Mechanical Engineering
College of Science and Engineering
Twin Cities
Award Year
2014
University Award
McKnight Land-Grant Professorship
No Monument Location
Innovations in Energy Storage and Conversion with Fluid Power
James Van de Ven’s research goal is to study innovative solutions for storing and converting hydraulic and pneumatic energy. His energy storage research eases integration of wind and other renewables into the power grid and enables hydraulic hybrid vehicles. His hydraulic energy conversion work enables a new control paradigm where systems are rapidly switched between efficient on and off states. The impact potential is large as 3% of US energy is transmitted by fluid power.