Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “Curriculum”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 109 records · Page 6
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2026

An Educational Program on Concentrated Solar Power and Heliostats for Power Generation and Industrial Processes

The objective of this project was to design and implement a comprehensive educational and applied research program in Concentrated Solar Thermal Power (CSTP) and heliostat technologies at Northeastern University. In alignment with the U.S. Department of Energy's Heliostat Consortium (HelioCon) goals, the project aimed to expand student and public understanding of CSTP systems while simultaneously contributing to workforce development and the broader decarbonization strategy. A particular emphasis was placed on integrating hands-on student design projects and publicly disseminating educational content relevant to CSTP systems. The project addressed a critical gap in renewable energy education: CSTP and heliostats, despite their importance in utility-scale solar energy, are rarely included in standard mechanical engineering programs. This project established new pathways for students to engage with the topic through the creation of a 4-credit graduate/senior elective course, development of five industry-facing short courses, and the inclusion of CSTP-based capstone design projects. Over two academic years, 36 students across six senior design teams developed and tested technologies such as deformable heliostats, beacon-based tracking systems, and solar-powered pyrolizers for biomass-to-biochar conversion. Concurrently, 30 undergraduate and graduate students were enrolled in the new academic course centered around CSTP principles. To ensure the relevance and accessibility of the short course content, the project team engaged with industry professionals, technical policy stakeholders, and potential course participants through structured surveys and informal consultations. Feedback from 28 respondents guided the structure, length, and delivery format of the courses - resulting in a modular design broken into five workshops. The feedback emphasized the need for flexible, asynchronous delivery and practical case studies, particularly in areas such as heliostat control, thermal storage, and solar fuel production. This engagement helped align the courses with the evolving knowledge demands of the renewable energy workforce and ensured that participants from both technical and policy backgrounds could meaningfully benefit from the material. The research and educational activities advanced the understanding of heliostat control systems, optical performance under misalignment, and thermal system integration in solar-driven pyrolysis applications. Methods and designs explored in this project proved to be both technically effective and economically feasible at the lab scale. Prototypes were constructed using commercially available components and custom-fabricated elements, demonstrating that meaningful performance improvements can be achieved with modest material and fabrication costs, supporting the feasibility of student-led research in this field. The public benefit of this project is twofold. First, it cultivates a pipeline of engineers trained to be familiar with CSTP principles, an essential workforce need identified by the Department of Energy for achieving its 2030 cost and deployment targets. Second, it contributes openly accessible educational materials, course content, and experimental frameworks to the broader community, enabling other institutions to adopt or adapt similar programming. Through outreach activities, curriculum integration, and technical exposure, this project contributes to a more informed and capable renewable energy workforce while supporting innovation in heliostat and CSTP system design. A new technical report is being prepared to document the development of the course and its outcomes, with plans to publish it in the ASME Open Access Journal of Engineering to ensure global accessibility, free of cost.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2026

Education for PV Modeling Professionals: Survey of Educators

We report a survey of instructors at universities offering courses that address PV performance modeling. We confirm our earlier finding that most courses lack the level of detail sought by the professional community. We recommend that the PV Performance Modeling Collaborative (PVPMC), or a university, sponsor a committee to produce a curriculum outline for PV system performance modeling, and that the PVPMC solicit industry for well-documented examples of PV system designs and accompany

Hansen, Clifford [Sandia National Laboratories (SN↗
DOE OSTI2024

Intro to HPC Bootcamp: Engaging New Communities Through Energy Justice Projects

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is a long-standing leader in research and development of high-performance computing (HPC) in the pursuit of science. However, we face daunting challenges in fostering a robust and diverse HPC workforce. Basic HPC is not typically taught at early stages of students' academic careers, and the capacity and knowledge of HPC at many institutions are limited. Even so, such topics are prerequisites for advanced training programs, internships, graduate school, and ultimately for careers in HPC. To help address this challenge, as part of the DOE Exascale Computing Project's Broadening Participation Initiative, we recently launched the Introduction to HPC Training and Workforce Pipeline Program to provide accessible introductory material on HPC, scalable AI, and analytics. We describe the Intro to HPC Bootcamp, an immersive program designed to engage students from underrepresented groups as they learn foundational HPC skills. Here, the program takes a novel approach to HPC training by turning the traditional curriculum upside down. Instead of focusing on technology and its applications, the bootcamp focuses on energy justice to motivate the training of HPC skills through project-based pedagogy and real-life science stories. Additionally, the bootcamp prepares students for internships and future careers at DOE labs. The first bootcamp, hosted by the advanced computing facilities at Argonne, Lawrence Berkeley, and Oak Ridge National Labs and organized by Sustainable Horizons Institute, took place in August 2023.

