Growing Electricity: Plugging into Plants: Barry Bruce at TEDxUTK 2014

TEDxUTK 2014 at the Howard H Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy
The University of Tennessee Knoxville
Filmed on February 22, 2014


Barry Bruce: Growing Electricity: Plugging into Plants

Barry Bruce, a professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Cellular and Molecular Biology, is a leading expert in sustainable energy research; his work focuses on adapting the biological machinery in plants to produce electricity and biofuels. Dr. Bruce is a highly recognized researcher and educator. He was recently recognized as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2014. In 2007, Forbes recognized Dr. Bruce as one of “Ten Revolutionaries That May Change the World”. This was an international recognition that is based on his seminal work on applied photosynthesis. Dr. Bruce has developed a system that taps into photosynthetic processes to produce efficient and inexpensive energy. He collaborated with researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Ecole Polytechnique Federale in Switzerland to develop a process that improves the efficiency of generating electric power using molecular structures extracted from plants. The biosolar breakthrough has the potential to make "green" electricity dramatically cheaper and easier. He has been featured in the New York Times, NPR, the Boston Globe, Discover, ABC news and many technical publications. He has published nearly 100 publications and has been invited to speak in over 15 different countries. UTK recently honored him with the Senior Faculty Research and Creative Achievement award, which is the highest award, offered to a scientist in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Dr. Bruce is a co-principal investigator and one of three scientific statewide thrust leaders of a NSF $20 million grant. It is the largest NSF grant ever awarded in Tennessee. The project, “Tennessee Solar Conversion and Storage Using Outreach, Research and Education” or TN: SCORE, will help create a collaborative culture among the state’s universities and community colleges, to promote the state’s science and engineering capabilities, enhance research competitiveness, and stimulate economic development. Dr. Bruce is also a co-founder and associate director of the Sustainable Energy and Education Research Center (SEERC) and a co-principal investigator in the Sustainable Technology through Advanced Interdisciplinary Research (STAIR) program, one of the two NSF Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) programs at UT Knoxville. He is also an adjunct professor in the Department of Microbiology and Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering.

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In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)