Seed Grants
Each year, Bits & Watts invites proposals for seed funding of projects that, if successful, could equip investigators to obtain additional funding for follow-on research from other sources. Such projects inevitably involve risk; the evaluation of the proposals attempts to balance the risk and potential impacts of a successful project. This research funding is intended to encourage faculty to move into interdisciplinary energy research that is a departure from ongoing work in their research groups. Seed grant projects are typically funded up to $100K per year for two years.
The initiative's 2024 Request for Proposals (RFP) focused on the topic of sustainably powering artificial intelligence (AI). Proposals focused on innovative strategies to address the growing energy demands of AI and data centers, including but not limited to the following areas:
- Flexibility
- Reliability & Interconnection
- Affordability
- Emission Reduction and Monitoring
Secondary-Life EV Batteries: Predicting State of Health of Retired EV Batteries using Physics-Informed Machine Learning methods
High-Voltage Vertical Gallium Oxide Semiconductor Switch for Grid-connected Solid- State Transformers (SSTs)
Removing Legal Barriers to Transmission in California and beyond for a Clean Electricity Grid
No-Calibration Building Models: Unlocking targeted electrification and demand management through hybrid data and physics models for multi-zone buildings
Securing our energy future underground: Geospatial optimization of subsurface technologies to support a clean and reliable energy grid
Piezoelectric Power Factor Correction
Financial network congestion revenue rights (CRRs) for locational pricing markets
Assessing the potential for a transition to electrified medium and heavy-duty vehicles in the U.S.
Secondary-Life EV Batteries: Predicting State of Health of Retired EV Batteries using Physics-Informed Machine Learning methods
Networked Battery Systems Lab: a systems research lab at the intersection of battery systems, IOT and grid
Embedded Heat Pipe Thermal Management Solution for Fast Charging EVs Addressing Cable, Battery and Charging Stations
Establishing diamond-based device platform for high power electronics
Grid energy storage: Optimizing Energy and Cost in Renewable Grid System: an electrochemical modeling approach
Ultrafast circuit breakers with wide bandgap technology
Co-creation of digital business models in the electricity sector
Open Innovation and the Search for Digital Solutions: Strategic Differentiation
Planning Reliable Grid with Variable Generation and Storage
Western Interconnection Data Analytics Project (WIDAP)
