Institute for Energy and Environment
A professor at UT and the UT-Oak Ridge National Laboratory Governor’s Chair for Power Systems, Yilu Liu studies how to keep the power grid operating safely, efficiently, and affordably—even as it becomes more complex and unpredictable.
Orlando J. Rojas has been named the UT-ORNL Governor’s Chair for Circular Biomaterials. He seeks to understand how nature builds materials and translate those principles into high-performing technologies. Drawing inspiration from natural architectures and assembly processes, he leads research to develop biologically inspired materials relevant to sustainable manufacturing, environmental technologies, biomedical systems and energy storage.
Five faculty-led teams advancing innovations in agricultural technology, architectural design and building technology, biomanufacturing, and electrochemical energy systems and regenerative medicine won this year’s awards. Faculty will work to commercialize their technologies, which address unmet market needs—and unmet human needs.
Faculty from UT’s Department of Biochemistry and Cellular Molecular Biology, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and UT Institute of Agriculture’s Department of Biosystems Engineering and Soil Science are among the latest to be recognized with this prestigious honor.
New genetic research with key contributions from UT reveals previously unknown species in the Tennessee River Basin—one of the most biologically diverse river systems in the world and home to more freshwater mussel species than anywhere else in North America.
The study will explore the development of data centers in the southern United States and their impact on rural communities, including a review of how utility companies develop energy infrastructure and how specific areas are affected by the energy demands of the centers.
