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On August 28th, 2025 Kylie Donovan and Donagh Palmer, both students in the Energy Science and Technology BS, participated in a poster session at the 36th Annual Symposium of the Pacific Northwest Chapter of AVS Science and Technology Society convention. They presented their findings from their work this summer under Dr. Nipun Goel and Dr. Tim Kowalczyk of Western Washington University. The team has been developing a computational model for simulating the erosive and corrosive wear of particles in Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) systems. Kylie and Donagh's poster was awarded third place in the undergraduate student poster competition and a $100 prize.

Zoe Behle, an Energy Science and Technology major, showcased her work with a poster at Scholar’s Week 2025. Her research centers on retrofitting existing parabolic trough type concentrated solar power plants with thermal energy storage systems to add concentrated photovoltaic systems. Parabolic trough type CSP systems are the most mature solar technology for utility scale power generation and those equipped with thermal energy storage can take advantage of different dispatch strategies for the most optimal performance. A significant number of these parabolic trough CSP plants are slowly being decommissioned as they compete with newer technologies in terms of cost of power generation. The intent of the work is to determine if these existing parabolic trough type CSP+TES systems can get a boost in service life by retrofitting plants with concentrated PV system such that a larger spectrum of solar irradiation wavelengths can be used for power generation compared to that of existing systems, thereby increasing the overall efficiency of power generation. 

Anders Johnson presented his work on erosive wear modeling for particle-based concentrated solar power systems using the discrete element method at the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Fluids Engineering Division during the July 2025 meeting. Anders showcased a discrete element method he has developed under the guidance of Dr. Nipun Goel of Western Washington University and Dr. Soroor Karimi of The University of Tulsa that can accurately predict wear from slow moving hard particles on stainless steel surface at room temperature.