Tufts Energy Forum (TEF) plans to expand the scope of its annual April conference, riding a surge of national interest in alternative energy issues.
The fifth annual Tufts Energy Conference, an event designed to promote energy awareness and educate students through networking events, will take place on April 16 and 17 next semester.
TEF has added an extra day to the conference and the organization hopes to attract 400 or more people this year. In the past two years, about 200 students and faculty have attended.
"We're hoping to double the size of the conference," said TEF co-chair Peter O'Regan, a senior.
The annual energy conference aims to raise awareness among Tufts' students of energy issues, an undertaking that is in line with TEF's broader goals.
"By and large, the mission of the Energy Conference is to connect Tufts and the energy industry to exchange ideas and to think together on some of these problems and really encourage collaboration," O'Regan said.
TEF is closely tied to the Institute for Global Leadership (IGL), which also promotes energy education on campus. While TEF hopes to expand its conference this year, concrete plans are still in the works as the group has only recently begun to organize.
Sophomore Sharmaine Oh, leader of the TEF content-planning committee for the conference, said that the conference schedule has not yet been finalized, but confirmed that events will occur on a larger scale than in previous years.
"We'll bring in a greater variety of exhibitors, increase our sponsorship, and hopefully we'll manage to bring in a high-profile keynote," she said.
O'Regan echoed hopes for a larger production.
"We're inviting higher caliber people to speak and present," O'Regan said. He added that guest speakers will be confirmed and announced by early December and the lineup should be finalized by January.
The schedule will tentatively include panel discussions and keynote speakers, as well as feature an exhibition of student and faculty work in the field of clean energy.
While several faculty members have advised TEF during the conference planning process, undergraduate and graduate students are leading the preparations.
"It's really important that this is a student-driven activity," said associate provost and professor of mechanical engineering Vincent Manno, who advised TEF on the conference.
The conference will encourage interaction between students and companies who are working in the clean energy sector.
"We feel that there's a lot of enthusiasm and interest in energy in the Tufts community, and a lot of ideas, and we think that by encouraging collaboration between students and industry professionals, we can benefit both groups," O'Regan said.
Oh said that the conference will help to acquaint students with the clean energy sector. "We really want them to bring the topic of energy to [students] in an approachable manner and get them really interested in the industry," she said.
TEF co-chair Daniel Enking, a senior, said that the conference's increased advertising budget will allow TEF to advertise in more creative ways this year. "We haven't done much advertising off-campus or online in the past, so those are some general areas we'll try to expand into," he said.
O'Regan felt that the Tufts community would benefit from the increased effort put into the conference, adding that he found students eager to promote environmental sustainability.
"It's definitely something on students' minds," O'Regan said. "People are definitely aware of their energy contributions, they're aware of climate change, they're aware of how their actions impact global thinking."
Manno agreed that students are often supportive of green initiatives and would welcome the revamped conference.
"I don't think it's going to be difficult to draw a larger audience," he said. "Energy security is much more in the forefront of people's consciousness than it was in the past."
There will be no shortage of issues to discuss, Manno said.
"When it comes down to it, water and energy are the two things we depend upon most for our way of life," Manno said. "There are not a lot of simple answers, but there are important questions that need to be discussed."
