IU, Purdue, IUPUI join together for energy research

IU and Purdue have put aside their fierce athletic rivalry to form a consortium for energy-related research.

The Indiana Consortium for Research in Energy Systems and Policy is a joint effort of faculty members at IU, Purdue and IU-Purdue University Indianapolis to bring researchers from all three campuses together to come up with projects and research related to energy issues.

Purdue agricultural economics professor Wallace Tyner said the consortium is an effort to encourage multidisciplinary work on energy issues.

“Society issues don’t fit into the cubicles academics have,” Tyner said. “(This project) builds on the strengths of Purdue, IU and IUPUI.”

J.C. Randolph, a professor of environmental science who heads the IU part of CRESP, said bringing the strengths of each university together was one of the main purposes behind the consortium.

“No single university is likely to have the expertise,” Randolph said. “Energy and environmental issues reverberate all the way up through the economy.”

At CRESP’s inaugural meeting, in Indianapolis on Oct. 31, faculty members from all three campuses came together to meet each other and discuss research interests.

Kyle Cline, the general manager of the Richard G. Lugar Center for Renewable Energy at IUPUI, said the luncheon gave faculty members the chance to learn about the consortium and how it would work.

“We haven’t formed any work teams yet, but that was part of the discussion,” Cline said. “We want to bring people together to brainstorm.”

IU will mostly participate in CRESP through the Center for Research in Energy and the Environment, which Randolph directs,  according to an IU press release
Randolph said CRESP research could bring more external funding to the University, which in turn would have benefits for students, including supporting publications, dissertations, theses and undergraduate research. These are in addition to the societal benefits energy research could potentially have.

“(This) research might be contributing to solving a global problem,” Randolph said.
Cline echoed Randolph on the potential for research from the consortium.

“(We could) be a national frontrunner in this type of research,” Cline said. “This could make Indiana a hotbed for energy system research and energy policy research.”

In the future, CRESP plans to focus on filling researchers’ needs and writing proposals for increased external funding from both the private and public sectors. Randolph said projects with state and federal agencies, such as the Environmental Protection Agency, and companies, such as Duke Energy were in the works.

“We are very excited about the future of this project,” Cline said.