Dr. Thomas Zirkle, Chief Technology Officer of MicroPower Global, has joined a Thermoelectric Industry Advisory Board connected to a National Science Foundation research project on accelerating thermoelectric materials discovery.
Through collaborative work with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the Colorado School of Mines and other participants in the STEALS project, MicroPower has helped promote rigorous standards for thermoelectric technology, devices with the potential to change how society generates electricity and cooling.
A research effort led by Dr. Eric Toberer of the Department of Physics at the Colorado School of Mines focuses on the renewal of a National Science Foundation project, Designing Materials to Revolutionize and Engineer our Future (DMREF), titled "Accelerating Thermoelectric Materials Discovery via Dopability Predictions." The work uses advances in computation and machine learning to speed the search for advanced thermoelectric materials.
Dr. Toberer invited MicroPower to take part. Dr. Zirkle has agreed to join a Thermoelectric Industry Advisory Board that receives early notification of research developments and provides critical feedback. "MicroPower's commitment to third-party testing of their power generation modules at high temperature is commendable; such testing is vital for establishing consumer confidence," said Dr. Toberer, co-Principal Investigator on the STEALS project.
"It is an honour to have been asked to join the Thermoelectric Industry Advisory Board," said Dr. Zirkle. "The work of Dr. Toberer and his colleagues is essential to growing our understanding of which thermoelectric materials can solve real-world problems, and MicroPower is delighted to be part of that effort."
About MicroPower: MicroPower Global develops advanced thermoelectric generators and cooling systems that convert industrial waste heat into clean electricity. With an international patent portfolio and third-party testing and validation across NREL, the U.S. Army Research Laboratory, NIST, Bechtel-Bettis, and Texas State, MicroPower's technology operates at 3–5× the efficiency of any commercial alternative.