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YSU college to host energy symposium
By GRACE WYLER
youngstown
Youngstown State University will bring business leaders, nonprofit groups, elected officials and academics together next week for a symposium that will examine various areas of sustainable energy development from international, national, state and local perspectives.
The second annual Sustainable Energy Forum, which will take place at the university Monday and Tuesday, will aim to help companies and other local groups form new relationships around sustainable-energy initiatives, said Michael Hripko, director of research and economic development at YSU’s Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, or STEM, College.
“If we can put people together, we might accelerate our development and our commercialization,” Hripko said.
On Monday, Liu Fanghui with the China Council for Promotion of International Trade in China’s Shandong Province and Michael Epstein of the Weizmann Institute in Israel will consider sustainable-energy development from an international point of view.
The foreign representatives are here as the result of recent trips to Israel and China by local leaders and the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber.
U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Niles, D-17th, and Matt Peterson, president of environmental nonprofit Global Green, will join a panel discussion on national sustainable-energy development. Representatives from Babcock & Wilcox Co., Dominion East Ohio Gas and FirstEnergy will provide industry views on the subject.
Other speakers include Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams and Warren Mayor Michael O’Brien.
On the second day of the conference, attendees will be invited to attend sessions on a range of sustainable-energy topics, including biofuels, energy storage and efficiency, fuel cells, wind and solar power and liquid fuels. YSU academics will present at least 35 abstracts on these subjects, Hripko said.
“You cannot avoid the sustainable-energy momentum,” Hripko said. “We want to embrace sustainable energy as an academic focus and as a research focus.”
The conference illustrates that Mahoning Valley businesses, academics and elected officials are receptive and supportive of sustainable-energy development, said Eric Planey, vice president of international business attraction for the Regional Chamber.
“For attracting businesses in clean technology, this is very important,” Planey said. “International businesses and companies from other areas can see that we have the sophistication and the capacity to demonstrate to people that the businesses here are ready for clean-energy technology.”
The Regional Chamber, a sponsor of the event, also will host a roundtable luncheon on venture capital investment Tuesday.
The session, hosted by Planey, will highlight where venture investors are looking for new innovations in the sustainable-energy fields. Planey will be joined by Klara Olsen, a business- incubator specialist from Israel’s Green Tech.
The conference will take place in YSU’s Kilcawley Center from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday, and from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday. Registration is encouraged and can be done at www.ysu.edu/sef.
Global Green’s Peterson will kick off the conference Sunday with a documentary on the impact humans have on Earth’s ecosystems. The film, “11th Hour,” will be presented at 5 p.m. at Schwebel Auditorium in Moser Hall. The movie will be followed by a discussion and reception at the Museum of Industry and Labor (the steel museum) on Wood Street.