On Wednesday, April 19, Professor Emeritus Milivoje Kostic will give a presentation on the future of energy and the environmental landscape.
A reception will be held at 5:30 p.m. in Room 354 of the Engineering Building, and the lecture will begin at 6 p.m. The event is sponsored by the science journal Entropy.
Though per capita energy use has declined in recent years in the U.S. and other developed countries, a growing global population and the rapid development of fast-developing countries like China and India will influence a continued increase in global energy consumption and its related impact on the environment. The energy and environmental landscape could be substantially enhanced with improved efficiency and diversification of energy sources, devices and processes. This lecture will explore the most effective ways to make these improvements, by using the fundamental laws of thermodynamics, comprehensive analysis and optimization.
Advances in energy conversion and technologies, including computerized control and management, contribute to energy efficiency and conservation, increased safety and reduced pollution. The brief period of fossil fuels’ abundance and use is a blip on the radar screen of human history, and we may find life will be happier after the fossil fuel era.
In honor of this special event, Entropy will have a special issue on energy and the environment. Any and all articles on this topic are welcome. To submit an article for this special issue, contact Kostic at kostic@niu.edu or www.kostic.niu.edu.
Milivoje Kostic was born and raised in Serbia and completed his degree in mechanical engineering at the University of Belgrade with the highest GPA in the program’s history at the time. He worked as a researcher in thermal engineering and combustion at the Vinca Institute for Nuclear Sciences and taught at the University of Belgrade. He received his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the University of Illinois at Chicago and worked at NIU for 26 years before retiring in 2014 to focus on fundamental research. He has been the editor-in-chief of the Thermodynamics Section of Entropy journal and has authored a number of patents and professional publications. He was appointed a NASA faculty fellow and a faculty researcher at Fermi and Argonne National Laboratories. He has a number of awards and recognitions and is a sought-after speaker.
