ZTspam Prometheus Contracts Awarded

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by Cronin B. Vining, <mailtolistmaster [at] zts [dot] com>

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CONTENTS
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NEWS
+- NASA's Project Prometheus technology contract awards
US$43M over 4 years on thermoelectric, thermophotovoltaic
Stirling and Brayton energy conversion technologies

+- Global Thermoelectric Inc. Announces Combination
Agreement With QUANTUM

UPCOMING CONFERENCES (see the links for details)
+- ICT2003 - The 22nd International Conference on Thermoelectrics
August 17-21, 2003 (CORRECTED DATES)
Conference Center, La Grande-Motte (Hérault - France)
IMPORTANT DEADLINES
April 30, 2003 Deadline for abstract submission (EXTENDED)
May 5 , 2003 Notification of acceptance and mode of
presentation
May 15, 2003 Deadline for registration fees discount
May 15, 2003 Deadline of hotel reservation by the
organizing committee
After May 15, 2003 Additional charge for registration fees
Details
contact <mailtoict2003 [at] its [dot] org>

+- IUMRS-ICAM2003
- International Union of Materials Research Societies
- International Conference on Advanced Materials
Symposium C-6
"Advanced Thermoelectric Materials for Environment-Friendly
Energy Systems"
October 12-13, 2003
Yokohama, Japan (same location as ICT1993)
******Milestone Dates******
April 30, 2003 Abstracts Deadline
June 20, 2003 Acceptance Notification
June 30, 2003 Early Registration Deadline & Late News Deadline
September 1, 2003 Final Circular
September 30, 2003 Accommodations Deadline
October 8-13, 2003 Manuscript Deadline (for Proceedings)
October 12-13, 2003 Symposium Date
************************
You can reach the symposium page from the conference web menu
as follows
Event Descriptions -> Technical Symposia -> Category C/C-6
Conference Web Site


Guidance for Application

On-Line Paper Presentation Application & Registration Form for
Speaker

Contact Michitaka Ohtaki <mailtoohtaki [at] mm [dot] kyushu-u [dot] ac [dot] jp>

+- MRS 2003 Fall Meeting
Dec 1-5, 2003, Boston, MA, USA
Symposium S Thermoelectric Materials 2003-Research and
Applications

Details in attached announcement
contact George S. Nolas <mailtognolas [at] chuma1 [dot] cas [dot] usf [dot] edu>

+- ICT2004, Adelaide, Australia Dates TBD, 2004
Details TBD
contact (coming soon)

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NEWS
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+- NASA's Project Prometheus technology contract awards
US$43M over 4 years on thermoelectric, thermophotovoltaic
Stirling and Brayton energy conversion technologies

NASA has adopted the name "Project Prometheus" for an effort previously
called the "Nuclear Systems Initiative". The project was described by Gary
Burdick of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in a presentation at ICT2002 last
August in Long Beach, California USA. Project Prometheus seeks to develop
new, more efficient nuclear power sources for solar system
exploration. Both Radioisotope Power Sources (RPS) and nuclear fission
systems are planned.

The following NASA News Release describes initial awards for conversion
technology R&D aimed at more efficient and lighter mass radioisotope power
sources. If successful, these technologies could replace the Radioisotope
Thermoelectric Generators (RTGs) which have been used in the past. These
new power sources may or may not use thermoelectric conversion technology,
depending in part on the progress made under the awards described
below. In addition, milliwatt-scale energy converter technology is to be
developed.

The following is the entire text of the NASA News Release

________BEGIN NASA NEWS RELEASE__________

Donald Savage
Headquarters, Washington May 7, 2003
(Phone 202/358-1547)

RELEASE c03-n

ADVANCED RADIOISOTOPE-POWER TECHNOLOGIES R&D TEAMS SELECTED

NASA selected several radioisotope-based power-
conversion technologies for research and development (R&D).
The awards are the first competitive technology procurement
funded wholly by NASA's Project Prometheus.

These systems are distinguished by their use of new
technologies for converting heat from radioisotope fuel into
electrical power. The technologies are intended for use in
improved radioisotope-power systems, which could provide
higher efficiencies and power levels than those used on
existing devices, enabling more sophisticated science
instruments and spacecraft subsystems. The awards cover
several distinct power-conversion technology areas
Thermoelectrics, Thermophotovoltaics, Stirling Engines, and
Brayton Engines.

"With this award, NASA is laying the foundation for several
technology paths that could enable entirely new classes of
missions, from networked science stations on Mars to small
spacecraft capable of complex maneuvers in deep space using
high-performance electric thrusters," said Dr. George
Schmidt, Program Executive for Radioisotope Power Systems at
NASA Headquarters. "These new technologies could greatly
expand the nation's ability to conduct future robotic
planetary-exploration missions in deep space, or in mobile
laboratories on the surfaces of planets and moons," he said.

