Welcome on Behalf of Dean James Aylor

Dear colleagues, friends and visitors:

Our world is growing at a rate that exceeds our resources. Population growth, combined with higher living standards, is accelerating global climate change and dangerously depleting natural resources. For example, over the past decade, U.S. dependence on petroleum imports has grown steadily. Petroleum inventories are diminished and the ability of Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPR) to cope with demand and an interruption in imports is at a historic low. This is happening not only with petroleum, but also with other nonrenewable resources. Our only recourse is to find a new way to meet our needs — to develop and commercialize new sources of energy and new techniques to preserve and reclaim vital resources.

The University of Virginia's School of Engineering and Applied Science is partnering with other U.Va. schools to facilitate this innovation. Through collaboration, creativity and initiative, knowledge is being created and possibilities are being discovered. University faculty, researchers and students are contributing to energy technology research — research that includes work in the areas of alternative renewable resources, ethics, policy, fuel cell efficiencies, nanotechnology, solar energy, and sustainable and efficient housing.

Browse this site to read more about the energy challenges our global community faces and how scientific knowledge is serving society in this arena.

James H. Aylor
Louis T. Rader Professor of Electrical Engineering
Dean, School of Engineering and Applied Science
The University of Virginia