Briggs White, Ph.D., Technology Manager of NETL’s Crosscutting Research Program, was a keynote speaker at the Southwest Emerging Technology Symposium and Regional Small Business Summit, March 26-27 in El Paso, Texas. The symposium was hosted by the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), an institution with a long history of NETL research collaboration under the Historically Black Colleges and Universities/Other Minority Institutions (HBCU/OMI) initiative.

White manages two of the Department of Energy’s (DOE)’s longest standing university training programs — the University Coal Research program and the HBCU/OMI program. Both programs generate fresh ideas, tap unique talent, define applicable fundamental scientific principles, and develop advanced concepts for generating new and improved technologies across the full spectrum of fossil energy R&D programs. The programs include annual competitions administered by NETL where grants are made available for capacity building and student training. Previous awards have focused on sensors and controls; computational energy sciences; water management, and advanced materials for power generation technologies.

UTEP attained an R1 designation (top tier doctoral university with very high research activity) in the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education — one of only 130 universities among the 2,883 four-year higher education institutions across the U.S. to earn the distinction.

“UTEP has been a national model for creating highly competitive academic and research programs while maintaining a deep commitment to serving its student demographic,” White said. “So, I was particularly pleased to participate in UTEP’s summit to help highlight its successes in important research with national implications.”

He said one example of UTEP’s success through the HBCU/OMI initiative focused on advanced manufacturing.

“Advanced manufacturing enables the nation to build high-tech components with improved performance capabilities,” White said. “It also offers the possibility of rapid prototyping and repair. Under DOE sponsorship, UTEP’s work has explored the challenges of embedding sensors into combustor nozzles to enable real-time monitoring of component health.”

During his keynote address, White explained that the DOE Office of Fossil Energy supports a robust portfolio of research and development programs spanning coal, oil and gas. He shared projections for DOE’s Energy Information Agency (EIA) on future fossil production and electricity as well as technology trends like advanced manufacturing, robotics-based inspection, high-performance computing and data analytics. He also noted synergies with adjacent industries such as commercial and military aviation and the importance of academic research to advancing technology solutions. 

About UTEP’s Southwest Emerging Technology Symposium and Regional Small Business Summit: The Summit was designed to provide a formal setting for interactions among academic, government, industrial professionals and regional small business. In addition to White, participants included featured speakers from NASA, Lockheed Martin Corporation, United Launch Alliance, and other federal agencies. Small business representatives also learned about subcontracting opportunities, doing business with federal agencies, local incentive programs, and networking opportunities.

About NETL’s Crosscutting Research: The Crosscutting Research Portfolio of programs is unique in its ability to identify and foster applications of a given enabling technology across multiple fossil energy systems and operational platforms and to efficiently leverage resources to accomplish the strategic goals, objectives and performance measures common to several fossil research areas. Often, processes and materials that advance one technology platform may well have application in another with little to no modification.

About HBCU/OMI program: The HBCU/OMI program works to increase the participation of under-represented students in research to:

• Educate and train the next generation of scientists and engineers to fill critical fossil workforce gaps.
• Advance innovative and fundamental research focused on coal-based, fossil energy resources.
• Develop early-stage technologies that increase the affordability of domestic energy resources and improve electric grid reliability.

About Briggs White: As Technology Manager of NETL’s Crosscutting Technology Program, White manages a portfolio of approximately 100 research projects with an annual appropriation of $55 million. He holds degrees in materials science & engineering from Alfred University (B.S.), the University of Florida (M.S., Ph.D.), and the University of Rome (Ph.D.) with an emphasis on solid-state high-temperature electrochemical devices.