96 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND PRESERVATION↗
DOE OSTI2020

2020 Multiscale Microbial Dynamics Modeling Course

The 2020 Multiscale Microbial Dynamics course is adapted from the virtual 2020 Mutliscale Microbial Dynamics Summer School that was hosted by Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL), a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) science user facility located on the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) campus, in collaboration with the Joint Genome Institute (JGI) and the DOE Systems Biology Knowledgebase (KBase). The course course covers how to incorporate microbial metagenomic and environmental metabolite data from watershed ecosystems into metabolic and community modeling using computational frameworks, such as KBase and PFLOTRAN. The curriculum includes lectures and software and data analysis tutorials. All materials are freely accessible to the community as part of the 2020 Microbial Dynamics Summer School Organization in KBase.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2026

Soil metagenomics umbrella narrative

Implementing accessible, authentic research experiences in introductory courses is challenging, particularly at institutions serving diverse student populations. To address this gap, we developed and deployed a Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) focused on plant-microbe interactions in General Biology II at Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU), a minority-serving institution with a diverse student body. Students grew sugar beets (Beta vulgaris), extracted DNA from the rhizoplane, and used the Department of Energy Systems Biology Knowledgebase (KBase) for bioinformatic analysis to compare microbial relative abundance in fertilized versus unfertilized soil. Over five semesters, the CURE engaged 103 students and leveraged the intuitive KBase platform to make complex sequencing data accessible. Pre/post-course survey data revealed significant increases in student self-assessed research skills, including the ability to explain results and determine the types of data to collect. Furthermore, students reported significant gains in confidence related to experimental design and hypothesis development, alongside a strong increase in familiarity with KBase. Informal faculty feedback indicated high student engagement and appreciation for the real-world connections (e.g. food systems, agriculture, and health). This scalable, low-cost model effectively integrates data science tools into the foundational curriculum, demonstrating a potent strategy for boosting research skills and broadening participation in authentic scientific inquiry among diverse undergraduate students.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

Nuclear history, politics, and futures from (A)toms-to(Z)oom: Design and deployment of a remote-learning special-topics course for nuclear engineering education

To address the lack of familiarity with nuclear history common among nuclear engineers and physicists, we outline the design and deployment of a special-topics course entitled “NE290: Nuclear History, Politics, and Futures” throughout which we contextualize the importance of the field at its inception, in current affairs, and in future endeavors. We argue that understanding this history is paramount in internalizing a sense of respect for the scientific, technical, and sociological ramifications of an unlocked atom—as well as its perils. We begin by outlining the gaps in secondary educational offerings for nuclear history and their importance in consideration with nontechnical engineering guidelines. We then outline a number of ABET specifications as pedagogical goals for NE290 from which we derive a list of target student learning objectives. Next, we outline the NE290 syllabus in terms of assignments and an overview of course content in the form of a class timeline. We provide an extensive description of the materials and teaching methodologies for the four units of NE290: Twentieth-Century Physics, Physics in WWII, the Early Cold War, and the Late Cold War and Modern Era. We detail the sequence of lectures across the course and historical timelines leading up to a showcasing of NE290 final projects which mirror in creativity the novelty of course offering. Because NE290 was first offered during Spring 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic, additional measures in the form of new tools were used to augment the mandate of remote learning. In particular, we leveraged the newfound ubiquity of videoconferencing technology to recruit geographically diverse guest lecturers and used the MIRO tool for virtual whiteboarding. Lastly, we provide an accounting of course outcomes drawn from student feedback which—in tandem with the complete distribution of course material—facilitates the integration of nuclear history into the curriculum for the wider nuclear engineering and physics communities.

