New center brings U-EPIC research power to the energy transition – @theU

In a world in transition away from fossil fuels, the need for reliable and affordable renewable energy is clear. But there’s so much more that goes into the energy transition than just the technology needed to provide clean energy. How will students prepare for a workforce and industry that’s still coming into focus? How can the clean energy enterprise equitably support economic development and prosperity among all members of the community?

To address those questions, the University of Utah has launched the new Utah Energy & Power Innovation Center (U-EPIC), an interdisciplinary research center. With a team that includes engineers, social scientists, climate scientists and computer scientists, U-EPIC’s mission is to “innovate the future of equitable, sustainable and resilient power and energy infrastructure.”

Learn more about the center here.

Solving the serious challenges of our time

Ensuring clean, equitable and affordable energy is one of the biggest challenges of our time, says Masood Parvania, associate professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering and director of U-EPIC.

“We are given an unprecedented once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to shape the transition of energy industry to utilize clean, sustainable, and distributed sources of energy, while ensuring that the benefits of this transition, including air quality, economic development, employment opportunity, and access to clean energy are equitably distributed within the society,” he says. “Nobody and no community should be left behind in this transition.”

Achieving these goals requires interdisciplinary research, such as improving the resilience of energy infrastructure in the face of more frequent wildfires and hurricanes. U-EPIC researchers focus on four research topics:

Learn more about U-EPIC research programs here.

Benefitting student workforce preparation

Through a collaboration between U-EPIC and the Energy and Geoscience Institute at the University of Utah, students will be able to earn a Resilient Energy Certificate designed to “address the local workforce requirements of the changing energy landscape, meeting the increasing demand for specialized energy workers.”

To train students, “U-EPIC…