i ​DON'T STOP ME NOW​ i

Task One: Prepare a 200- to 300-word history about the National Critical Technology (NCT) technical application your team has selected to solve a local or national problem. Progress needs to be seen on this task.

 

Our team has chosen to address the NCT of energy, specifically renewable energy. Renewable is very important to us, and it dates back to Europe in 200 B.C, when the water wheel was invented. With the water wheel, the early Europeans were able to use the kinetic force of a flowing river to crush grain, saw lumber, and even work with metal. Then in about the 10th century, Persians invented a way to harness energy from wind, the windmill. They used these windmills to do much of the same work that waterwheels did, such as grinding grains and spices. Those windmills were then made widely popular among people during the westward expansion of 1849 in America. These windmills were used to pump water from deep underground. Ten years later, in 1860 France, the first solar powered system was invented, utilizing the sun’s energy to create steam, which was in turn used to power a generator. Then, in 1921, the world first geothermic power plant was developed in California, harnessing the heat from geysers as energy. In another ten years, the largest hydroelectric power plant, the hoover dam, was built. This dam harnesses the downward flow of water to push turbines, therefore generating power. In short, through the course of human history, we have been able to harness power from nearly all natural resources, ranging from water to air to even the sun. Now, renewable energy has become a big focus for modern mind due to the lack of nonrenewable resources, leading us to explore nuclear power and other unorthodox resources.

 

Task Two: Cite THREE detailed examples of research done in the past 3 to 5 years which focused on the NCT technical application your team selected. Include: the funding agency, the principal investigator's name, and the institution where the research is or was being conducted.  

 

There was one specific experiment, conducted by Gang Chen, the Carl Richard Soderberg, Professor of Power Engineering and head of MIT’s Department of Mechanical Engineering, which focused on turning waste heat into electricity for vehicles and other machines. This relates to our NCT technical application our team selected of energy, specifically renewable energy, since we are also trying to find alternate sources of energy from the energy wasted as a product of transportation. Through this experiment, GMZ energy, which was co-founded by Chen and Zhifeng Ren, has developed a “thermoelectric generator (TEG) that turns waste heat emitted by vehicles into electricity to lend those vehicles added power.” The funding agency is primarily the company GMZ, and the U.S Department of Energy which provided support for the $1.5 million program contributing to the experiment. The principle investigator’s name, as previously mentioned was Gang Chen. The institution where the research was conducted was primarily MIT. The experiment’s name is “Running On Waste Heat”.

http://mitei.mit.edu/news/running-waste-heat

 

Another example of research that focuses on the NCT technical application is NREL’s research on wind energy. NREL stands for National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The NCT technical application my group is focused on is energy. The product we designed is related to renewable energy. NREL’s research is being conducted at the National Wind Technology Center. NREL is helping to advance the area of wind technology by experimenting and testing with fluid dynamics. The men in charge of this project are Fort Felker and Brian Smith. The U.S. department of energy funds this research. This relates to our NCT technical application because our design is also using “wasted” energy and using it to power another object in order to save time and energy.

 

A third example of research on the NCT technical application of energy is the use of solar powered grids. This research is conducted at the Argonne National Laboratory and funded by the U.S. department of energy. The researchers of the study also collaborated with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The principal investigator is Audun Botterud. Argonne National Laboratory used actual data to see a correlation between solar power and the cost of this energy. This study relates the technical application because it is a type of renewable energy used to create more energy to power devices. My group did something similar, where we reuse “wasted” energy to power a small electrical device.

 

Task Three: Based on the research your team has done, explain how the NCT application chosen has advanced scientific knowledge.

 

Looking at the research my group has focused on; renewable energy truly helps the world in a variety of methods. Each of these studies has advanced the work and progress of the scientific community. The NCT technical application chosen was energy. This area of work has helped push the work of scientists forward by creating stepping stones to new types of energy and ways to utilize that energy. It has helped the world realize that we need to find innovative methods of creating energy. For example, solar and wind powered devices are just the beginning to the outset to new discoveries and saving the earth’s valuable resources.