Berliner, Aaron J.↗
DOE OSTI2023

Sanford Underground Research Facility’s approach to school education, community activities, and public outreach

The Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) is the deepest underground science facility in the United States. SURF hosts world-leading experiments in neutrino, astroparticle and nuclear physics, as well as projects in biology, geology, and engineering, and is home to a major excavation project making space for Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory’s Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility (LBNF), which will power the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE). An emphasis on outreach and education is embedded in SURF’s mission statement: “to advance world-class science and inspire learning across generations.” To achieve this mission, SURF goes beyond established science communication methods, including operating an open-to-the-public visitor center, hosting multiple public outreach events per month, and an annual city-wide science festival. Furthermore, SURF is training K-12 science educators, developing school curriculum units, and providing classroom materials, based on science researched at the laboratory. The strategic approach, specific methods, and successful outcomes of these programs, which are based on SURF’s science, location, and community, may serve as examples for effective science education, public outreach, and community engagement.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Multiple-objective Reinforcement Learning for Inverse Design and Identification

The aim of inverse chemical design is to develop new molecules with given optimized molecular properties or objectives. Recently, generative deep learning (DL) networks are considered as the state-of-the-art in inverse chemical design and have achieved early success in generating molecular structures with desired properties in the pharmaceutical and material chemistry fields. However, satisfying a large number (> 10 objectives) of molecular objectives is a limitation of current generative models. To improve the model’s ability to handle a large number of molecule design objectives, we developed a Reinforcement Learning (RL) based generative framework to optimize chemical molecule generation. Our use of Curriculum Learning (CL) to fine-tune the pre-trained generative network allowed the model to satisfy up to 21 objectives and increase the generative network’s robustness. The experiments show that the proposed multiple-objective RL-based generative model can correctly identify unknown molecules with an 83% to 100% success rate, compared to the baseline approach of 0%. Additionally, this proposed generative model is not limited to just chemistry research challenges; we anticipate that problems that utilize RL with multiple objectives will benefit from this framework.

reinforcement learning, generative model, inverse ↗
DOE OSTI2020

The CYBER security – Competency Health and Maturity Progression (CYBER-CHAMP) model: Extending the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) Framework Across Organizational Security

Problem Statement: There is a pervasive talent deficit in the cybersecurity industry that prevents employers from being able to fill their open positions efficiently. A holistic approach to security is required to ensure organizations have adequate prevention and response capabilities in case of a cyberattack. Specifically, industrial control systems (ICS’s) and their operational technology (OT) components have become a constant target for cyberattacks. Research Questions: It is proposed that the NICE Framework should be extended in the following areas: 1) Include guidance regarding the job roles and competencies for both IT and OT professionals. 2) Offer step-by-step solutions, based on the work role mappings from the NICE Framework, to increase cybersecurity through employee training and education. 3) Provide a streamlined, lifecycle approach to building a cybersecurity program. Contribution: The CYBER security – Competency Health and Maturity Progression (CYBER-CHAMP©) model provides a customized solution for businesses to understand their education gaps in organizational security and target areas for improvement. Rationale: The Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity v1.1 addresses ICS but does not offer a measurement of cybersecurity maturity or clear methods to ascertain an organization’s current risk profile. In Phases 1 and 5 of the model, measurements are provided to help an organization build their current and target risk profiles. The NICE framework provides a structure for planning an IT cybersecurity workforce, but the OT aspects of cybersecurity are only briefly discussed. The model uses Phases 2-3 to examine the competencies of an organization’s workforce, which includes both IT and OT roles. Current frameworks do not offer next steps to increase an organization’s cybersecurity. During Phase 4, employees’ roles are mapped to training, education, and/or certifications from common vendors. Investigative Approach: The model provides measurements and metrics for both an organization’s status and continual improvement. This improvement methodology includes guidance for creating an overall strategic plan for security improvement via products designed to increase an organization’s operational readiness through workforce competency health. Lessons Learned: Depending on who was participating, there were contradicting answers given in Phase 1 due to different security cultures in the organization. This revelation has influenced the steps listed in the User’s Guide, where Phase 1’s first recommended step is to assemble a team that champions the facilitation and implementation of the model in the organization. During Phase 2, the discovery was made that organizations may be missing roles that are necessary to perform critical cybersecurity functions. By understanding the functional roles and competencies needed, they can contract or hire cybersecurity help to fill these gaps. Implications: Using the model, organizations can discuss quantitative measures for improvement as a business case for advancing their security program. Future research can validate and extend the present theory and model to a variety of environments. It is of interest to investigate additional security roles and knowledge domains that are used to build standardized cybersecurity curriculum.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2022

The Future of Building Science Education with the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon: Preprint

