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March 2026:
Two of our research works were featured in UH Media:
"New Study Calls for Human-Centered Approach to Digitalization in the Global Energy Transition",
And "Unlocking the ‘Urban Mine’: UH Researchers Map a Path to US Mineral Sovereignty Through E-Waste".
We thank UH Media for their coverage!
February 2026:
We received a UH Internal Award, titled "National Center and Team Science Planning Award: School Energy Systems, Extreme Weather Risks, and Resilient Childhoods” ($99,670, 2026-2027). This project will develop a Center-Consortium focusing on examining how energy systems, thermal conditions, extreme weather patterns, and building operations shape the quality and effectiveness of U.S. public-school learning environments and influence short- and long-term learning and health outcomes for children. The Center-Consortium includes UH, University of Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins University, Rice University, and Georgia State University. The PI of the project is Dr. Fan Wang from the Department of Economics at UH and Dr. Shi is a Co-PI of this effort.
We thank the UH Division of Research (DOR) for their support!
February 2026:
Dr. Shi received the President's Circle Award for 2026 at UH!
February 2026:
We received a project award, titled "Big-data Use Cases: Identification, Design, and Visualization" from Entergy ($50,000, 2026-2027). This project leverages integrated utility data and advanced analytics to improve grid model fidelity and situational awareness, with the goal of enabling faster, safer, and more reliable planning, operations, and fault response.
We thank Entergy for their support!
July 2025:
We have successfully held Project Elevate: Urban Youth Empowerment Program Summer AI, Robotics and Renewable Energy Camp for 34 attendees between the ages of 18 and 24. Thank you to all our attendees and our workforce training partner, Houston Area Urban League (HAUL), for making this a fun and engaging experience! We also thank the National Academies for their sponsorship of this program!
More information about the Energy Transition workforce development program under the National Academies can be found here.
May 2025:
Dr. Shi was selected to participate in the NAE 2025 Frontiers of Engineering Symposium!
The Grainger Foundation Frontiers of Engineering is an annual three-day meeting that brings together 100 of the nation's outstanding early-career engineers from industry, academia, and government to discuss pioneering technical and leading-edge research in various engineering fields and industry sectors.
News Release from NAE can be found here.
April 2025:
Ms. Zirui Tong and Ms. Chuyue Wang have received the Brij & Sunita Agrawal Endowed Scholarships from the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering. Congrats to them!
March 2025:
Dr. Shi has received the President's Circle Award at UH!
The President's Circle Awards recognize UH faculty in five areas for each reporting year:
Top 50 faculty members who published in journals with the highest impact factors
Faculty who published senior authored or edited books
Faculty who received national recognition and awards for research and creative activities
Principal investigators and co-investigators who received major grant awards of $1 million-plus
January 2025:
Dr. Shi has received the Faculty Explorer Award in the 2025 EnergyTech University Prize (EnergyTech UP) hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).
The News Release can be found here.
UH Team consists of Drs. Suryanarayanan Radha, Saiyid Kamal, Haleh Ardebili, Joseph Powell, and Jian Shi. This prestigious nation-wide recognition is a testament to the team’s dedication and years of collaborative effort in advancing energy innovation and commercialization at UH, the Energy University.
January 2025:
Our collaborative paper, "15-Minute City’ Concept in the United States via Activity-Based Mobility Patterns”, has received the Best Paper Award from the Committee on Urban Transportation Data and Information Systems in Transportation Research Board (TRB) Annual Meeting 2025. Below is a photo of our co-authors receiving this recognition at TRB.
December 2024:
Congratulations to Fatemeh Kalantari for successfully graduating from UH. She is currently an Assistant Professor (Tenure-track) at the University of Texas at Tyler. We wish you the best Fatemeh and thank you for your contribution to our collective success during the last 4 years!
December 2024:
Congratulations to Fatemeh Kalantari for successfully graduating from UH. She is currently an Assistant Professor (Tenure-track) at the University of Texas at Tyler. We wish you the best Fatemeh and thank you for your contribution to our collective success during the last 4 years!
October 2024:
Delia Zhang was selected as a "hacker" to participate in the 2024 MIT Energy and Climate Hackathon! She will visit MIT in Nov, 2024 to create innovative solutions to build a sustainable and renewable energy future!
Congrats (again) to Delia!
September 2024:
Our research in building electrification research was reported by UH Media and several other media outlets and featured in the Sep, 23rd's edition of "UH Today"!
UH Press Release: https://www.egr.uh.edu/news/202409/ece-faculty-partner-harris-county-vision-sustainable-energy-future
Houston Daily: https://houstondaily.com/stories/664710799-university-partners-with-harris-county-on-sustainable-energy-initiative
September 2024:
Dr. Shi was selected as an Early-Career Research Fellow (on the off-shore energy safety track) at The Gulf Research Program (GRP) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Thank you, GRP, for the recognition!
