Center Cuts: Advanced Energy Center Spring 2019 Digest

Center Cuts: Advanced Energy Center Digest

Issue No.3 - Spring 2019

POWER PLAYERS - Our Partners

Center For Intergrated Electric Energy Systems

Narrow-band semiconductors, water-purification methods, thermodynamic modeling – fueled by Stony Brook University’s uniquely strong faculty, the Center for Integrated Electric Energy Systems (CIEES) is expanding its vision and advancing new technologies at the innovative nexus of food, energy and water systems.

Backed by 30 years of research, SBU electrical engineers have advanced the science of narrow-band semiconductors – ideal for close-up detection duty in gas lines and chemical plants – and semiconducting lasers that can detect methane and other gas at a distance. The CIEES funded graduate students evaluating this powerful, low-cost tech.

Energy-efficient water filtration is being leveraged in projects with multiple private companies, directly addressing a concern on Long Island, where nitrogen runoff causes ecological harm. Dr. Benjamin Hsiao, CIEES director and a distinguished professor in SBU’s Department of Chemistry, has led efforts to develop novel water-purification solutions using renewable materials.

And a recent development connects the School of Marine Science with IBM’s Yorktown research center, where the IT giant has been developing new sensors for large data-collecting networks. Add the Marine Science team’s in-development, real-time sensors for monitoring the quality of New York waterways, and the collaboration shows real promise.

ADVISOR 411 - Our Board

Tom Falcone, CEO

Long Island Power Authority

A valued member of the AERTC Advisory Board, Thomas Falcone has served as the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) chief executive officer since September 2015. As such, Tom manages the third-largest not-for-profit, publicly owned electric utility in the United States, serving 1.1 million customers on Long Island and in the Rockaways. He served previously as LIPA’s chief financial officer, following a career as an investment banker and advisor to publicly owned utilities, state governments and local governments. During this time, he raised more than $25 billion in utility and infrastructure investments.

Under Tom’s leadership, LIPA is the most improved electric utility in the nation, with enhanced customer satisfaction, grid reliability and resiliency, along with a host of new initiatives designed to meet New York’s aggressive clean-energy goals. That includes utility-scale solar farms and battery-storage projects, as well as New York’s first offshore wind farm, the focus of an ambitious international consortium featuring the AERTC and a global assortment of stakeholders. In addition to serving on the AERTC Advisory Board, Tom is a board member of the Large Public Power Council and participates in the Energeia Partnership, a think tank organization focused on various challenges facing Long Island. A graduate of The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Tom resides on Long Island with his wife, Alexandra, and three children.