Pitt is part of a consortium that has been awarded a $41 million-per-year, multiyear contract by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to operate DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) facilities in Pittsburgh; Morgantown, W.Va.; Tulsa, Okla.; and Fairbanks, Alaska.

The consortium, led by Research and Development Systems, LLC—a joint venture of government contractors EG&G Technical Services, Parsons, and Science Applications International Corporation—also includes Carnegie Mellon University and West Virginia University.

The contract, which will fund the employment of 190 workers at the four NETL sites, is for a three-year base period with one two-year option.

Pitt Vice Provost for Research George E. Klinzing said: “This partnership brings together regional strength in energy research and development to work with NETL to increase its national and international importance in energy technology development with new and traditional energy sources. This effort will not only address national energy needs, but also provide an economic development engine for the region.

“As a national research powerhouse, the University of Pittsburgh will employ faculty from the School of Engineering and the departments of physical sciences in the School of Arts and Sciences,” Klinzing added. “Such topics as clean fossil energy usage, carbon dioxide sequestration, fuel cells, modeling simulations, hydrogen usage, and nanotechnology will be addressed by the University team.”

Other universities that have joined the consortium as supporting collaborators are Ohio State University, the University of Kentucky, Virginia Tech, Auburn University, the University of Alaska, and the University of Tulsa.