Canada – With widespread use of electricity, increased need for energy storage and conversion, McGill University has established the McGill Centre for Innovation in Energy Storage and Conversion (McISCE).
The new center will bring together McGill’s expertise in energy storage and conversion technologies, focusing on these areas as the missing enablers in the rising Green Economy movement.
The McISCE will draw knowledge from numerous departments in the Faculty of Engineering, as well as various scholars from the Faculty of Science, Desautels Faculty of Management, and other departments such as Natural Resource Sciences and Economics. It will be hosted by the Faculty of Engineering and will expand on the McGill Sustainability Systems Initiative (MSSI). The McISCE will investigate design, prototyping, validation, closed-loop use of crucial elements, commercialization of sustainable technologies, and enviro-socioeconomic consequences, with a particular focus on the whole lifetime of suggested solutions as per the circular economy paradigm.
The McISCE will strive to be inclusive, equitable, and diverse, which are all important criteria in developing comprehensive and socially acceptable technology solutions. A significant public outreach component will also be an essential duty.
The McISCE has already recruited a cohort of 30 researchers from McGill’s Faculties and has begun conversations with some of QuĂ©bec’s and Canada’s leading energy companies. There are also intentions to collaborate on research with other universities and institutes in Quebec and around the world.
