipients of the first-ever
federal Department of Energy (DOE) funding for the investigation of
biochemical solar power, Lakshmi is working with fellow assistant
professors of chemistry and chemical biology James Kempf, an expert in
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) techniques, and Mark Platt, an expert
in plant protein and spectroscopy, to understand how the inner workings
of the plant protein complex transforms light into power through
photosynthesis. Their colleagues, including assistant professor of
chemistry and chemical biology and molecular chemist Peter Dinolfo, as
well the faculty in disciplines from biology to chemical engineering
will use this foundational knowledge to build synthetic replications of
the natural systems to capture and move light energy.
"There is absolutely no doubt that the single most daunting problem
that is facing this country and the world is energy independence and
security," Lakshmi said. "Solar energy conversion is an important area
of research with unbelievable implications for the future. We need
transformational science, on the interface of chemistry, biology and
physics, to create new technological innovations for solar energy
utilization that represent the great convergence of the 21st century."
Thomas Baruch is founder and managing director of CMEA Ventures. He
began his investment career at the Battelle Development Corporation and
then at Exxon Corporation. Tom formed CMEA Ventures with New Enterprise
Associates (NEA) in 1989 after previously having founded and served as
CEO of Microwave Technology Inc., a supplier of gallium arsenide
integrated circuits and value-added sub-systems. Tom currently heads up
CMEA Ventures' energy and materials investments. He currently serves as
the chairman of the board of materials and energy companies including:
Codexis Inc., Cnano Technologies, Intermolecular, and Wildcat Discovery
Technologies. Baruch also currently serves on the boards of Biolight,
Entropic Communications (ENTR), Exela, Luminus Devices, Newpath, and
Solyndra.
Baruch holds an engineering degree from Rensselaer and a Juris Doctor
degree from Capital University. He joined the Rensselaer Board of
Trustees in October 2002. He is also a member of the board of trustees
of the Berkeley Institute for Synthetic Biology (BISB) and the board of
trustees of That Man May See Foundation.
CONTACT: Gabrielle DeMarco, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Tel: +1 518 276 6542
e-mail: demarg@rpi.edu
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Copyright ? 2008 M2 Communications Ltd.
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