2025
New Light: Rising Stars
in Energy and the Environment
Andlinger Summer Seminar Series
The New Light summer seminar series features the Andlinger Center’s Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellows and early career researchers. All seminars are in-person only and will be held in the Engineering Quad, Room E219, from 12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Lunch will be served at noon.
Line up
June 17
Amy Honnig Bassett and Monong Wang
July 1
Luo Xu and Tanuj Sen
July 15
Yifan Rao and James Coleman
July 22
Maha Yusuf and Dominic Davis
July 1: Luo Xu and Tanuj Sen
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Understanding blackouts in renewable electricity grids during climate extremes
Bio
Luo Xu is an associate research scholar at Princeton University, affiliated with the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Center for Policy Research on Energy and the Environment. He obtained his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Tsinghua University. He conducts interdisciplinary research at the intersection of climate science and power and energy systems, with a particular focus on energy system resilience under various climate extremes. His research integrates advanced modeling, optimization, and control techniques to develop resilience-oriented strategies, supporting resilient and sustainable energy transition. He is a recipient of the CIGRE Thesis Award, the Best Research Award from the IEEE PES Ph.D. Dissertation Challenge, and the IET Premium Award. He serves as the Chair of the IEEE Task Force on Cross-Sector Energy System Resilience Under Climate Change, Program Chair of the IEEE PES Energy Internet Coordinating Committee, Chair of the IEEE PES Princeton Central New Jersey Chapter, and Secretary of CIGRE Working Group D2.56. His research bridges theory and practice through close collaborations with industry partners, including grid operators and power utilities such as LUMA Energy, Con Edison, ISO New England, and State Grid.Abstract
Since the early 21st century, over 80% of major U.S. blackouts have been weather-related. Intensifying extreme events such as hurricanes, heatwaves, and wildfires, have nearly doubled weather-related outages in the past decade compared to the first decade of the century. Meanwhile, our energy sector, especially the electric power system, is becoming more exposed to the environment due to the large-scale integration of intermittent renewable energy such as solar and wind. Considering this increasingly coupled climate-energy challenge, in this seminar, I will introduce a coupled climate-energy model for cascading power outages, which comprehensively captures the impacts of climate extremes on renewable generation, and transmission and distribution networks. The model is validated with the 2022 Puerto Rico catastrophic blackout during Hurricane Fiona and is applied to explore the role of renewable integration in power outages.
Exploring and Optimizing the Environmental Impact of Power Electronic Circuits
Bio
Tanuj Sen is a final year Ph.D. student in the Electrical and Computer Engineering department, advised by Prof. Minjie Chen, with his research focusing on power electronics. He received his Master of Sciences degree in Electrical Engineering and Information Technology from ETH Zurich, Switzerland in 2019. He also received the M.A. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Princeton University, in 2022. His research interests include the design of high-power density, high-frequency resonant power electronic inverters for powering plasma heating coils in fusion reactors, design and analysis of coupled inductors and their application in high-frequency power electronic circuits, as well as the design and control of modern grid-connected power electronic inverters. His current work looks into the environmental impact of power electronic converters and developing an approach to optimize converter design with respect to both operational efficiency and associated carbon footprint.
June 17: Amy Honnig Bassett and Monong Wang
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Improving the Energy Density and Thermal Resistance of Dielectric Polymers via Zwitterionic Polyimides
Amy Honnig Bassett Bio
Amy Honnig Bassett completed her doctoral studies at Rowan University (Ph.D. 2024 in Chemical Engineering) and Drexel University under Professor Giuseppe R. Palmese. She developed fire-resistant epoxy thermosets for use in fiber-reinforced polymer composites by investigating the role of furan moieties on thermal decomposition and char formation. As a Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow at the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, Amy utilizes molecular design to develop polymers for energy storage applications in collaboration with Professors Emily C. Davidson and Rodney D. Priestley. This research focuses on enhancing the thermal stability and energy density of the polymers, ultimately advancing the accessibility of renewable energy and the electrification of transportation.Abstract
Advances in electrifying transportation necessitate improving dielectric capacitors. Conventional dielectric capacitors suffer from two major challenges: (1) low energy density (Ue) and (2) low operating temperatures (< 105 °C for industry standard biaxially orientated polypropylene, BOPP). Increasing Ue is necessary to enhance energy utilization efficiency and reduce device volume. Integration of current capacitors often places them in extreme environments. For instance, in electric vehicles and aircraft, capacitors are often placed in engine compartments where temperatures range from 150 to 300 °C, beyond the safe limits of conventional dielectric polymers. These limitations stem from the polymer’s properties, with Ue proportional to the dielectric permittivity (ε) and operating temperature dictated by the glass transition temperature (Tg). Moreover, conduction losses increase with temperature, further limiting their range. My work combines molecular design and materials engineering to address these challenges by developing zwitterionic polyimides. Zwitterions covalently bind a cation and an anion, resulting in a high ε while maintaining low conduction losses. I combine the benefits of zwitterions (high ε) with those of polyimides (high Tg) to simultaneously improve the Ue and operating temperature. This research offers insights into how molecular modifications enhance the dielectric performance of polymers, thereby advancing transportation electrification.
Membranes for resilient water and energy supplies
Monong Wang Bio
Monong Wang is a postdoctoral research associate in Dr. Ryan Kingsbury’s group at Princeton University, in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE). She is also affiliated with the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment. She earned her Ph.D. (2023) and M.S. (2018) in CEE from University of California, Berkeley with Dr. Baoxia Mi, and her B.S. (2017) from the Technion–Israel Institute of Technology in Israel. Monong’s primary research focuses on developing membranes with various functionalities, such as chemical and biological properties, for water purification and resource recovery.Abstract
Our demand for clean water and energy has nearly doubled over the past 50 years, as more of the global population undergoes industrialization. Currently and traditionally, we have relied almost entirely on freshwater and fossil fuels, which account for 99% of our total water supply and 82% of our energy supply. However, the availability of these resources is becoming increasingly vulnerable due to factors such as extreme climate events and overextraction. Establishing alternative resources is therefore essential for building a resilient society. In my talk, I will present my research on designing nanomaterial-based membranes for treating alternative water sources. I will discuss how fundamental studies on intermolecular interactions and transport theory can inform material and membrane design for optimized performance. Finally, I will demonstrate the potential of functional membranes, such as those with chemical and biological properties, to recover energy-related mineral resources for decentralized energy storage and generation.