Richard Shelby announces $3.2M grant for new research facility at Troy University
A $3.2 million grant has been awarded by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to build a new research facility at Troy University. Alabama senior U.S. Senator Richard Shelby announced the grant Friday that will go to build the Center for Materials and Manufacturing Sciences (CMMS), which will serve as a facility for researching recycled plastic materials. “The new facility at Troy University will serve as an avenue for groundbreaking research, creating an environment for students to learn the issues involving polymers and develop impactful solutions for the plastics industry,” said Shelby. “I am confident that this funding will promote economic development throughout Troy and the surrounding area by training the workforce of the future.” The $3.2 million grant from NIST will provide Troy with a three-year grant to fund research involving the properties of polymers in plastics during the course of recycling and manufacturing. The new facility will give students the opportunity to learn about the issues and solutions related to plastics recycling. The work at the new center will be guided by an industry road mapping exercise and technical advisory board. The first phase of the funding is primarily intended to develop existing labs to include capabilities in polymer characterization, testing, and processing. CMMS will serve as a fully integrated multi-disciplinary research facility that will aid across majors and academic ranks. Undergraduate students will be encouraged to enter into research early in their academic career in order to develop a sustained and deeper understanding of the field. Faculty researchers and students will form the mainstay for the Center. The establishment of the center will facilitate and enhance Troy University’s present partnering with the local polymer and plastics industry in order to increase competitiveness in the marketplace. This will assist in improving the targeted industries’ ability to retain and increase job production while also allowing for expansion of products and markets – both locally and globally.
Wilsonville research facility marks technology testing milestone
The National Carbon Capture Center, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)-sponsored research facility at Alabama Power’s Plant Gaston in Wilsonville, recently surpassed 100,000 hours of technology testing. The milestone marks significant work by the internationally known test facility, which is managed and operated by Southern Company. The center works to accelerate the development of advanced technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from natural-gas and coal power plants. “It has been an honor to collaborate with DOE, its National Energy Technology Laboratory and our partners at the National Carbon Capture Center to evaluate and demonstrate next-generation carbon capture technologies,” said Southern Company Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Kimberly S. Greene. “I also commend our highly skilled employees, whose commitment to building the future of energy through innovation is at the heart of this achievement.” Since its creation by DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy in 2009, the National Carbon Capture Center has worked with third-party technology developers, including more than 30 government, industry, university and research organizations from seven countries. The facility offers a pathway to move novel carbon capture technologies out of the laboratory and demonstrate them in the real-world conditions of a power plant. The National Carbon Capture Center is also active internationally as co-founder and chair of the International Test Center Network, a coalition of facilities focused on accelerating the research, development and deployment of carbon capture, utilization and storage technologies. Under the center’s guidance, testing collaboration and knowledge sharing is ongoing in Australia, Canada, China, the European Union, India, Japan, Korea, the United Arab Emirates and the U.S. While technology development at the National Carbon Capture Center currently focuses on post-combustion carbon capture technologies for coal-fueled power generation, the facility is expanding Its testing of carbon capture technologies for natural gas power plants. Republished with permission from the Alabama NewsCenter.
