Overview: The Wisconsin Energy Research Consortium (WERC) is collaboration between the UWM Research Foundation, UWM's College of Engineering and Applied Science, UW-Madison's College of Engineering, Marquette University's College of Engineering, the Milwaukee School of Engineering, Milwaukee Area Technical College, Lakeshore Technical College, and regional energy companies. Grants made through WERC support promising research projects in the fields of Power, Energy and Controls (PEC) that have the greatest potential to foster regional technology transfer, to obtain significant follow-up federal funding, and to create jobs.
Vision of WERC
- We combine the power of Wisconsin industry and its four major engineering research universities and technical colleges to provide cutting-edge research, workforce development, and industry expansion.
- We harness our leading university resources to support our member companies, development new companies and expand Wisconsin's PEC industries.
Mission of WERC
Research
- We conduct innovative research projects that will lead to breakthroughs in the PEC fields.
Workforce Development
- We train a dynamic workforce - engineers, scientists and technicians - that will become the next generation of leaders in the fields of PEC.
Strategic Partners and Networks
- We develop strategic partnerships between academic institutions, industry, government and non-government organizations through WERC to grow our industry and improve our competitiveness.
Research Focus Areas: Proposals may be submitted for pre-competitive research on most topics that impact the fields of PEC. To date, WERC has identified the following broad research thrust areas and their related subareas where regional strength and member interest exist:
- Power Distribution and Control
Sub-areas: Micro Grids; Smart grid management; Power flow management; Grid security; Grid stability; Power systems reliability analysis; Fault diagnostics and mitigation; Sensor technology
- Alternative Power & Energy Technology
Sub-areas: Wind; Solar; Biomass; Geothermal; Solar thermal; Grid integrations; Renewable energy for residential and commercial customers; Carbon-to-fuel technologies; Parasitic energy capture; Waste heat capture
- Energy Storage Technology
Sub-areas: Advanced battery technology; Symmetric and asymmetric electrochemical capacitors; Pumped hydro; Fluid power accumulators; Kinetic energy technology; Compressed air and thermal systems; Hydrogen storage
Sub-areas: Fuel cells; Combustion technologies; Combined heat and power; Fast response generation technology; Electric propulsion systems; More efficient motors, drives, inverters & converters; Cooling technologies; New electrical architectures; Hydrogen production
- Energy Efficiency and Emissions Reduction
Sub-areas: Combined heat and power; Energy efficient building systems; Carbon sequestration; Exhaust filters and converters; Load management; Adaptive HVAC and lighting systems
- Advanced Materials for Energy Applications
Sub-areas: Light-weight materials; Nanomaterials; More durable materials; Increased electrical conductivity; Increased thermal conductivity; Improved dielectric strength; Improved thermal insulation; Smart materials; Self-healing materials
Proposal Requirements: Any faculty member or research scientist in one of the WERC member academic institutions can propose a project. Because all projects are meant to be highly collaborative in nature and should focus on topics that will support regional economic development, they are required to have the following features:
- Project must involve Only Precompetitve Research that has the potential to benefit as many WERC member companies as possible
- Project must have at least One Industry Champion who is a member of WERC and is willing to contribute a support letter in the proposal and provide in-kind financial support during the project
- Project must involve at least Two Universities and should seriously consider One Technical College
Decisions on the selection of seed projects will be made by the WERC Research Committee. This committee consists of a designated member of each company and foundation that has contributed to the seed project research fund. The primary criteria for selection of the projects will include:
- Technical strength of the proposal, including its originality
- Value to member industries and potential for technology transfer
- Potential for high economic value and/or job creation
- Potential for generating new intellectual property
- Level of university and industry partnership
- Likelihood of generating follow-up funding
- Ability for WERC, and its research sponsoring members, to obtain a non-exclusive, royalty free, license for any inventions resulting from the project from the Researching Universities.
- Acceptance of the draft WERC Research Commitment Agreement (posted on the left). Please note that we are currently finalizing the form of Contract with our University partners, and proposals for this funding round will be evaluated based upon degree of conformity to the current proposed form of Contract. If you cannot accept one or more of the Contract terms, or propose alternate terms, please specifically indicate those terms in your response.
- Charge for indirect costs (WERC would appreciate this being waived)
Proposal Preparation Details:
Investigators are asked to submit proposals using the templates provided on the left column of this web page. Each proposal submitted must contain the following components*:
- Project Narrative - Five pages maximum (template provided)
- Budget (template provided)
- Budget Justification (template provided) including plan and sources for future funding
- Two Page CVs of key project participants (no template)
- Letters of Collaboration with partnering industries (no template)
*Note: All documents must be single spaced and use only Arial 10 point or Times New Roman 11 point font.
Project Budget: Proposals are invited in the range of $50k to $100k and should be for no more than one year duration. The total funds awarded for this cycle are expected to be between $500,000 and $1,500,000, depending on the final funding from external sources. Please note that WERC will prefer projects which offer to exclude any indirect costs (facilities and administration). Proposals must indicate if indirect charges are included in their proposal amount, and if so, the total amount included in their proposal for indirect costs.
Project Reporting Requirements
Each project must incorporate the following reporting requirements:
- Project Must Include Mid-Term Status Presentation
- Project Final Presentation Must Include Poster Session and Research Display
- Project Final Report, Project Evaluation from the Two Industry Sponsors and any Provisional Patent Application(s) Due Within 60 days of Presentation
Tentative Timeline
- RFP Release: March 18, 2011
- Seed Proposals Due: May 6, 2011
- E-mail the completed proposal applications in a single PDF document to: energy-grants@UWM.edu
- Project Selections: July 11, 2011
- Project Kick-Off: August 15, 2011
- Mid-term Review: January 15, 2012
- Project Completion: August 30, 2012
Application Process: E-mail the completed proposal applications in a single PDF document to:
energy-grants@uwm.edu no later than 5:00 PM CDT on May 6, 2011. Late proposals will not be considered.
Contact Information of Each Member Company and Academic Institute
Any party (Academic or Industry) seeking a potential industry or academic partner for their proposal should contact potential partners form the contact list below.
Potential Industry Partners
Ashish R. Bendre, DRS,
AshishRBendre@DRS-PCT.COM
Dave Michaud, We Energies,
dave.michaud@we-energies.com
David W. Schlegel, Rockwell Automation,
dwschlegel@ra.rockwell.com
Junwei Jiang, Johnson Controls,
junwei.jiang@jci.com
Roger Briggs, EATON,
rogerjbriggs@eaton.com
Paul Walter, American Transmission Corp.,
pwalter@atcllc.com
Eric Apfelbach, ZBB,
eapfelbach@zbbenergy.com
Brent Brucker, Helios USA,
bbrucker@helios-usa.com
Erik Lange, LEM,
ela@lem.com
Potential Academic Partners
Christopher J. Damm, Milwaukee School of Engineering,
damm@msoe.edu
Doug Lindsey, Lakeshore Technical College,
doug.lindsey@gotoltc.edu
Edwin Yaz, Marquette University,
edwin.yaz@marquette.edu
Joseph Jacobsen, Milwaukee Area Technical College,
jacobsjj@matc.edu
Tom Jahns, UW-Madison,
jahns@engr.wisc.edu
David Yu, UW-Milwaukee,
yu@uwm.edu