[CCoE Notice] Cullen College/UHERP Highlighted in City's International Newsletter

[Lewis, Lindsay R]

CEE Faculty/Staff,

The UH Cullen College of Engineering was highlighted in the June 2011 issue of the City of Houston’s International Newsletter. In particular, the college’s involvement in the UH Energy Research Park was the focus of the city’s interview with Dean Tedesco.

The article’s full text is below and the newsletter issue can be accessed at http://www.egr.uh.edu/news/0611/files/internationalnewsletter.pdf

The UHERP article is printed on page 4.

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The University of Houston’s Energy Research Park (Park) is a 75-acre facility on the site of Schlumberger’s
former global headquarters. A central asset of the University’s ongoing program to obtain the coveted Tier One
designation, the research park is the first such facility in Houston to approach research related to energy matters in
a multidisciplinary manner that considers the sources, methods of production, distribution and conservation of
energy. It is also the first such effort to invite major corporations to be tenants and long-term research partners.

The University’s formidable research capabilities in the areas of superconductivity, renewable and alternative
energies, engineering, material science, and traditional energies such as oil and gas, are already being marshaled to
take part in this opportunity, relocating research activities and even classroom instruction to the park in order to
benefit from close proximity and collaboration with private sector partners. The spirit of public-private partnership
that characterizes the Park is transforming existing programs such as Petroleum Engineering, and creating new
certification programs such as Subsea Engineering, which is the first program of its kind offered in the U.S. and
one of only four worldwide.

The guiding vision of the Park is to become a site of translational research that converts scientific ideas into
commercial products. Dr. Joseph Tedesco, Dean of the University of Houston’s Cullen College of Engineering,
believes that translational research will make the Park “an institution of relevance and importance.” Research
conducted at the Park will be “of relevance” to energy companies and complimentary business sectors, with
academic degree programs being further tailored to industry needs. For example, the University’s Petroleum
Engineering degree program has been designed with significant input from major oil companies, including
Marathon, BP, Exxon-Mobil, and Royal Dutch Shell. Dean Tedesco noted that the University “asked the oil
companies what they wanted and created a program that met their needs.”

With a focus on commercial relevance come investments in terms of dollars, time and ideas. The importance of
the research performed at the Park will be measured by its economic impact on the Houston area. Dean Tedesco
asserts that “the data indicates that every one Federal dollar in research grants results in an additional eighteen
dollars worth of economic impact.” A strong belief in the potential commercial value of the research and
innovations taking place at the Park has been demonstrated by Houston’s corporate community—the newly
completed petroleum engineering building has been 100% funded by the private sector.

The Park’s success rests on the hard work of faculty and students at the University of Houston. Dean Tedesco
credits President Renu Khator as the key figure in propelling the University to pursue research more aggressively
in its push for Tier One Status. The new attention gained by this drive has allowed the University to attract new
faculty and students from around the world through exchange programs, with the prospects of working with world
class researchers and being at the forefront of energy research. The University sees the Park as a vital investment
in the city of Houston’s future by supporting traditional its economic foundation in oil and gas, while also helping
transition into the industries of tomorrow, such as nanotechnology, green technologies, and biotechnology.

For more information on the UH Energy Research Park or how your company can become a tenant, please visit:
http://www.uh.edu/af/universityservices/erp/.

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