John (Jake) McDonough
Materials Science and
Engineering Department
International School of Solid
State Physics
th
56 Course – Materials for
Renewable Energy
Erice, Sicily July 18 – 28
The Ettore Majorana
Foundation and Centre for
Scientific Culture was founded
in 1963 in Erice, Sicily, and
Fig. 1 Group Picture for all attendees of the short course
hosts students from around the
world for short courses in math and science. The short course that I recently attended was called
Materials for Renewable Energy, and focused on the materials
and processes involved in generating and storing energy from
photovoltaics (solar cells), wind mills, geothermal, pumped
hydro, fuel cells, etc. The course not only covered the scientific
mechanisms and materials behind the various topics, but also
discussed the societal, economical, and legal implications of the
technologies. There were a total of 30 lectures given on the
various topics over the 11 day course.
I was able to present some of my research at a student
poster session that occurred during two of the evening sessions.
All of the 70 students (representing 23 countries) and roughly
30 professors attended the event and I was able to showcase the
capabilities and facilities we have at Drexel. There will be
future collaborations that occur as a result of interactions with
other students during the poster session. Also, there was a Fig. 2 View from the coffee
highly respected professor in attendance, Eli Yablonovich, break room
whom I was able to meet and talk with for a while. He is projected to receive a Nobel Prize for
his work with photonic crystals in the late 80s and
early 90s, which are attractive optical materials for
controlling and manipulating the flow of light. It was
very exciting having the opportunity to talk with
him!
Fig. 3 Temple of Hera, Greek temple
in the background
In addition to learning about cutting edge
materials for renewable energy, I was able to see
some incredible sights. The course included two half
day excursions: one to Selinunte, which is an ancient
town filled with Greek and Roman ruins, and one to
Favignana, which is a gorgeous island off the coast
of Sicily. I was able to see some sights that many people can only dream of seeing in a lifetime. I
am truly grateful that the Office of International Programs was able to provide me with the
support needed to allow me to attend this course. I learned so much about cutting edge materials
for renewable energy and was able to foster many relationships that will hopefully follow me
where ever I go in life!