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2026 ERC EARTH Industry Day & NSF Site Visit
by
Mon, Oct 19, 2026 7:30 AM –
Tue, Oct 20, 2026 8:00 PM EDT (GMT-4)
Site Visit takes place in Eastern Standard Time
University of Maryland
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Details
Agenda
Upcoming Events
Mon, Oct 19, 2026
8:00 AM – 9:00 AM
Adele H. Stamp Student Union, Grand Ballroom
8:00 AM – 9:00 AM
Check-In and Breakfast Refreshments
Light breakfast refreshments.
Mon, Oct 19, 2026
8:50 AM – 9:20 AM
Private Location (sign in to display)
8:50 AM – 9:20 AM
Welcome and EARTH Overview
Welcome and EARTH Overview presented by NSF ERC EARTH Center Director Dr. Mark Shiflett.
Mon, Oct 19, 2026
9:20 AM – 10:05 AM
Private Location (sign in to display)
9:20 AM – 10:05 AM
Keynote - Scott Tease, AMD
Keynote Address Scott Tease, CVP, HPC and Sovereign AI Business Development at AMD
Mon, Oct 19, 2026
10:05 AM – 10:30 AM
Private Location (sign in to display)
10:05 AM – 10:30 AM
Networking Break
morning break
Mon, Oct 19, 2026
10:30 AM – 11:30 AM
Private Location (sign in to display)
10:30 AM – 11:30 AM
Cooling the Future: Next-Gen Data Center Industry Day Moderated Panel and Q&A 1
Data Center Panel 1 featuring: Patrick McCluskey, John Peterson (Microsoft), Eric Wachsman, Scott Tease, Sean Abbott (Oracle), Joshua Mazurik (Meta)
Mon, Oct 19, 2026
11:30 AM – 12:30 PM
Private Location (sign in to display)
11:30 AM – 12:30 PM
Lunch - Featuring Esube Bekele, VP of Technology for AI, IQT
Lunch at NSF ERC EARTH site visit on October 19th featuring guest speaker Esube Bekele, VP of Technology for AI, IQT.
Mon, Oct 19, 2026
12:30 PM – 1:30 PM
Private Location (sign in to display)
12:30 PM – 1:30 PM
Cooling the Future: Next-Gen Data Center Industry Day Moderated Panel and Q&A 2
Data center moderated panel 2 featuring: Gustavo Pottker (Chemours), Jon Scholte, R&D Manager for Thermal Management (Arkema), Samuel Yana Motto, Global Applications Director – Refrigerants (Orbia)
Mon, Oct 19, 2026
1:30 PM – 2:00 PM
Private Location (sign in to display)
1:30 PM – 2:00 PM
Networking Break
afternoon break on oct 19th
Mon, Oct 19, 2026
2:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Private Location (sign in to display)
2:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Cooling the Future: Next-Gen Data Center Industry Day Moderated Panel and Q&A 3
Data center panel 3 featuring: Richard “Dick” Lord, Sr. Fellow (Carrier); Steve Kujack, Trane; Mark Lessans, Senior Director Sustainability (Johnson Controls / Bosch)
Mon, Oct 19, 2026
3:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Private Location (sign in to display)
3:00 PM – 5:00 PM
University of Maryland Engineering Facilities and Laboratory Tour
Facilities and Laboratory Tours
Mon, Oct 19, 2026
3:30 PM – 5:00 PM
Private Location (sign in to display)
3:30 PM – 5:00 PM
NSF ERC EARTH Industrial Advisory Board Meeting
Industrial Advisory Board Meeting
Mon, Oct 19, 2026
4:00 PM – 4:30 PM
Private Location (sign in to display)
4:00 PM – 4:30 PM
NSF Closed Meeting
NSF closed meeting (private event)
Mon, Oct 19, 2026
4:30 PM – 4:55 PM
Private Location (sign in to display)
4:30 PM – 4:55 PM
NSF & Council of Scholars Meeting
NSF & ERC EARTH Council of Scholars private meeting
Mon, Oct 19, 2026
5:00 PM – 5:25 PM
Private Location (sign in to display)
5:00 PM – 5:25 PM
NSF & Industrial Advisory Board Meeting
NSF & ERC EARTH Industrial Advisory Board private meeting
Mon, Oct 19, 2026
5:30 PM – 5:55 PM
Private Location (sign in to display)
5:30 PM – 5:55 PM
NSF & Council of Deans Meeting
NSF & Council of Deans private meeting
Mon, Oct 19, 2026
5:30 PM – 6:30 PM
Private Location (sign in to display)
5:30 PM – 6:30 PM
Networking Reception
Networking reception/cocktail hour at NSF ERC EARTH site visit
Mon, Oct 19, 2026
6:30 PM – 8:00 PM
Private Location (sign in to display)
6:30 PM – 8:00 PM
Dinner - featuring Joshua Mazurik, Water Resources Manager, Meta
Dinner at NSF ERC EARTH site visit on October 19th featuring guest speaker Joshua Mazurik, Water Resources Manager, Meta.
