November 2007

The Center for Science Teaching and Learning along with KeySpan hosted the first Long Island Global Summit for families at Farmingdale State College, a way to inform families about what they can do to stop global warming.

There was a panel discussion with Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy and Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi and Angela Licata, deputy commissioner, Environmental Planning and Assessment, New York City Dept of Environmental Protection. It was moderated by Craig Allen of Fox 5NY TV and WCBS NewsRadio88.

The summit included alternative energy demonstrations, alternative vehicle displays, workshop presentations, green vendors as well as hands-on activities for kids. Summit sponsors were: KeySpan, Tragar Oil, Canvas, Anton News, Amazing Animals and YES Club.

The Center for Science was founded with the mission of encouraging science literacy and promoting life-long learning. They offer an array of projects for volunteers and paid internships for students. Call 516-764-0045 for details.

Progress in Alternative Energy Research

In January 2007, Farmingdale State College (FSC) and the Research Foundation (RF) announced a recently awarded U.S. patent for an energy generation technology developed at Farmingdale State College that will make fuel cells more durable, cost effective and commercially viable. As the first U.S. patent issued to the Research Foundation on behalf of Farmingdale State College in the Alternative Energy and Hydrogen Fuel Cell area, the Metallic Bipolar Plate Technology will produce clean energy and clear water as its main by-products.

Distinguished Service Professor of Mechanical Engineering Technology Dr. Hazem Tawfik, director of the Institute for Research and Technology Transfer (IRTT), invented a bipolar metal plate Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cell. Bipolar plates are commonly made of graphite composites. More economical and durable than graphite, the metal developed by Tawfik also reduces hydrogen consumption by at least 24% because of its higher electric conductivity.

In April 2007, Dr. Tawfik's research yielded a second patent in the alternative energy and hydrogen fuel cell area for a Fuel Cell Stack which includes multiple stacked membrane-electrode assemblies and two base plates containing the membrane-electrode assemblies. According to Dr. Tawfik this patent design provides the additional safety factor necessary for fuel cell systems and their applications in the automotive industry and stationary power to energize our vehicles and residential homes.

Dr. Tawfik is leading research efforts at FSC for clean and reliable alternative sources of energy. He is aided by several colleagues.

Distinguished Service Professor Yelleshpur Dathatri is nationally known for his research in solar energy and for providing training in photovoltaic systems. He is the founder and director of the Farmingdale State Solar Energy Center, site of the first large-scale grid connected Photovoltaic system in the northeastern United States. Through Professor Dathatri's efforts, the Farmingdale State Solar Energy Center became the first accredited institution in the Northeast by the Institute for Sustainable Power (ISP). In 2006, the SUNY Research Foundation gave him a Research and Scholarship Award.

Distinguished Teaching Professor Dr. Miriam Deitsch, director of the Social Science Research Center, has represented the college on Congressman Steve Israel's Next Generation Energy Security Task Force. Dr. Deitsch has worked also in local high schools promoting the need for green energy. She has mentored students at Plainview-Old Bethpage John F. Kennedy High School in their wide range of science research projects, including one concerning public acceptance of alternative energy which was presented at the National Junior Science and Humanities Symposium and the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in Arizona.

© 2008 NETWORKING® MAGAZINE
2020 GUIDE TO GOING GREEN