Dr. David Allen, current Director for the Center for Energy and Environmental Resources, shares how the center has evolved as well as some of its major accomplishments. He has served as the Director of the Center for Energy and Environmental Resources (CEER), formerly the Center for Energy Studies, for 25 years – half of its 50-year life.
"The Center for Energy Studies, established in 1974, shifted from a focus exclusively on energy systems to the intersection of energy and environmental systems, at about the time I became Director in 1999. We changed the name of the Center to the Center for Energy and Environmental Resources at that time. Our initial environmental focus was on air quality and our first major accomplishments in that arena were the first and second Texas Air Quality Studies (TexAQS), conducted in 2000 and 2006. Known as TexAQS I and II, these studies involved hundreds of researchers drawn from around the world. The studies identified new approaches for improving air quality in Houston. The study teams were able to identify compounds that are very reactive in the atmosphere and that were a primary driver of high concentrations of ozone (a major pollutant) in Houston. Controlling these highly reactive emissions led to an air quality improvement plan that was billions of dollars less expensive than the original plan. Focusing on these “highly reactive volatile organic compounds” was unprecedented and resulted in improvements in air quality in Houston that significantly outpaced improvements in other US cities. As a follow-up to TexAQS, the Texas legislature established a State Air Quality Research Program, recognizing the importance of ground-breaking science in charting the course on air quality improvement that TexAQS I and II demonstrated. CEER continues to run that research program for the State.
Other major advances at CEER centered on air quality included the establishment of a major indoor air quality research program and the construction of a “test house” on the Pickle Research Campus. This heavily instrumented manufactured home attracts researchers from around the country and has led to new insights into methods for improving indoor environments, where Americans spend most of their time.
CEER has also been at the forefront of innovation in education. When the State of Texas proposed a year long course in engineering that would satisfy a high school science requirement, CEER researchers partnered with the Austin Independent School District, the College of Education and the successful UTeach program in the College of Natural Sciences to develop materials and educators for a year long high school class in engineering. A curriculum was developed, teachers were trained, and now, “Engineer Your World” (engineeryourworld.org) is offered in hundreds of high schools. The Engineer Your World staff is completely supported by licensing fees, which the course developers assigned to the University. It is very gratifying to meet students beginning their studies in the Cockrell School that have taken Engineer Your World in high school.
These are just a few of CEER’s remarkable achievements, and our track record has positioned us well for the next 50 years. Exciting new developments are continually underway. For example, the Process Science and Technology Center is a core part of a large scale multi-university research program on electrifying industrial heat demand (https://news.utexas.edu/2023/05/22/eliminating-co2-emissions-from-manufacturing-is-goal-of-major-research-alliance/).
Another effort, which has more than doubled CEER funding, and is still growing, is related to measuring, reporting and verifying greenhouse gas emissions from global energy supply chains. With a particular focus on methane emissions, these programs are driving significant reductions in methane emissions from oil and gas facilities in the United States. CEER is now disseminating emission reduction technologies being pioneered in the United States to the rest of the world (eemdl.utexas.edu).
These are just a few highlights, but I hope that they give you a sense of the exciting and significant activities that are continually occurring at CEER. We are a great team and it has been my honor and pleasure to be the Director for the last 25 years."
Vincent Torres, Associate Director
Vince Torres at desk with Phil Schmidt, standing
Vincent Torres is Associate Director of the Center for Energy and Environmental Resources. He first arrived at the center in May of 1986, and was hired to be the project manager for a program called Process Energetics. The head of the program was Professor Phil Schmidt, a mechanical engineering professor working on drying processes using microwaves. Vince’s background was in energy and fluid systems, and his industry work was on the design of different systems for either heating or cooling, as it related to industrial and military applications. Phil Schmidt wanted someone who could manage multiple projects under this new program, and Vince fit the bill.
At that time, the center was set up strictly by research programs—Separations Research, Process Energetics, Conservation and Solar Energy, Rotating Machines and Power Electronics, and Geopressured-Geothermal Energy, and Energy Policy Studies. Each program had its associated faculty and full-time research staff. They also had a central support services unit, which took care of the building and the administrative matters. Vince shares his reflections on the center's evolving and its dynamic role in research.
How the Center Evolved from an Energy to an Environmental Focus
“When I first started at the center, the focus at the national level was on energy conservation and energy use. There was an Arab oil embargo in the 1980s, which meant they started restricting how much oil was shipped to the U.S., and so the price of oil went through the roof here. Everybody's starting to figure out how do we get off of oil. The state tightened up its funding sources because they wanted to have everybody focus on saving energy.”
