SBU graduates are a renewable energy partner of the Shinnecock Nation

Daniel Arnold, Michael Harris, and Eliana Matsil, all 2024 graduates of the Chemical and Molecular Engineering program in Stony Brook University’s College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, have chosen to conduct their thesis research for CME 420 as part of a large federally funded project on hydrogen as a clean fuel.

The entire project involved the production of hydrogen, its storage and then use to produce electricity in fuel cells, the only by-products of which are water vapor and warm air, with close to zero greenhouse gas emissions. Other work has already shown that hydrogen fuel cells can be more than twice as efficient as conventional technologies, which are only now becoming a challenge with the advent of electric vehicles.

The CME 420 course required for graduation involves completion of a focused laboratory research project in a highly selective chemical and molecular engineering program.

At the beginning of their senior year, students find a mentor, develop a research project, write a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) that is reviewed by the Environmental Health and Safety Division (EHS), develop a schedule, and defend the proposal before an external panel composed of university and industry representatives. During the spring semester, students complete research according to the implementation schedule, and at weekly meetings they present relevant literature to multiple journal clubs or discuss the ongoing progress of their research with the class and solve problems together.

In the final weeks of the semester, students defend their work to an external panel and submit it for review in the online journal JUCER, which they edit and publish.

The Office of Naval Research funded the entire project for demonstration purposes renewable energy technologies to increase our nation’s energy resilience sailors. Main contractor of the project, distinguished professor of materials Chemical Science and Engineering Miriam Rafailovich developed an innovative solution partnership with the Shinnecock Nation, a federally recognized tribe based on the project’s potential for sustainable renewable energy.

Phil Brown, housing director at Shinnecock Nation, noted that the Nation recently did just that constructed apartments whose long-term energy needs could best be met resources on site. “Our people have always felt a strong bond with the environment it sustains us. Cooperation with the University was a great opportunity for us develop a green energy source that will help support us while protecting us where we live,” Brown said.

The country has been investing in green infrastructure to provide renewable energy sources power supply on the reservation in Southampton, New York They wanted to assess usability and efficiency of various green energy technologies and storage modalities. Students had to collect data and model actions, including: processes of production, storage and operation of hydrogen fuel cells. The the complementarity of their needs sealed the deal.

“I’m proud of the students,” he said Rafailowicz, “because they used both their technical and interpersonal skills skills. They worked on a real project that could impact the lives of many people come.”

Matsil will pursue a master’s degree in this field area, deepening knowledge in the field of systems engineering and technology for using hydrogen as an ecological energy source. “If the system works and is proven to be economically viable,” Brown said, “there is a company owned by Shinnecock, Waa Nee Shee Energy LLC, that could bring it to market and make it available to other First Nations across the country with limited access to grid energy “

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs is among the federal agencies that will be notified of these actions.

The students’ final report on the project will be sent to the Office of Naval Research, where their findings will also be of interest to the Navy and its services. The U.S. Department of Defense maintains more than 600 bases around the world, many of them in locations where local off-grid energy sources could be useful.

Stony Brook University’s chemical and molecular engineering program has achieved accreditation by ABET, the engineering accreditation body, for the past ten years. Less than 20% American universities offering engineering studies have departments of materials science and engineering and Engineering, where CME is located.