SERC: News

Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi Phil Bryant hosted an Energy Summit on October 22, 2008 to discuss ways the state can best use its energy sources. Bryant invited experts from across the state, including Directors Bill Batchelor and Glenn Steele of Mississippi State University's Sustainable Energy Research Center (SERC), to speak at the Eagle Ridge Conference Center in Raymond. [read more]

Brian Baldwin has built his career at Mississippi State University (MSU) around his work with biomass and alternative crops. Baldwin, Associate Professor in Plant and Soil Sciences and Coordinator for the National Program for Energycane, a SunGrant Feedstocks Partnership with the Department of Energy, has been working on assessing various plant species for their seed oils to be converted to biodiesel. Over the past two years, Baldwin and Sustainable Energy Research Center colleague Rafael Hernandez have focused on retrieving oil from the castor and tallowtree found readily in the Southeast. Baldwin selected these species due to the abundance of oil found in the composition of the seeds. [read more]

Sanjeev Gajjella is a graduate student pursuing his PhD in the department of forest products. He earned both a batchelor of science and master of science degree in chemistry prior to joining forest products to work under the direction of Phil Steele. His research assignment from Steele was to produce a biofuel from woody biomass and he has already achieved great success towards that goal with over a year left . [read more]

Judy Partin with the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and David Eakin with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) visited the Mississippi State University Sustainable Energy Research Center (SERC) on December 11-12, 2008. Partin is a senior scientist in the bioenergy technology group at INL and Eakins is a senior developmental engineer in the chemical and biological process development group. The purpose of their trip was to open communication lines for future collaboration in the development of biomass to energy projects with SERC scientists. Both Partin and Eakins are experts in biomass processing prior to application of conversion technologies. [read more]

Nearly 200 people attended the Mississippi State University (MSU) Biofuels Conference, sponsored by the James W. Bagley College of Engineering, Industrial Outreach Service and the Sustainable Energy Research Center (SERC) on August 14-15. Those in attendance heard from esteemed professors and industry insiders about the future of sustainable energy. [read more]

With the hope of easing the strain on consumers' wallets, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recognizes the potential of research underway at Mississippi State.

During a ceremony on Mississippi State's campus, assistant professors Rafael Hernandez and Todd French, and associate professor Mark Bricka were presented a grant, by the EPA's Regional Applied Research Effort (RARE) Program. The grant will help support their biofuels research dealing with the conversion of wastewater into transportation fuel. [read more]

Dr. Darrell Sparks and Dr. Tracy Benson have a few things in common. First, both Sparks and Benson come from small southern towns and have a passion for science. Adding to the commonalities, they both are recently minted Ph.D. graduates, share the same office in Swalm Hall, and both are die hard Mississippi State fans. But as a part of the Sustainable Energy Research Center (SERC), Sparks and Benson differ on their means of research. [read more]

Visiting Student at Home with SERC and MSU

student

Arriving from another land and stepping onto a campus with few familiarities can be a daunting endeavor. But for Paulette Alejandra Santiago of Puerto Rico, coming to Mississippi State University for the summer has proven anything but. A third year chemical engineering student from the University of Puerto Rico, Santiago participates in the Research Experience for Undergraduates program. This 10-week program allows undergraduate students to visit other universities and perform research. The opportunity to come to Mississippi State arose after a University of Puerto Rico professor asked if she wanted to join him on his leave of sabbatical. [read more]