Experience the future of Building Science Education with the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon, from community-focused designs to real-life innovative zero energy buildings constructed by students. In this paper, we will introduce the Solar Decathlon programs and a reimagined Building Science Education curriculum that is transforming education to inspire future building design professionals and bring sustainable, equitable design and construction strategies to the real world. The Solar Decathlon is a collegiate-level building design competition that challenges students in 10 Contests, from embodied environmental impact to affordability and resilience. We will cover the structure of the competition and its two Challenges - the Build Challenge and the Design Challenge - as well as additional programs that impact all aspects of the buildings industry. These programs include the Solar Decathlon Building Science Education course, a free online video series that provides students and working professionals with building science fundamentals; the Design Partners Program, which connects innovative student design teams and local building owners seeking low-risk, low-cost opportunities to incorporate sustainable design alternatives into their building portfolio; and Solar Decathlon Pro, a program piloted in 2021 that brings Solar Decathlon resources to design professionals. The Solar Decathlon's effective approach to bringing real-world solutions to building science empowers future professionals to do impactful work.

buildings↗
DOE OSTI2023

Offshore Wind Workforce Safety Standards and Training Resource

The standardization of safety training requirements for people working at sea to build and operate offshore wind energy projects, adoption of those standards, and alignment with offshore safety training curriculum development was identified as a high-priority workforce gap in the U.S. Offshore Wind Workforce Assessment (Stefek, 2022). Safety is a top priority for the offshore wind industry; however, there has been uncertainty surrounding what unique safety standards and training will be needed and how various offshore wind safety stakeholders will be involved. The scope of safety training for this resource includes workers who build and operate offshore wind energy projects at sea and defines the stakeholders in the complex ecosystem. This fact sheet aims to help reduce these uncertainties by: 1) Delineating jurisdictional lines, while clarifying roles and responsibilities amongst stakeholders; 2) Identifying key actions or partnerships that can encourage further success with safety training and workforce development.

offshore wind↗
DOE OSTI2024

Smart Building Technology Training Modules for Academic and Professional Education

Smart building technologies are a new suite of resources that improve building energy efficiency and resilience, reduce carbon emissions, and provide load flexibility to the grid. However, in both college curricula and building professionals’ continuing education, there is a lack of systematic instruction on smart building technologies–topics that include smart building concepts, key components, smart building controls, “Internet of Things” (IoT) devices, and how to integrate multiple energy systems including distributed energy resources (DER). This major gap in smart building education prevents stakeholders from understanding and adopting smart building technologies in building design and operations. Slipstream leads a DOE-funded project developing a semester-long smart building curriculum for college students and adapting the contents into 16 training videos for building professionals and the general public. The education and training cover the drivers and benefits of smart building technologies, key building energy systems, the latest sensor technologies and IoT devices, and focus on topics related to smart building controls (i.e., energy management information systems, smart building control platforms, cybersecurity, grid-interactive-efficient buildings (GEBs), smart building control methods, and occupant-centric control. This paper describes the project approach, provides outlines of the training materials, and identifies lessons learned in creating the content. We also suggest ways to scale the instruction of smart building concepts to empower the workforce to accelerate the adoption of smart building technologies in the real world.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Developing Smart Building Technology Modules to Enhance Workforce Preparedness: A Case for AI-Driven Academic and Professional Education

Smart building technologies are resources that improve building energy efficiency and resilience, reduce carbon emissions, and provide load flexibility to the grid. However, in both academic curricula and building professionals’ continuing education, there is a lack of systematic instruction on methods to integrate multiple energy systems including distributed energy resources (DER), smart building technologies, AI (Artificial Intelligence) tools and key concepts, components, and controls, including “Internet of Things” (IoT) devices. In today’s dynamic workforce, this major gap in smart building technology education prevents stakeholders from being able to attract talent with an understanding and preparation to adopt smart building technologies in building design and operations. A federally funded project included a partnership between Slipstream and Texas A&M University (TAMU) to develop a semester-long smart building curriculum for engineering college students with the ability to adapt the contents for workforce development of professionals in building services. The final product consists of 16 training videos adapted for building professionals and the public. The educational content and training materials cover the benefits of building energy systems, the latest sensor technologies and IoT devices, all with a focus on smart building technologies. The key drivers are on topics related to smart building controls (i.e., energy management information systems), smart building control platforms, cybersecurity, grid-interactive-efficient buildings (GEBs), smart building control methods, and occupant-centric control. Although not explicitly included the technologies nod to the need for AI driven technologies to prepare engineers and industry professionals to be future ready. This paper describes the project approach, provides outlines of the training materials, and identifies lessons learned in creating the content for this course. The authors suggest ways to scale the instruction of smart building concepts to empower the workforce to accelerate the adoption of smart building technologies and AI-based teaching and learning in higher education and building sector.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
DOE OSTI2026

