News & Updates

We're excited to share that the University of Michigan is spearheading a $2.6 million initiative funded by the U.S. Department of Energy's Vehicle Technologies Office. The project aims to enhance electric motor efficiency and affordability by leveraging 3D printing technologies to produce advanced magnetic materials.

Under the leadership of Professor Lei Zuo, the research team will utilize laser powder bed fusion to 3D-print high-performance nanocrystalline soft magnetic cores and gradient permanent magnets. This approach seeks to:

• Reduce eddy current losses by a factor of 10

• Decrease iron core loss by a factor of 5

• Triple the permeability of the iron core

• Lower manufacturing costs by 40%

We're excited to share that the University of Michigan has established the Center for Growing Ocean Energy Technologies and the Blue Economy (GO BLUE), backed by the National Science Foundation's Industry-University Cooperative Research Centers (IUCRC) program. This collaborative initiative, involving Stevens Institute of Technology and Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, aims to accelerate innovation in marine energy and foster the development of the blue economy.

Key objectives of the GO BLUE Center include:

• Advancing marine energy technologies such as wave, tidal, and offshore wind power.

• Bridging gaps between academia, industry, and government to address climate change and clean energy needs.

• Promoting interdisciplinary research and cross-sector partnerships to overcome technological, societal, economic, and environmental challenges.

• Supporting workforce development and economic growth in coastal communities.

We're excited to announce that the University of Michigan is spearheading a $3.6 million National Science Foundation-funded project aimed at developing community-focused wave energy converters. This initiative targets sustainable energy solutions for coastal areas, beginning with Beaver Island, Michigan, and Nags Head, North Carolina.

Led by Prof. Lei Zuo and a multidisciplinary team, the project emphasizes:

• Collaborative design with local communities to ensure energy solutions meet specific regional needs.

• Development of a comprehensive assessment framework balancing engineering efficiency, environmental impact, and socio-economic considerations.

• Field testing of wave energy devices tailored to the unique conditions of each site.

This effort represents a significant step toward harnessing the vast potential of wave energy, which could supply up to 35% of the U.S. electricity demand, while ensuring that the technologies are environmentally responsible and socially equitable.

We're thrilled to share that the University of Michigan has been awarded $5 million in new funding from the U.S. Department of Energy to enhance testing and development of wave energy and offshore wind technologies.

The grants support four innovative projects led by Prof. Lei Zuo, including:

• Shock-absorbing mooring systems that extend device durability and power onboard sensors.

• Noise-mitigation solutions like balloon curtains and seabed pole arrays to protect marine life from offshore turbine noise.

• Hardware-in-the-loop platforms enabling lab-scale testing of ocean-sized wave energy devices.

• A standardized testing framework and open-access database for power takeoff systems.