Funding for MITEI UROPs in summer 2010 is provided by individual donors and by members of the MIT Energy Initiative, including inaugural Founding Member BP and individual Affiliate Members with a particular interest in supporting undergraduate research.
MITEI works with the MIT Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) to support the participation of undergraduates in energy research and to encourage undergraduate interest in the energy field. MITEI UROPs can be conducted in any academic department or interdisciplinary laboratory.
The MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI ) was formally launched by President Susan Hockfield in November 2006 to mobilize the capabilities and experience of the Institute to “foster new research in science and technology to increase energy supplies … bringing scientists, engineers and social scientists together to envision the best energy policies for the future.” MITEI is now a broad, Institute‐wide initiative designed both to transform the global energy system to meet the needs of the future and to help build a bridge to that future by improving today’s energy systems.
In 2010, MITEI has grown to:
The undergraduate Energy Studies Minor, MIT’s first interdisciplinary minor, was launched in September 2009. In May 2010, MIT and its electric utility NSTAR announced a first of its kind collaboration to reduce MIT’s electricity consumption by 15%, or 34M KWH.
MITEI’s Affiliate Member Program contributes to a critical link in the energy innovation chain — the pairing of MIT’s world‐class research teams with innovators in industry who will be responsible for moving many of the products of this collaboration into the energy marketplace. Most importantly, it provides key focus, research opportunities and critical funding for the next generation of energy technologists.
This summer, 23 undergraduate researchers worked on projects that included biofuel production, wind energy measurement, development of solar powered devices, investigation into geothermal energy, and more.