Engie Chuck Edwards Memorial Fellowship Call for Proposals

Engie (formerly GDF-Suez), through the University of Maryland College Park Foundation, funds fellowships to support energy conversion education at the A. James Clark School of Engineering. The fellowship is named in honor of the memory of Mr. Chuck Edwards, the late general manager at GDF Suez Energy North America and director of the steam plant operations at the University of Maryland.

The Engie Chuck Edwards Memorial fellowship is implemented by the Center for Environmental Energy Engineering (CEEE). This announcement serves as a request for proposals from University of Maryland engineering graduate student(s) and their faculty advisor(s) to seek funding to pursue new research in the area of energy systems and devices to enable quantifiable energy savings and/or carbon dioxide emission reduction when compared to the performance of existing systems and devices. Examples of such technologies include, but are not limited to waste heat utilization, carbon dioxide sequestration, absorption cooling, energy system optimization products and other technologies with a quantifiable potential to reduce energy consumption and/or carbon dioxide emissions.

University of Maryland engineering graduate students are encouraged to submit proposals for a $25,000 one-year full-time graduate fellowship applied to the student’s annual stipend. Two fellowships will be awarded. The award will be granted starting the fall 2018 semester and go through the end of the 2019 spring semester.

The proposed research must not fall exclusively under the objectives of a currently funded research project, although supplemental research efforts to existing projects will be considered. A prerequisite to receiving this fellowship is that the graduate student will receive the rest of their regular support during the academic year and summer from their advisor/department. The assistantship can have no additional work requirement during the summer months to allow the Suez Fellow time to focus full-time on her/his proposed research effort during that time period.

It is expected that each fellow will present his/her research results at a technical conference, and/or submit a scholarly publication. Fellows will be required to submit an end of the year progress report to the Engie director. The intent of the fellowship is to initiate new research directions, so there will be a new competition each year, subject to availability of funds.

Submission instructions:

Proposal Format: The proposal narrative must be no more than a three-page description of the student’s research and must identify how it addresses some aspect of a forward looking solution in their area of research. The proposal must include the following, all within the three-page limit:

One-paragraph abstract summarizing the research plan,
Brief description of the problem and relevant background,
Proposed plan of research,
Paragraph describing plans to present the results and efforts to further fund the research.
Advising faculty member signed reference letter (PDF), which provides an assessment of the student and his/her applicability for the fellowship.

Bios of the student and the advising faculty member, each not to exceed two pages in length, should be appended to the proposal narrative.

Please note: Any single advisor is allowed to recommend only one student for the award each year.

Students interested in applying for the GDF Suez Fellowship must submit their intent to apply by August 7, 2018 at http://www.ceee.umd.edu/education/gdf-fellowship/intent.

Proposals (to include the advisor letter) must be submitted no later than 4 p.m. on August 20, 2018 at http://www.ceee.umd.edu/education/gdf-fellowship/proposal.

Direct questions to Mary Baugher, Assistant to the Director, Center for Environmental Energy Engineering, (301) 405-7661.

Published June 4, 2018