"This focus on energy continued until about the mid 1990s, and then it shifted towards environmental issues, such as contamination of environmental resources. Consequently, the funding for energy-related activities began decreasing at the national level, and some research programs were replaced with programs that focused on environmental issues. That pivotal time contributed to the name change from Center for Energy Studies to Center for Energy and Environmental Resources. We've always been a very industry related, industry application related, center. We don't do theoretical work per se. We do applications for industrial processes, so we helped to reduce energy in the early days. When industry started looking at environmental issues, the funding was more towards helping look at environmental issues at the industrial level and it impacted where the funding was for research. That's when our researchers changed focus. Around the early 1990s the center lost state funding, so they had to change the way they were structured funding wise. People began to focus more on diversifying the funding base, replacing state funding with industrial or funding from the federal government, like National Science Foundation, National Research Labs, or EPA.”
The Center as a Dynamic Place for Research
“One of the things that we really try to do here is make sure that people know that when they come to us their research is of the highest quality and integrity. I think that's why our center has been able to survive for so long. The other thing is our safety record. The fact that we do industrial research, and we've had no major safety or environmental issues is a testament to the researchers who do their research in a very safe manner and practice safe research activity.”
“In terms of the types of technology development, either due to the work that we do or the work that we do for industry, the way we contribute to the development of technology, we've helped advance technology. Air quality in the state of Texas has improved significantly because of the research that Dave Allen did when he started here and work with the TCQ to improve the air quality in Houston. It's a result of Dave’s research leadership and the developments that they he and his team have achieved that has helped improve the air quality in Houston. Also, so much of the instruments that we used to use have been replaced with instruments that are much more sophisticated, which allow us to do higher-level research with greater precision.
It's always helpful to bring in new faculty because of their interests in evolving technologies and applications, and that's what has kept us young and relevant.
People come to us because they know we have researchers who have the capability to solve the latest problems. We're constantly changing our researchers, whether it's by choice or not, but researchers change. They always tend to be the go-to people that industry looks to for help in solving problems. The center is fulfilling the mission of the university of what starts here changes the world; this is one of the dynamic places that it's happening."
On students
"I've always wanted the students to feel like we've provided them a home away from home. Sometimes we have international students. We provide the technical areas for them to work in, but we also provide a nurturing, supportive environment, where they can feel comfortable and have a good time. It’s always very touching to me when a student comes back afterwards to let us know how the center affected them in a positive way."
Dale Klein, former Deputy Director
Dr. Dale Klein, Reese Endowed Professor in Engineering, recalls the center as being a dynamic, engaging place. Klein served as the deputy director from 1986-1988. Herbert Woodson was the director at the time and asked him to be the deputy director. Klein, who was then associate professor of Mechanical Engineering, headed up the nuclear division at the center. He shares about his early days at the Center for Energy Studies.
"The center’s new research facilities could really tie in with industry and that really made a big difference. The biggest thing for me was having research laboratories where you could really conduct the research. The campus was pretty crowded for laboratory space so having that new building really enabled faculty to have more and new laboratory equipment and space. The other thing that helped was having the high bay where you could do large scale, tall research kind of programs. I was working on nuclear technologies at the time, so we really crossed the spectrum on all aspects of energy, from the chemical side to the electricity side into the conservation and solar side. Not only was having the equipment and space valuable, but the community was very collaborative. The various researchers out there were all interested in energy in one way or another. There was really good bonding."
“One of the biggest programs that was very influential was the Separations Research Program because they were able to build some fairly large equipment and they had a consortium of several industries that would contribute an annual amount. When you’re a manufacturing plant you don’t really want to shut down your operations to do testing. With that research facility, they could experiment with technology and techniques. I think the other thing that was really an advantage was the wonderful machine shop where researchers could get their components fabricated on site; that helped move the research forward. There were always issues that needed to be addressed. Great opportunities for faculty and students and working with industry was a key factor that was important then and is certainly important today."
"There’s always the good and bad news. We had a nice new building but were always short on equipment when you start. A lot of the challenges were always the permanent staff that kept the equipment running and then getting new equipment. Everyone was excited about moving in, getting operational, getting their equipment running and then doing the research with the students. Parking was a lot easier at the PRC and so provided an easy forum for meetings, and then we had the Commons area so we could roll over to the Commons for other big events. Having those new facilities, both the Commons and the new energy studies really created an excitement in those days. Also, in those days there was a lot of concern about our future energy supply, how are we going to achieve it? Was it always going to be oil and gas? How can it be more efficient? I think there was a lot of interest in energy in general in those days and because we were a center, that gave people a place where they could focus their questions."
"What’s interesting is that when you at the history of both that building and the Center for Energy Studies, people come and go but it still maintains its integrity. It’ll change focus but it’s still as much relevant today as when it was built. In terms of the future: as technology evolves, the center will evolve."
