UConn in partnership on new weather and climate research facility

The University of Connecticut (UConn) has teamed with the University at Albany (UAlbany) on a new weather and climate research facility.

The Center for Weather Innovation and Smart Energy and Resilience (WISER) is an Industry-University Cooperative Research Center (IUCRC) designed to help corporate partners and government agencies connect with university researchers to conduct high-impact research, drive innovative technology development, and develop a high-tech, skilled workforce.

WISER is backed by a grant from the National Science Foundation and will leverage the research and expertise at UConn and UAlbany to create advanced weather- and climate-based solutions for the energy industry. WISER has already attracted 14 companies including IBM and Avangrid.

“We envision WISER to become a leading energy industry-academia partnership, advancing research and cutting-edge technologies to continually improve power grid efficiency and reliability in the face of a changing climate and transition to clean energy,” said Emmanouil “Manos” Anagnostou, a Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor and Eversource Energy Endowed Chair in Environmental Engineering at UConn.

“The IUCRC program was created by the NSF to generate new and innovative research through engagement between academic researchers, government agencies and industry partners,” said Chris Thorncroft, director of UAlbany”™s Atmospheric Sciences Research Center. “WISER will fulfill this mission by advancing research and cutting-edge technologies to improve energy industry efficiency and reliability in the face of a rapidly changing climate and global transition to clean energy sources.”