An Energetic Future

Umbrella for Future Energy

The 32nd Umbrella Symposium on Energy Conversion and Storage was held at the Technion with the participation of researchers from Jülich Research Centre and from RWTH Aachen University in Germany

A group photo of the conference participants

In April, the Technion held the 32nd Umbrella Symposium, dedicated to energy research with an emphasis on energy conversion and storage. These conferences are held in collaboration with two German institutions; the Jülich Research Centre and RWTH Aachen University, with the purpose of promoting collaborative research between the three institutions. The latest conference in the series was led by the Grand Technion Energy Program (GTEP) at the Wolfson Faculty of Chemical Engineering.

“The Umbrella program is an example of a ‘whole that is larger than the sum of its parts,” said Executive Vice President for Research Prof. Wayne Kaplan. Prof. Sebastian Schmidt, a member of the Jülich Research Centre’s Board of Directors said, “The term umbrella means that the three institutions operate out of a common spirit and common topics. In the last two years, following changes in the conferences’ format, there has been a significant increase in registration. It’s a great success.”

“The Grand Technion Energy Program was established 10 years ago and recently underwent a strategic process to examine possible directions for development for the next ten years,” said Director of GTEP Prof. Yoed Tsur. “This year, as part of the important relationship with the Jülich Research Centre and Aachen University, we awarded a special prize to young researchers from each of the three institutions.”

The winners are Prof. Matthew Suss from the Technion for the development of devices that combine energy storage and continuous water desalination; Prof. Stefanie Elgeti of Aachen University for modeling wind turbine blades; and Mr. Yasin Emre Durmus of the Jülich Research Centre for the development of silicon-air batteries.

The Director of the Institute for Energy and Climate Research at the Jülich Research Centre, Prof. Lorenz Singheiser, concluded the conference with the statement: “This was a rare opportunity to take a break from ongoing work for discussions, conversations, and an overview of the most advanced research in the field. The German representatives all agree that the conference is a great success.”