A Practical Guide to E-waste Education and Events in Schools

The Practical Guide to E-waste Education and Events in Schools is a comprehensive resource that equips educators and outreach professionals to deliver impactful lessons on electronic waste (e-waste), critical materials, and battery recycling, while launching effective school-based e-waste recycling programs. It offers step-by-step guidance for starting and managing outreach efforts, including tips on student engagement, selecting recycling partners, planning collection logistics, creating promotional materials, and overcoming common challenges. The guide also supports curriculum development and scaling initiatives across schools to foster lasting recycling habits.

school outreach↗
DOE OSTI2025

Hands-On, Heads-Up: Blending Cyber T&E with Data Science-Driven Training in Jupyter Notebooks

In an era of increasingly sophisticated threats to critical infrastructure, cybersecurity professionals must be more than just aware; they must be immersed, agile, and equipped to operate in environments where failure is not an option. Nowhere is this truer than in the nuclear sector, where cyber-physical systems, regulatory scrutiny, and insider threat potential demand a new generation of hands-on, technically fluent defenders. This paper presents a unified training approach that integrates Cybersecurity Test and Evaluation (T&E) with data science techniques using Jupyter Notebooks as the interactive lab environment. The program centers on a modular, scenario-driven curriculum designed to build not just knowledge but practical capability in the assessment and defense of radiation detection systems, firmware interfaces, and operational security postures.

98 - NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL↗
DOE OSTI2025

Modeling Protein–Protein and Protein–Ligand Interactions by the ClusPro Team in CASP16

ABSTRACT In the CASP16 experiment, our team employed hybrid computational strategies to predict both protein–protein and protein–ligand complex structures. For protein–protein docking, we combined physics‐based sampling—using ClusPro FFT docking and molecular dynamics—with AlphaFold (AF)‐based sampling, followed by AF‐based refinement. Our method produced numerous high‐accuracy complex models, including cases where AF alone failed, underscoring the critical role of physics‐based sampling alongside deep learning‐based refinement. For protein–ligand docking, we integrated the ClusPro LigTBM template‐based approach with a machine learning‐based confidence model for rescoring. The method preserves conserved interaction fragments derived from homologous complexes, followed by local resampling using physics‐based sampling and a diffusion model. Our template‐based strategy achieved a mean lDDT‐PLI of 0.69 across 233 targets, which was highly competitive. These results demonstrate that combining physics‐based modeling with AI‐driven refinement can significantly enhance the accuracy of both protein–protein and protein–ligand structure predictions.

Ashizawa, Ryota [Department of Applied Mathematics↗
DOE OSTI2024

Proceedings of the 2024 Advancing Chemical Safety and Security Education Symposium at the 27th IUPAC International Conference on Chemistry Education

The inaugural Advancing Chemical Safety and Security Education symposium was held at the 27th IUPAC International Conference on Chemistry Education (ICCE2024). Speakers showcased innovative strategies for seamlessly integrating security concepts into established safety programs, addressing specific needs of diverse academic institutions, and evaluating the effectiveness of different pedagogical approaches. Here, this proceedings publication encapsulates insights from 11 oral presentations, 12 poster presentations, and panel discussions including key recommendations for future advancements in educating chemical safety and security education for academic and industry audiences.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2020

Introducing the Journal of Chemical Education’s Special Issue on Chemical Security

Chemical security can be described as the practice of protecting chemicals from people. This editorial introduces the Special Issue on Chemical Security. In this article, we present a concise history of the use of chemicals as weapons and briefly describe consolidated global approaches needed to decrease the security risks from chemicals. We briefly introduce the contributions to this Special Issue from scientists and educators around the world on the topic of chemical security. Given recent high-profile global events that involved chemicals as weapons, improving chemical security awareness and competency is a critical need. We hope this Special Issue continues to generate conversation and collaboration on this important topic and enables educators to teach chemical security principles in their classrooms and laboratories.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