A new faculty member at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, Marianne Fairbanks is bringing decades of experience with dyes, fibers and design to the development of a technology she’s been dreaming of for years: the solar textile.

University of Wisconsin-Madison engineers have developed a new approach to structuring the catalysts used in essential reactions in the chemical and energy fields. The advance offers a pathway for industries to wean themselves off of platinum, one of the scarcest metals in the earth's crust.

In the quest for better, less expensive ways to store and use energy, platinum and other precious metals play an important role. They serve as catalysts to propel the most efficient fuel cells, but they are costly and rare.

University of Wisconsin-Madison engineers have created a nanoscale device that can emit light as powerfully as an object 10,000 times its size. It's an advance that could have huge implications for everything from photography to solar power.

Like many local governments around the country, the City of Madison is trying to reduce its emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases (GHG) such as carbon dioxide.

Platinum is a highly reactive and in-demand catalyst across the chemical and energy industries, but a team of University of Wisconsin-Madison and Georgia Institute of Technology scientists could reduce the world’s dependence on this scarce and expensive metal.

A group of researchers, professors and students gathered in the Wisconsin Energy Institute June 17 to hear energy policy expert Gary Radloff describe how a commitment to technology innovation can drive a stronger, cleaner energy system.