SAFL Director Lian Shen selected as co-chair for offshore wind research advisory group

Lian Shen, director of the St. Anthony Falls Laboratory (SAFL) and professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Minnesota, was recently selected as a co-chair of the research and development (R&D) advisory group for the National Offshore Wind Research & Development Consortium (Consortium).

The Consortium is a not-for-profit organization funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority to support research and development of offshore wind energy through technological innovation. Members of the Consortium include offshore wind developers and public and private research sponsors, as well as other national stakeholders.

As the co-chair for the R&D advisory group, Shen will help lead a prestigious team whose members represent over 40 academic institutions, national laboratories, and research organizations that have demonstrated a commitment to offshore wind research and development. The group will support the overall Consortium by providing ideas and feedback on relevant topic areas around offshore wind as well as supporting active engagement of its own members.

“Offshore wind energy is yet another alternative to consider in our renewable energy portfolio,” says Shen. “I look forward to working with this advisory group and the overall Consortium as they look to develop a national strategy for offshore wind that will not only help us diversify our energy sources but also provide economic benefit to the United States.”

At SAFL, Shen recently participated in a project that used data from laboratory experiments to develop and validate computational tools that improve offshore wind turbine performance and stability given the interactions between wind and ocean waves.