NETG Teaches High-Schoolers About Energy Technology

Last Saturday Praneet Adusumilli and I woke up earlier than usual to head up to Northwestern to participate in the inaugural Splash! program. Splash! is an all-volunteer program where high-school students from throughout the Chicagoland area are welcomed to the NU campus to take classes taught by NU students and community members. The subjects of the classes are chosen by the teachers and span the educational realm of anything. We thought it would be a great opportunity to teach a class on "Modern Energy Technologies".

The curriculum consisted of
an

Splash! 2010 class on Modern Energy Technologies. Instructors were Praneet Adusumilli (far right) and James Wilson (taking the photo).

introduction on why we care about energy in both the U.S. and the world, followed by a group thought exercise on where all our sources of energy come from on earth. We then briefly covered most of the current supply-side technologies with a special in-depth focus on wind energy in order to emphasize the vertical levels of research and effort that are needed in technology implementation. We finished the class with a section on energy storage and transmission, showing hands-on laboratory examples of Li-ion batteries and solid-oxide fuel cells. It was an incredible experience as teachers and we hope that the students enjoyed it as much as we did.

The curriculum and slides from the class will be available on the NETG website at a later date. We hope to teach this class each year for Splash!, with the possibility of expanding the curriculum to include other classes that each focus on one specific energy technology. Please keep this program in mind for next year if you are interested in teaching!