Hamm Institute awards 8 seed grants to advance energy innovation at OSU

Hamm Institute awards 8 seed grants to advance energy innovation at OSU

Friday, August 29, 2025

Media Contact: Dara McBee | Hamm Institute for American Energy | 580-350-7248 | [email protected]

The Hamm Institute for American Energy at Oklahoma State University is putting fresh ideas to work.

The institute awarded $200,000 in seed grants to OSU faculty members who are tackling some of the toughest challenges in energy security, resilience and innovation. Eight projects were chosen, each receiving $25,000 to test bold ideas, bring new teams together and set the stage for bigger research efforts.

"At the Hamm Institute, our mission is to bridge the worlds of academia and industry and give innovators the tools to think big," said Dr. Ann Bluntzer Pullin, Hamm Institute executive director. "These seed grants are about more than funding research; they're about backing the people and ideas that have the potential to change the way we power our communities, our state and our country."

The 2025-26 awardees represent multiple disciplines across engineering, geology, chemical sciences and policy. Their projects range from high-tech advances in artificial intelligence and geothermal fluids to big-picture assessments of global energy security.

Highlights include:

• Energy Infrastructure Resilience in Oklahoma - Dr. Chen Chen is mapping how disasters like wildfires and windstorms cascade across critical infrastructure and developing new strategies to harden the grid.
• Efficiency First in Oil and Gas - Led by Dr. Hitesh Vora, this project is creating an efficiency assessment framework that links operational efficiency directly to safety, with support from industry leaders.
• Transformative Catalysis for Carbon Recycling - Dr. Jimmie Weaver is advancing molecular catalysts that could convert CO₂ into synthetic fuels.
• Flood Risks to Transmission Lines - Drs. Maha Kenawy and Gabriel Perez are using AI and advanced simulations to understand how extreme precipitation and flooding threaten the grid and how to reduce those risks.
• White Hydrogen Potential - Drs. Prem Bikkina, Priyank Jaiswal and Javier Vilcaez Perez are investigating naturally occurring "white hydrogen" as a new, low-cost and clean energy resource in Oklahoma and beyond.
• Geothermal Nanofluids - Drs. Geir Hareland and Mohammed Al Dushaishi are developing nanoparticle-enhanced fluids to boost heat extraction from low-temperature geothermal wells, repurposing old oil and natural gas sites.
• Trustworthy AI for the Grid - Dr. Ying Zhang is building AI frameworks that can operate at the grid edge, enhancing security, resilience and decision-making in systems increasingly powered by distributed energy resources.
• Global Energy Security - This interdisciplinary project, led by Dr. John Schoeneman, is modeling geopolitical risks to energy markets and exploring America's role in stabilizing global energy security through exports and policy leadership.

The seed grant program is part of the Hamm Institute's broader mission to strengthen U.S. energy leadership through research, education and convening. By supporting faculty-driven innovation at the earliest stages, the institute is helping ensure the United States remains the global leader in energy security and innovation.