August 2024:
Fatemeh Kalantari will start as an Assistant Professor (Tenure-track) at the University of Texas at Tyler in Fall 2024. Congratulations to Fatemeh!
August 2024:
Massiagbe Diabate received the Chevron UH Energy Graduate Fellows Award. UH Chevron Energy Graduate Fellows Award seeks outstanding graduate candidates at UH engaged in graduate education and research in energy topics from across the campus. The program carries a one-year $12,000 graduate fellowship.
Congratulations to Massiagbe!
May 2024:
Delia Zhang was elected as a Texas Entrepreneurship Exchange for Energy (TEX-E) Fellow (3rd cohort). TEX-E is a partnership between the MIT Martin Trust Center, Greentown Labs, and five Texas universities with the goal of creating a powerful student-driven entrepreneurship ecosystem in Texas.
Congratulations to Delia!
April 2024:
Dr. Shi was elected as an Emerging Leader (Class of 2024) of the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) for his contribution to maritime electrification and navigational safety in the offshore environment.
OTC Official Release: https://www.otcnet.org/press-releases/otc-2024-announces-emerging-leaders-class
We thank OTC for their recognition!
March 2024:
We have received a $4.8 million award from the Department of Energy (DOE), led by Harris County:
ZEEBRA: Zoos Educating on Electronics and Battery Recycling Awareness
DOE Official Release: https://www.energy.gov/eere/vehicles/funding-selections-bipartisan-infrastructure-law-battery-recycling-reprocessing-and
The goal of ZEEBRA is to increase participation by consumers in electronics and battery recycling in Harris County through the deployment of new interactive educational installations and displays and a behavior change education campaign. The ZEEBRA team is looking forward to raising awareness, within and beyond the Zoo, on the impacts associated with critical mineral mining as well as the benefits of a domestic, circular battery supply chain contained within the US.
We thank DOE for their generous support!
January 2024:
Dr. Shi has received the prestigious CAREER award from the National Science Foundation:
CAS-Climate: CAREER: A Unified Zero-Carbon-Driven Design Framework for Accelerating Power Grid Deep Decarbonization (ZERO-ACCELERATOR)
NSF website: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2338158
This NSF CAREER project aims to establish a transformative and convergent zero-carbon-driven framework to add the urgently needed carbon perspective into the design, operation, and control of electric power systems. The project will bring transformative changes to electric power systems, which are heavily dependent on fossil fuels and carbon-intensive processes. This will be achieved by developing and integrating new carbon-driven mechanisms, methodologies, and algorithms into the existing power grid operation paradigm to accelerate its decarbonization. The intellectual merits of the project include: 1) A mathematical framework to model carbon allowance allocation and forward emission trading, 2) the hypothesis of a carbon balance market as a spot market mechanism for maintaining continuous grid cleanliness, 3) load profile-based carbon accounting and forecasting methods, paired with an integrated electricity-carbon digital twin, 4) a game theoretic carbon response program to maximize demand-side carbon reduction. The broader impacts of the project include: 1) Providing an integrative blueprint for policymakers, electricity producers, grid operators, and consumers regarding their respective roles in expediting the decarbonization of the electric power sector, 2) addressing the current knowledge gap and raising awareness of energy transition within the U.S. workforce and classrooms, and 3) strengthening Houston's leadership in the global energy transition.
We thank NSF for their generous support!
January 2024:
We have received the following research grants from the UH Energy Transition Institute:
1. Competition versus Cooperation: Examining the Dynamics of Green Hydrogen Economy Growth and a Renewable-Dominated Texas Power Grid.
2. Jump-starting the Clean-Hydrogen Economy in Texas: Assessing the Economic Effects of the Inflation Reduction Act on Clean Hydrogen Production in the Lone Star State.
3. Advancing Sustainability in Hydrogen Supply Chains (HSC): An AI-Enabled Approach for Digital Transformation in Hydrogen Transportation and Logistics in the State of Texas.
These funds will support our research agenda on the hydrogen economy, which will play a key role in the energy transition of the State of Texas. We hope to provide rapid-fire analyses of investment strategies in clean hydrogen technologies.
We thank UH ETI for their generous support!
June 2023:
A group of graduate students led by Fatemeh Kalantari and advised by Dr. Jian Shi has won 3rd place in the prestigious First Annual Carbon Management Collegiate Competition hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM)
DOE Press Release: https://www.energy.gov/fecm/articles/doe-announces-winners-first-annual-carbon-management-collegiate-competition
UH Press Release: https://www.uh.edu/news-events/stories/2023/june-2023/uh-students-shine-in-carbon-management-competition.php
Featured in News: https://houston.innovationmap.com/university-of-houston-department-of-energy-carbon-challenge-2661138381.html
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