(449a) Keynote - Growing Scientific Leaders from Concentrated Sunlight: A Tribute to Professor E. A. Fletcher

Over the past 30 years, Professor E.A. Fletcher has inspired undergraduate engineering, chemistry, and physics students and the associated faculty at Valparaiso University (Valpo) to address the climate change crisis through research in the field of high-temperature solar chemistry. Due to Prof. Fletcher’s passion for education, engineering science, and solar technology development, Valpo students and faculty were able to design and build the only solar furnace located at an undergraduate institution. With the solar furnace, students and faculty elucidate the industrial potential of processes predicated upon a mix of creativity and engineering science for producing solar fuels and solar commodities, areas for which Prof. Fletcher laid the foundation.

In this presentation, we discuss the processes and solar reactors that we are developing for producing hydrogen from water and light metals from their ores. These processes utilize electrochemical steps to reduce operating temperatures and overcome slow reaction kinetics. We also discuss through select examples how we prepare talented undergraduate students for careers dedicated to mitigating climate change and advancing renewable energies. These students often choose to do so through continued study and research in prestigious graduate programs.