Mon, Oct 19, 2026
8:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Private Location (sign in to display)
8:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Game Night
Game night for ERC EARTH Council of Scholars
Tue, Oct 20, 2026
7:00 AM – 8:00 AM
Private Location (sign in to display)
7:00 AM – 8:00 AM
Breakfast - Site Visit Day 2
check in and breakfast for site visit day 2
Tue, Oct 20, 2026
8:00 AM – 8:15 AM
Private Location (sign in to display)
8:00 AM – 8:15 AM
Welcome and State of EARTH Overview
Welcome by Samuel Graham, Dean of the Clark School of Engineering, University of Maryland
State of EARTH Overview by ERC EARTH Center Director Mark Shiflett, University of Kansas
Tue, Oct 20, 2026
8:15 AM – 8:45 AM
Private Location (sign in to display)
8:15 AM – 8:45 AM
Organization & Evaluation Presentations + Q&A
Organization presentation by ERC EARTH Deputy Director Jennifer Schaefer, University of Notre Dame
Evaluation presentation by ERC EARTH Evaluation Lead Haiying Long, University of Kansas
Tue, Oct 20, 2026
8:45 AM – 9:40 AM
Private Location (sign in to display)
8:45 AM – 9:40 AM
Thrust 1 | Project Leads Presentation + Q&A
Thrust 1 presentation lead by project leads + Q&A
Tue, Oct 20, 2026
9:40 AM – 10:00 AM
Private Location (sign in to display)
9:40 AM – 10:00 AM
Networking Break - day 2
morning break on nsf erc earth day 2
Tue, Oct 20, 2026
10:00 AM – 10:45 AM
Private Location (sign in to display)
10:00 AM – 10:45 AM
Thrust 2 | Project Leads Presentation + Q&A
Thrust 2 presentation by project leads + Q&A
Tue, Oct 20, 2026
10:45 AM – 11:40 AM
Private Location (sign in to display)
10:45 AM – 11:40 AM
Thrust 3 | Project Leads Presentations + Q&A
Thrust 3 presentations by project leads + Q&A
Tue, Oct 20, 2026
11:40 AM – 1:00 PM
Private Location (sign in to display)
11:40 AM – 1:00 PM
Lunch - Site Visit Day 2
Lunch at NSF ERC EARTH site visit + stakeholder introductions
Tue, Oct 20, 2026
12:30 PM – 1:00 PM
Private Location (sign in to display)
12:30 PM – 1:00 PM
NSF Closed Meeting (working lunch) - Day 2
NSF closed meeting working lunch
Tue, Oct 20, 2026
1:00 PM – 2:30 PM
Private Location (sign in to display)
1:00 PM – 2:30 PM
Student Poster Symposium & Networking Reception
Student Poster Symposium & Networking Reception at NSF ERC EARTH Site Visit Day 2
Tue, Oct 20, 2026
2:30 PM – 3:10 PM
Private Location (sign in to display)
2:30 PM – 3:10 PM
Testbed Overview + Q&A
Testbed Overview Presentation
Tue, Oct 20, 2026
3:10 PM – 3:30 PM
Private Location (sign in to display)
3:10 PM – 3:30 PM
Networking Break - day 2
afternoon break at day 2 of nsf erc earth site visit
Tue, Oct 20, 2026
3:30 PM – 4:30 PM
Private Location (sign in to display)
3:30 PM – 4:30 PM
Engineering Workforce Development and Impact & Belonging Overview + Q&A
Engineering Workforce Development and Impact & Belonging Overview + Q&A
Tue, Oct 20, 2026
4:30 PM – 5:25 PM
Private Location (sign in to display)
4:30 PM – 5:25 PM
Innovation Ecosystem Presentation + Q&A
Innovation Ecosystem presentation + Q&A
Tue, Oct 20, 2026
5:30 PM – 6:15 PM
Private Location (sign in to display)
5:30 PM – 6:15 PM
Networking Reception - Day 2
Networking reception at NSF ERC EARTH Site Visit Day 2
Tue, Oct 20, 2026
6:15 PM – 8:00 PM
Private Location (sign in to display)
6:15 PM – 8:00 PM
Dinner Featuring Eric Wachsman, co-Founder, Ion Storage Systems - Day 2
Dinner at NSF ERC EARTH Site Visit featuring guest speaker Eric Wachsman, co-Founder, Ion Storage Systems
Awards Ceremony will occur at 7:45pm after Eric Wachsman talk ends.
Speakers
Mark Shiflett
Foundation Distinguished Professor and J.L. Constant Distinguished Professor of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering and ERC EARTH Center Director
University of Kansas
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-shiflett-b451b317/
Mark Shiflett is a chemical engineer whose work advances environmentally friendly, energy‑efficient industrial processes, building on nearly three decades at DuPont where he helped develop non‑ozone‑depleting refrigerants and earned major professional honors. He continues to drive sustainable chemical innovation through extensive patents, publications, and leadership within the engineering community.
Ellyn Lester
Assistant Dean of Construction and Architectural Technologies
Pennsylvania College of Technology
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ellynlester/
Ellyn Lester is a leader in architecture and construction education whose career was shaped by early experiences on construction sites and a long-standing passion for the built environment. After building extensive industry and leadership experience across architectural firms and academic institutions, she now inspires emerging creators at Penn College, where she brings together her background in journalism, architectural marketing, and built‑environment advocacy to equip students for impactful careers.
Gianna Valentino
Assistant Professor of Materials Science and Engineering
University of Maryland
https://www.linkedin.com/in/gianna-valentino-759bb782/
Gianna M. Valentino investigates how deformation mechanisms and interfacial design shape the performance of advanced structural materials, working at the intersection of mechanics and materials. Her research spans refractory metals for extreme environments, shape‑morphing and functionally graded metals, and materials with competing properties, all aimed at understanding and engineering damage pathways to optimize material functionality.