Seminar: Energy's Future - The Grand Challenge for this Century

Dr. Lawrence A. Kennedy will be presenting as part of the mechanical engineering seminar series.

Abstract:

Currently we live in a complex world with boundless opportunities and enormous challenges. Today a central issue is sustainable energy for the future. To navigate to the future, it is important that as a people , we clearly understand the road we have taken and the physical and social costs of all the things we have used up to get to the present.

Think about it. Our industries, which support us providing jobs, goods and services, need to be supplied with energy and raw materials on a regular basis. We need energy to light our way, to heat and cool our individual environments and to transport us to and from place to place.  Energy, in all its myriad forms, is a fundamental element of modern life. It is not optional—there is no turning back.

A history of the world’s  and United States’ energy consumption and production will be discussed together with what section of society it is utilized. The relationship between standard of living (GNP) and energy usage coupled with population growth projections leads to a staggering estimate  for future energy demands of  800 Quadrillion BTUs or greater by 2050! Truly, Energy is the Grand Challenge for this Century.

An inventory of energy sources and the role of conservation especially through efficiency improvements will be included together with how these may address meeting this major challenge. The current state of their development, limitations (often not completely publicized), technical challenges, etc. together with their future potential will be included.

Bio:

Currently, Dr. Kennedy is P/T Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Ohio State and   Dean Emeritus of Engineering and Professor Emeritus of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Illinois at Chicago. At UIC he was also named the Stanley Kaplan University Distinguished Scholar. Prior to joining UIC in 1995, he held the Ralph W. Kurtz Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering Chair at OSU and served as department head 1983 – 1993. At OSU, he also was the founding Director of the Center for Automotive Research and was a founding Professor of the Ohio Aerospace Institute at NASA Lewis Research Center (Now Glenn Research Center).  Prior to joining Ohio State, Professor Kennedy was on the faculty of the State University of New York at Buffalo and served as a consultant to the Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory.  He has been a Visiting Professor at Princeton University, the University of Michigan, the Von Karman Institute of Fluid Dynamics ( Belgium), and the University of California / San Diego,. He served as Senior Fellow in Science to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and as U.S. Consultant Lecturer to A.G.A.R.D. (NATO's Advisory Group for Aerospace Research and Development). He was co-founder of American Chemical Physics Technologies Inc.

Professor Kennedy received his Ph.D and MS degrees from Northwestern University in respectively 1964 and 1962 and his BS degree (cum laude honors) in 1960 from the University of Detroit. His technical interests include the broad areas of the fluid/ thermal sciences with research focused primarily in combustion, non-equilibrium plasma and generation of carbon nano structures. Professor Kennedy has over 250 archival publications and more than 180 other scientific publications. He holds numerous patents in these areas and is the co-authored the text “Plasma Physics and Engineering”, with A.A. Fridman.  He has advised 29 PhD’s, over 100 MS & numerous post-doctoral students and visiting scholars.

Professor Kennedy is a Life Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and a Life Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS). He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the prestigious ASME Heat Transfer Memorial Award and the Ralph Coats Roe Award.  Professor Kennedy served as Editor in Chief, J. Experimental Methods in Thermal and Fluid Science 4/1995 – 12/2008.

Hosted by Dr. Ahmet Selamet