VCU news

By Sian Wilkerson

Harriet Kung, Ph.D., acting director of the Office of Science at the U.S. Department of Energy, will deliver a public lecture at a symposium hosted by the Institute for Sustainable Energy and Environment at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Kung — who also serves as deputy director for science programs and is the senior career official overseeing the department’s research programs in areas such as advanced scientific computing, basic energy sciences, biological and environmental research, fusion energy research, high energy physics and nuclear physics — will give a lecture titled “Science for Energy” at 7 p.m. on Oct. 16 in room 216 of VCU’s STEM Building, 817 West Franklin St.

The symposium will be held Oct. 16-18 in room 1313 of the Engineering Research Building, 401 W. Cary Street. All lectures at the symposium, including the public lecture, are open to VCU faculty, students, and staff.

“The goal of the symposium is to highlight the challenges the society faces in sustainable energy and environment, the effect of climate change brought about by global warming on people's lives, and to find ways to address the numerous challenges by bringing together researchers from diverse disciplines involving science, humanities, social sciences, education, engineering, medicine and arts,” said Puru Jena, Ph.D., director of the Institute for Sustainable Energy and Environment and a distinguished professor in the Department of Physics in the College of Humanities and Sciences. “The symposium will showcase work done at VCU and around the globe with speakers coming from as far as California, Finland, and South Africa.”

Kung’s talk will provide an overview of the DOE Office of Science, which has a mission of delivering scientific discoveries and major scientific tools to transform our understanding of nature and advance the energy, economic and national security of the United States. The office is the nation’s largest federal sponsor of basic research in the physical sciences and for decades has been a major supporter of research in such key scientific fields as physics, materials science and chemistry.

Along with the DOE National Laboratory System, the Office of Science works in support of U.S. leadership in science and innovation. Kung’s talk will also cover a key aspect of DOE’s portfolio in critical and emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, quantum, microelectronics, and fusion, and how these technologies will be a major source of new discoveries and breakthroughs, strengthen economic prosperity and increase access to clean, reliable and affordable energy.

For the symposium’s full agenda, visit here.