{"670880":{"#nid":"670880","#data":{"type":"news","title":"IMat Initiative Lead Q\u0026A: Juan-Pablo Correa-Baena","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/research.gatech.edu\/juan-pablo-correa-baena\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EJuan-Pablo Correa-Baena\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/a\u003Eleads the Materials for Solar Energy Harvesting and Conversion research initiative for the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/research.gatech.edu\/materials\u0022\u003EInstitute for Materials\u003C\/a\u003E (IMat)\u0026nbsp;and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/research.gatech.edu\/energy\u0022\u003EStrategic Energy Institute\u003C\/a\u003E at Georgia Tech. In this role, he is working to create a community around solar energy harvesting and conversion at Georgia Tech. He aims to integrate photovoltaic, photodetectors, and related devices into IMaT-related research; energize research in these areas at Georgia Tech at large; and consolidate the expertise of the many research groups working on or around photovoltaics\/photodetectors that will allow researchers to target interdisciplinary research funding opportunities. He is also an assistant professor and the Goizueta Junior Faculty Rotating Chair in the School of Materials Science and Engineering.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn this brief Q\u0026amp;A, Correa-Baena discusses his research focus, how it relates to materials research, and the impact of this initiative.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat is your field of expertise and at what point in your life did you first become interested in this area?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EI am an expert in materials for energy harvesting and conversion. I first became interested in this topic when I was an undergraduate student and started thinking about the future of energy production.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat questions or challenges sparked your current materials research?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EI was born and raised in a country where fossil fuels dominate the energy production landscape, yet where renewables are readily available. Colombia is a large producer of oil but also boasts a huge potential for solar energy production. This juxtaposition always puzzled me growing up. As a researcher in this field, I want to ensure that all countries around the world have access to solar energy, by helping lower deployment cost.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhy is your initiative important to the development of Georgia Tech\u2019s Materials research strategy?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThere is a growing need to expand our research footprint at Georgia Tech with regard to photovoltaics. This is especially important with the impact of the photovoltaic industry presence in Georgia. My initiative is focusing on galvanizing activities around photovoltaic research at Georgia Tech that can benefit our footprint globally as well as locally with industry partners.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat are the broader global and social benefits of the research you and your team conduct?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe main benefit of the research we do is to the photovoltaic industry, which we hope to engage through cutting-edge research at Georgia Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat are your plans for engaging a wider Georgia Tech faculty pool with IMat research?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EI am planning to organize an internal workshop, as well as a session on photovoltaics in the Next Generation of Energy Materials Symposium to be held in March 2024 at Georgia Tech. In addition, as part of my efforts to engage the Georgia Tech community at large, I am working to create a website that will connect the Georgia Tech community working towards advancing photovoltaic capabilities for future manufacturing advancements.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ECorrea-Baena leads the Materials for Solar Energy Harvesting and Conversion research initiative for the Institute for Materials (IMat) and Strategic Energy Institute at Georgia Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Correa-Baena leads the Materials for Solar Energy Harvesting and Conversion research initiative for the Institute for Materials (IMat) and Strategic Energy Institute at Georgia Tech."}],"uid":"34760","created_gmt":"2023-11-03 19:34:45","changed_gmt":"2024-08-27 14:39:10","author":"Laurie Haigh","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2023-11-03T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2023-11-03T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"672263":{"id":"672263","type":"image","title":"Juan-Pablo Correa-Baena","body":null,"created":"1699039995","gmt_created":"2023-11-03 19:33:15","changed":"1699040057","gmt_changed":"2023-11-03 19:34:17","alt":"JuanpBablo CIrrea-Baena in a lab holding a chip","file":{"fid":"255474","name":"Juan-Pablo Correa-Baena.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/11\/03\/Juan-Pablo%20Correa-Baena.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/11\/03\/Juan-Pablo%20Correa-Baena.png","mime":"image\/png","size":425873,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2023\/11\/03\/Juan-Pablo%20Correa-Baena.png?itok=Drv2otre"}}},"media_ids":["672263"],"groups":[{"id":"217141","name":"Georgia Tech Materials Institute"},{"id":"660369","name":"Matter and Systems"}],"categories":[{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"}],"keywords":[{"id":"186870","name":"go-imat"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"},{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto: amelia.neumeister@research.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EAmelia Neumeister\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["amelia.neumeister@research.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}