Thermoelectrics, the thermal-to-electric power conversion
method used on NASA missions since the early 1960s, has the
advantage of employing no moving parts. Proposals selected in
this area will concentrate on research of new thermoelectric
materials and structures, and could achieve up to two-fold
improvements in efficiency over existing systems. The
Principal Investigators (PIs) selected by NASA's Office of
Space Science
* Mildred Dresselhaus (Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
Cambridge, Mass.) 'Si-Ge Nanocomposites for Radioisotope
Power Conversion'
* Saeid Ghamatay (Hi-Z Technology Inc., San Diego)
'Multiwatt Quantum Well Thermoelectric'
* David Moul (Teledyne Energy Systems Inc., Hunt Valley,
Md.) 'Segmented BiTe/PbTe-BiTe/TAGS/PbSnTe Thermoelectric
Generators'
* Ben Heshmatpour (Teledyne Energy Systems Inc., Hunt Valley,
Md.) 'Advanced Superlattice BiTe-PbTe/TAGS Milliwatt
Radioisotope Power Systems'

Thermophotovoltaics, another method requiring no moving
parts, operates similar to solar cells by converting
electromagnetic radiation of heat to electric current. It
could double or triple current generator efficiency. Selected
PIs
* Christopher Crowley (Creare Inc., Hanover, N.H.)
'Thermophotovoltaic Power Conversion Technology for
Radioisotope Power Systems'
* William Horne (EDTEK Inc., Kent, Wash.)
'Thermophotovoltaic Radioisotope Power Conversion Technology'
* Samar Sinharoy (Essential Research Inc., Brookpark, Ohio)
'A Very High Thermophotovoltaic Converter for the General
Purpose Heat Source'

Stirling Cycle Engines (SCE) have the potential of achieving
efficiencies three-to-four times greater than existing
systems. SCE have been used in space for sensor cooling and
cryogenic storage. The selected PIs
* James Wood (Sunpower Inc., Athens, Ohio) 'Development of a
High-Performance Next-Generation Stirling Radioisotope Power
Converter'
* Mounir Ibrahim (Cleveland State University, Cleveland)
'Developing the Next-Generation Stirling Engine Regenerator
Designing for Application of Microfabrication Techniques and
for Enhanced Reliability and Performance in Space
Applications'

Brayton Cycle Engines offer the potential of achieving very
high efficiencies and could have the advantage of being
compact and scaleable to higher power levels. The proposal
selected in this area will apply microfabrication techniques
to build and demonstrate a Brayton converter. The selected PI
is Mark Zagarola (Creare Inc., Hanover, N.H.) 'A Turbo-
Brayton Power System for Radioisotope Power Conversion.'

Each award covers three, one-year performance periods.
Continued support from one period to the next is contingent
on program need, availability of funds, and each PI team's
ability to meet proposed milestones. The total funding for
this Research Announcement is $43 million, split into $13.4
million, $7.5 million, $16.9 million and $5.2 million
increments for fiscal year 2003 through 2006 respectively.

Project Prometheus, the Nuclear Systems Program, in the
Office of Space Science, NASA Headquarters, manages the
radioisotope power systems research and development. The
Department of Energy, a key partner in this effort, develops
the units used in flight applications. Project Prometheus is
supported by NASA's Glenn Research Center, Cleveland; Jet
Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.; Marshall Space
Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.; and Kennedy Space Center,
Fla.

-end-

* * *

NASA press releases and other information are available automatically
by sending an Internet electronic mail message to domo [at] hq [dot] nasa [dot] gov.
In the body of the message (not the subject line) users should type
the words "subscribe press-release" (no quotes). The system will
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message to domo [at] hq [dot] nasa [dot] gov, leave the subject blank, and type only
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________END NASA NEWS RELEASE__________

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+- Global Thermoelectric Inc. Announces Combination
Agreement With QUANTUM

Global Thermoelectric Inc. (Calgary, Alberta, Canada,
) has announced an agreement to combine with
QUANTUM Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide, Inc. (Irvine, California, USA,
). The stock-for-stock exchange is valued at
approximately US$75M. For details see

Global was founded by thermoelectricians from the 3M company in the 1970's
(or there about) and built a business based on thermoelectric electric
power generators for remote applications such as pipelines. More recently
they expanded into Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFCs), which now appears to be
the greater portion of their activity.

Thermoelectrics remains an important activity for Global as indicated by
another recent press release concerning a US$3.6M letter of intent from the
Gas Authority of India Ltd. to provide thermoelectric generator systems for
their Vizag-Secunderabad LPG Pipeline. For details see

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That's all for today. Let me know if I forgot anything!
Or if you have News you'd like to pass along... pass it along to me!
- Cronin

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