On November 11, Dr. Arun Majumdar, Professor of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, at Stanford University (USA), Director of Precourt Energy Institute, member of U.S. Secretary of Energy’s Advisory Board, and Google consultant, comes on a visit to Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (VGTU).
On November 11, Wednesday, from 14.30 to 15.30 in SRA I-03 auditorium this outstanding guest will deliver a lecture on "Energy Efficiency: the Lessons Learned in the U.S." for VGTU students.
Energy efficiency is often called a low-hanging fruit and yet it is not always fully utilized. The talk will discuss why this is so and will draw upon the lessons learned in the U.S. to show how the alignment between technology, markets, regulations, and financing can accelerate energy efficiency measures in the most cost-effective manner.
From 15.30 to 16.15 he will participate at a round table discussion with VGTU lecturers and doctoral students on the most recent research in the field of energetics and the science organization issues. The Professor will also share the experience of researchers at Stanford University.
In October 2009, Dr. Arun Majumdar was nominated by President Obama and confirmed by the Senate to become the Founding Director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E), where he served till June 2012. Between March 2011 and June 2012, Dr. Majumdar also served as the Acting Under Secretary of Energy, and a Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Energy. He currently serves on the U.S. Secretary of Energy’s Advisory Board, the Council for the National Academy of Engineering and the Electric Power Research Institute, as well as the Science Board of the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He is a member of the International Advisory Panel for Energy of the Singapore Ministry of Trade and Industry and the US delegation for the US-India Track II dialogue on climate change and energy.
Prior to joining the Department of Energy, Dr. Majumdar was the Almy and Agnes Maynard Chair Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley and the Associate Laboratory Director for Energy and Environment at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. His research career includes the science and engineering of nanoscale materials and devices as well as large engineered systems.
Dr. Majumdar is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He received his bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay in 1985 and his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley in 1989.
Dr. Arun Majumdar served as the first Director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E), the country's only agency devoted to transformational energy research and development, from October 2009 to June 2012. In addition, he served as the Acting Under Secretary of Energy.
