Trustee makes donation to start new solar energy research center at Rensselaer

Jonathan Dordick, director of the Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies and a chemical engineer, also envisions strong possibilities for entirely new forms of light-capturing technologies. "Ultimately, biomimetic designs will be integrated with nature's biological machinery to provide scalable, efficient, and broadly applicable systems that convert light into usable and storable energy. This has the potential to revolutionize future energy generation and secure our future as a safe and sustainable society."

K.V. Lakshmi, assistant professor of chemistry and chemical biology, will help lead the effort at the center to capture the extremely complex reactions of photosynthesis in action, which is a vital first step in the research process. One of the recipients of the first-ever federal Department of Energy (DOE) funding for the investigation of biochemical solar power, Lakshmi is working with fellow assistant professors of chemistry and chemical biology James Kempf, an expert in Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) techniques, and Mark Platt, an expert in plant protein and spectroscopy, to understand how the inner workings of the plant protein complex transforms light into power through photosynthesis. Their colleagues, including assistant professor of chemistry and chemical biology and molecular chemist Peter Dinolfo, as well the faculty in disciplines from biology to chemical engineering will use this foundational knowledge to build synthetic replications of the natural systems to capture and move light energy.

"There is absolutely no doubt that the single most daunting problem that is facing this country and the world is energy independence and security," Lakshmi said. "Solar energy conversion is an important area of research with unbelievable implications for the future. We need transformational science, on the interface of chemistry, biology and physics, to create new technological innovations for solar energy utilization that represent the great convergence of the 21st century."

Thomas Baruch is founder and managing director of CMEA Ventures. He began his investment career at the Battelle Development Corporation and then at Exxon Corporation. Tom formed CMEA Ventures with New Enterprise Associates (NEA) in 1989 after previously having founded and served as CEO of Microwave Technology Inc., a supplier of gallium arsenide integrated circuits and value-added sub-systems. Tom currently heads up CMEA Ventures' energy and materials investments. He currently serves as the chairman of the board of materials and energy companies including: Codexis Inc., Cnano Technologies, Intermolecular, and Wildcat Discovery Technologies. Baruch also currently serves on the boards of Biolight, Entropic Communications (ENTR), Exela, Luminus Devices, Newpath, and Solyndra.

Baruch holds an engineering degree from Rensselaer and a Juris Doctor degree from Capital University. He joined the Rensselaer Board of Trustees in October 2002. He is also a member of the board of trustees of the Berkeley Institute for Synthetic Biology (BISB) and the board of trustees of That Man May See Foundation.