The K-12 STEM Education and Outreach Team at the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) led several Science Bowl competitions in West Virginia and Pennsylvania and facilitated collaboration between organizations and community partners in February. Also during the month, several of the Lab’s science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) Ambassadors visited career fairs and other science-themed events to share information about a career in energy, encourage students to explore science learning and bridge the gap between students and researchers at NETL.

As a testament to his hard work and achievements, NETL’s Richard Oleksak was selected to receive the Young Leaders Professional Development Award within the Structural Materials Division of The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS).

Through cooperation with its partners, NETL is working to advance the optimization and implementation of artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies into the nation’s energy sector.

Advanced NETL technology that will enable power plants to operate at higher efficiencies and use less fuel while producing the same amount of energy has been selected to receive a prestigious award from Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Science Center.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy (FE) and NETL have selected one project to receive approximately $1.5 million in federal funding for cost-shared research and development under the second closing of funding opportunity announcement (FOA) DE-FOA-0002001, Crosscutting Research for Coal-Fueled Power Plants.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Methane Hydrate R&D Program, led by DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy and NETL, marked its 20-year anniversary with a brochure highlighting the Lab’s successes and ongoing efforts in its collaborative work to advance scientific understanding of gas hydrates.

North Allegheny Senior High School, and North Allegheny School District’s Marshall Middle School Team 1 claimed victory at the 29th annual Western Pennsylvania Regional Science Bowl (WPASB), organized and sponsored by NETL. The event was held Feb. 22 and 29, 2020, at the Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC) South Campus in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania. Forty teams from high schools and 32 teams from middle schools throughout the state participated in the competition.

NETL has released an informative carbon capture infographic that highlights the role of advanced manufacturing in driving down capture costs and how it can improve process performance. Additive manufacturing, using 3D printing, enables the development of components for carbon capture equipment that intensify heat and mass transfer, improve process performance and reduce overall equipment size, lowering capital and operating costs.

NETL is partnering with the Colorado School of Mines (CSM) to develop artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled robots capable of evaluating and repairing power plant boilers, ensuring safer and more affordable energy production. Boilers are one of the most important components of a power plant, as they are responsible for superheating water to create the steam that drives energy-producing turbines. However, it is difficult for humans to perform critical inspection and repair of these components.

As the world enters a new decade, change is on the horizon — especially in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). According to Forbes, women in the U.S. currently earn the majority of bachelor’s degrees; however, they are underrepresented in fields such as computer science, engineering and mathematics. Additionally, women who earn science and engineering degrees often do not go on to careers in those paths.