Since the first Böer Solar Energy Medal of Merit was awarded in 1993, 2022 marks the first time two different Böer awards have been presented. The University of Delaware announced this year's winners on April 06 and will present the awards on May 03.
 

Karl W. Böer Solar Energy Medal of Merit Award Trust Honors Outstanding Contributions to the Pursuit of Renewable Energy

The Solar Energy Medal of Merit is awarded to a globally recognized individual who has made significant as well as groundbreaking contributions to solar energy, wind energy, or other forms of renewable energy as an alternative energy source through research, development, or business ventures. Individuals who have otherwise made extraordinary, lasting contributions to the fields of solar energy, wind energy, or other forms of renewable energy may also be nominated for this award.

The Mid-Career Award, first presented in 2022, is given to an active research personality who has made a significant contribution to solar energy, wind energy, or other forms of renewable energy through research, development, or commercial enterprise within 20 years of obtaining his or her highest academic degree, or to an individual who has otherwise made an exceptionally valuable and lasting contribution to solar energy, wind energy, or other forms of renewable energy.

Two prominent researchers - Vasilis Fthenakis, a pioneer in solar energy research, and Anke Weidenkaff, an advocate of renewable energy and sustainable technologies - have been selected for the 2022 Karl Böer Awards.
 

Prominent researchers honored

Vasilis Fthenakis, a pioneer in the field of large-scale solar energy deployment studies and founding director of the Center for Life Cycle Analysis at Columbia University, was selected for the 15th Böer Solar Energy Medal of Merit, which carries a $100,000 prize.

Anke Weidenkaff, director of the Fraunhofer Research Institution for Materials Recycling and Resource Strategies IWKS and professor at the Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany, was selected for the first Böer Renewable Energy Mid-Career Award, which carries a $25,000 prize. She was nominated by David Cahen, professor emeritus at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, for her "visionary leadership and work in renewable energy and sustainability technologies with pioneering contributions to materials for solar fuels, thermoelectric converters, catalysts and self-regenerative functions." In his nomination letter, Cahen said Weidenkaff is "one of the best and most interdisciplinary scientists in the field of solid-state materials working on renewable energy technologies, whose research not only demonstrates excellence and ingenuity, but also has an impact on society."

"These two distinguished scientists demonstrate the broad range of scientific contributions needed to advance our transition to carbon-free energy," said William Shafarman, director of the Institute for Energy Conversion, founded by Dr. Böer in 1972, and professor of matrial science and engineering at the University of Delaware. "Together, these honorees embody the intent of the Böer Medals to recognize exceptional and lasting contributions to a more sustainable future for our planet."
 

About Karl Böer

Karl Wolfgang Böer was an influential scientist in the field of renewable energy and founder of the Institute for Energy Conversion (IEC) at the University of Delaware. He received his PhD from Humboldt University in Berlin and emigrated to the United States in 1962, where he continued his work at the University of Delaware, leading to significant advances in the field of renewable energy. Karl Böer died on April 18, 2018, and the medals he endowed through the Karl W. Böer Solar Energy Medal of Merit Award Trust, established at the University of Delaware in 1991, continue to honor leaders in all forms of renewable energy.

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