Renewable Energy is Focus of Center's Inaugural Symposium

EVANSTON, Ill. --- Noted energy scientist Nathan S. Lewis, George L. Argyros Professor of Chemistry at Caltech, will deliver a keynote address at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 12, to kick off the Feb. 13 inaugural symposium of the Argonne-Northwestern Solar Energy Research (ANSER) Center, a new collaboration between Northwestern University and Argonne National Laboratory.

The keynote address and daylong technical symposium, both to be held on Northwestern's Evanston campus, are free and open to the public.

Lewis will discuss "Global Energy Perspectives" at 6 p.m. Feb. 12 in Room LR2 of the Technological Institute, 2145 Sheridan Road. His address is targeted for a lay audience. Lewis has been at the forefront of promoting public awareness of energy needs and potential solutions and recently appeared on PBS's science program "NOVA" to discuss solar energy.

The technical symposium will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 13, in the McCormick Auditorium, Norris University Center, 1999 Campus Drive.

The symposium will focus on the ANSER Center's broad range of solar energy research efforts. Topics will include nanotechnology and energy, artificial photosynthesis and solar thermoelectrics; presentations will be delivered by experts from Northwestern, Argonne, Caltech, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Uppsala University in Sweden.

The ANSER Center, the first of its kind in the Midwest, is designed to develop new approaches to using the energy of sunlight to produce both fuels and electricity. The center includes 26 research groups from both institutions, comprising nearly 150 individual scientists and engineers working together to address a critical global problem -- renewable energy.

Although the keynote address and symposium are free, registration is strongly suggested by contacting Christina Maki at c-maki@northwestern.edu. For more information, call (847) 467-7468.