Hi,

My name is Wolfgang Bauer. I am a professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Michigan State University. This is my virtual office in Cyberspace. You can explore it by clicking on the navigation tabs above.

From 2001 to 2013 I served as chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy and from 2009 to 2013 as founding director of the Institute for Cyber-Enabled Research.

For the last decade I worked primarily on MSU's Energy Transition Plan, with a stint as Senior Consultant (2013-2018) and subsequently Associate Vice President for Administration (2018-2020).

Recent Work Milestones

  • 2012: MSU Board of Trustees approves the MSU Energy Transition Plan, a document our writing group had been working on since 2010.
  • 2013: MSU opens the anaerobic digester, a copy of my family's German biogas facility.
  • 2014: Spartan Treasure Hunts, in partnership with GE. These treasure hunts aim to reduce energy use through energy conservation measures.
  • 2016: Termination of coal firing in MSU's TB Simon Power Plant, resulting in a reduction of emission of 200,000 metric tons of CO2 per year.
  • 2016: Completion of the 100 MW backup power connection to the MISO grid, in partnership with Consumers Energy.
  • 2017: Completion of the MSU Solar Carport Array with a peak power output of 11 MW, the largest in North America. This project is a partnership with Customer First Renewables, inovateus! and Alterra, in the form of a 25-year power purchase agreement.
  • 2018: Completion of the central MSU Data Center, which will eventually consolidate the majority of the 72 existing individual data centers on MSU's campus, saving 10,000 MWh of electricity per year.
  • 2018: Establishment of the office of the Campus Sustainability Director, initially reporting to me.
  • 2019: Completion of the MSU water tower and filtration plant.
  • 2021: Completion of the 30 MW reciprocating internal combustion engines power plant, which will save approximately $5 million in fuel costs per year and reduce MSU's greenhouse gas emissions by up to 50,000 metric tons of CO2 per year.
  • 2022: Projected completion of the new 20 MW ground mount solar array, which will produce 40,000 MWh of solar electricity per year (power purchase agreement contract signed in December 2020).

Major MSU Planning Documents


https://www.linkedin.com/in/wolfgang-bauer-77095737/
http://twitter.com/BauerWestfall
Google Scholar listing
Wikipedia listing