DATE: 2-3 p.m. EDT, Aug. 7

EVENT: A campus visit from U.S. Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) to discuss new University of Michigan College of Engineering research initiatives and partnerships that hold promise to boost the local economy and advance the nation’s and the region’s clean energy and safe civil infrastructure goals. Made possible by stimulus and non-stimulus federal funding, the projects that will be discussed are:

? A $19.5-million Energy Frontier Research Center where scientists and engineers will study new materials that could more efficiently convert solar energy into heat and electricity.

? A $19-million partnership led by U-M to create the ultimate infrastructure monitoring system and install it on several test bridges. These smart bridges will use sensors to communicate their structural integrity to inspectors, among other advancements.

? A partnership with the city of Ann Arbor to build a wind turbine in or near the city for energy generation and research purposes.

Speakers include:

? U.S. Rep. John Dingell

? David Munson, the Robert J. Vlasic Dean of Engineering

? Roger Fraser, Ann Arbor city administrator

? Andrew Brix, energy programs manager, city of Ann Arbor

? Stephen Forrest, U-M vice president for research, William Gould Dow Collegiate Professor of Electrical Engineering, and professor in the departments of Materials Science and Engineering, and Physics

? Jerome Lynch, associate professor in the departments of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

? Peter Green, the Vincent T. and Gloria M. Gorguze Professor of Engineering and chair of the Materials Science and Engineering Department

PLACE: GM Conference Room on the fourth floor of the Lurie Engineering Center, 1221 Beal Ave., Ann Arbor, Mich., on U-M’s North Campus. View a map at www.engin.umich.edu/facilities/maps/luriecenter.html. Reporters requesting free parking passes, contact Nicole Casal Moore at [email protected] by noon Aug. 7.

CONTACTS:

Nicole Casal Moore, U-M College of Engineering, 734-647-7087, [email protected]

Sue Nichols, Michigan Memorial Phoenix Energy Institute 734-615-5678, [email protected]

Adam Benson, Office of U.S. Rep. John Dingell, [email protected]