Colorado School of Mines Visit

MaREI staff hosted a visiting group of academics and students from the Advanced Energy Systems programme at Colorado School of Mines and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory of the USA.

The group was hosted by MaREI researchers in NUI Galway, led by Rory Monaghan before travelling to Dingle where they met Deirdre de Bhailís, Dingle Hub Manager to learn about the exciting and innovative project Dingle Peninsula 2030 where partners are actively collaborating with the local community, schools, business, transport, and farming sectors to enable the broader societal changes required for the sustainable transition.

They then travelled to University College Cork where the Energy Policy and Modelling Group hosted an energy systems modelling workshop in the Environmental Research Institute and the group also visited the Lir National Ocean Test Facility, ESB Aghada Generating Station and the historic Camden Fort Meagher in Crosshaven.

This inaugural visit generated new creative connections between the MaREI and Mines/NREL teams which the teams now plan to leverage for joint funding proposals and research activities.

We had a wonderful time introducing our visitors from the Advanced Energy Systems Program to the key energy research and deployment sites in Galway and as well as city's and county's cultural gems. Relationships between PhD researchers and PIs alike were forged and plans made for future collaborations. It was an incredibly fruitful visit and we hope to be able to make the return trip to Colorado in the near future.

Rory Monaghan
Funded Investigator
MaREI

Because the students were from trans-disciplinary backgrounds and they were very informed of the challenges faced for transition, their questions and contributions proved hugely insightful. It was great to share our experience of engaging communities in a multi-layered, multi-sectoral approach that is starting to show real action on the ground. I hope, for the group, they got to see the value and impact that the engaged research work of the MaREI team has had. We certainly felt there was an opportunity to do more with groups like this where both parties benefit from the insights and knowledge of the other.

Deirdre de Bhailís
Manager
Dingle Hub

National University of Ireland Galway Visit