Two newly established University Research Centers will address critical societal needs, joining the Center for Catastrophe Modeling and Resilience, Lehigh’s first URC, which was launched last year to enhance the accuracy of disaster predictions and assessments using advanced technologies and analytics.
The Center for Advancing Community Electrification Solutions (ACES) will focus on electrification across three common energy-intensive sectors—transportation, water, and buildings—as well as adaptations to the supporting local power grid. Shalinee Kishore, Iacocca Chair Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Arindam Banerjee, Paul B. Reinhold Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics and department chair, will lead the center as it seeks to transform how communities use electricity by creating efficient, reliable, and self-sustaining energy systems.
ACES’ work will focus on the development of “electricity-sheds” within a community to optimize power use, storage, and delivery. An electricity-shed (conceptually similar to a watershed) is a region, community, or industrial area that requires supporting power grids to provide locally generated electricity to meet electrification needs for buildings, transportation, and water systems. Electricity-sheds must be efficient, secure, and flexible while working within an integrated electricity system.
“ACES aims to deliver energy independence and efficiency to a range of communities through electrification,” Kishore says, “which relies on electricity to meet energy needs and is a growing force in our economy. It is predicted that electricity needs will grow significantly in the next several decades as we switch to power many of our energy-intensive processes through electricity and with increased demand from energy-intensive computing in data centers.”
Kishore noted that work originating from ACES may be applied to understanding communities that are seeing the increased use of electric vehicles, increased dependence on electric pumps to run water distribution systems, and higher electricity demands due to power requirements of smart manufacturing facilities and AI data centers.
ACES will combine technology solutions with community needs, helping to reduce energy costs and promote energy security and independence. Faculty affiliated with the center will conduct interdisciplinary research in engineering, economics, social science, policy, and data science to assess how to optimize functions and community impact of electricity-sheds. With strong partnerships and workforce development initiatives, ACES will lead the way in making electrification scalable and accessible.
The Center for Community-Driven Assistive Technologies (CDAT) aims to transform the lives of people with physical, cognitive, behavioral/emotional, sensory, and developmental disabilities through interdisciplinary research and cutting-edge emerging and existing assistive technologies. The center will focus on life transitions, mobility enhancement, everyday activities, and access to living, working, and learning spaces.
The interdisciplinary research conducted at CDAT will develop new and innovative approaches to empowering people with disabilities and expand opportunities in education, employment, and health. With a unique holistic approach that begins by engaging those community members who are most affected, and emphasizes collaboration with service providers to guide translational innovation, researchers will develop impactful solutions tailored to real-world needs. Partnering with an array of stakeholders, the center aspires to be a national leader in advancing independence, accessibility, and quality of life for people with disabilities.
The center, to be led by Vinod Namboodiri, Forlenza Chair of Health Innovation and Technology and professor of computer science and engineering and George DuPaul, professor of school psychology, has been developed through collaboration among faculty from the Rossin College, College of Health, and College of Education. Faculty and students from across the university will have opportunities to engage in the important work of the center.
“Advancements in medical care have resulted in people living longer lives, which means more people are reaching ages where disability becomes more prevalent,” Namboodiri says. “Assistive technologies are crucial because they can help bridge the gap for individuals with disabilities or impairments, allowing them to live a more independent or interdependent life that is fulfilling. These technologies make tasks that might otherwise be difficult or impossible, more manageable.”
