Montana Technological University researchers recently traveled to Washington, D.C., to connect with National Science Foundation leaders and researchers from across the country as part of Montana Tech’s Center for Energy Technologies.
The meeting, hosted at the University of the District of Columbia, brought together NSF Centers of Research Excellence in Science and Technology, including established centers with more than a decade of experience and several newer centers facing many of the same opportunities and challenges as Montana Tech. The Center for Energy Technologies was established in 2025 through a $7.5 million NSF grant. Under the new center, Montana Tech researchers aim to develop technologies that can be deployed locally to convert biomass, like beetle-killed trees, into biochar and renewable energy, such as heat and electricity. The concept involves using forest waste in pyrolysis systems that generate gaseous fuels useful for electricity generation through solid oxide fuel cell technologies, while producing solid and liquid byproducts useful in battery storage and soil enhancement.
Principal investigator Dr. Richard LaDouceur said conversations at the conference offered valuable ideas for building Montana Tech’s center and maximizing the impact of its funding.
“Execution always matters in these things,” LaDouceur said. “You can’t just say you’re going to do it. You have to actually do it. Learning how other centers were executing their visions was awesome.”
Sessions covered center administration, management and strategies for making research funding go further. LaDouceur also was able to engage directly with Montana Tech’s NSF program officer, Regina Sievert, and hopes to bring her to campus for a workshop highlighting NSF opportunities available to faculty and researchers.
Research Scientist Dr. Amirhosein Riahi also attended an early-career investigator workshop, where participants submitted research white papers and received feedback modeled after an NSF review panel. LaDouceur said the experience helps emerging researchers understand the review process and develop skills needed to compete successfully for research funding.
The meeting also reinforced opportunities available through NSF to support students, develop researchers and turn research into innovation.
“The amount of opportunity that’s there is kind of incredible,” LaDouceur said. “Developing students into researchers, developing those researchers into innovation leaders — it’s all there.”