Final Winners of Historically Black Colleges and Universities Clean Energy Education Prize’s Inspire Track Announced

HBCUs Awarded for Efforts To Foster Next Generation of Clean Energy Leaders

Aug. 8, 2024 | By Daniella Frank | Contact media relations

Three images of a kid playing with a stem toy, a graduate hugging someone, and a worker looking at a tablet with solar panels in the background

Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the final winners of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Clean Energy Education Prize in the Inspire Track.

DOE launched the HBCU Clean Energy Education Prize through the American-Made program to address the growing need for a robust and diverse clean energy workforce. Through two tracks, the prize awards nearly $8 million to HBCUs to help prepare the next generation of clean energy leaders.

The Inspire Track challenged HBCUs to develop clean-energy-focused academic-break programs for K–12 and community college students. The goal of these programs is to provide early exposure to clean energy topics and science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) skills and to build connections between HBCUs and public education institutions in their communities. Ten HBCUs were selected for their notable programming and student impact.

"We congratulate the final winners of the Inspire Track for their commitment to expanding access to STEM education for young students of all backgrounds," said Terrence Mosley, senior advisor for diversity in STEM at DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. "Thanks to the hard work of the HBCUs, students from underserved communities are leaving these camps with knowledge and skills they may not have had access to otherwise."

A Summer of STEM

The 10 winners were each awarded $10,000, in addition to the $40,000 awarded in Phase 1 of the prize, and have used the prize awards to host their programs throughout the summer. These programs implemented diverse curricula and activities on a wide range of clean energy topics, including various technologies, societal impacts, and environmental concepts.

Albany State University Solar Energy Summer Camp—A Step Towards a Green Sustainable Society: This two-week clean energy summer program introduced 9th–12th graders to solar energy technology. The camp led interactive solar-based projects, including assembling solar modules and testing performance on electric fans, lightbulbs, model cars, and phone chargers.

Person holding up technology design — Albany State University. *Photo by NREL*

Clark Atlanta University Introductory Battery Technology Summer Enrichment Program: The university partnered with NanoResearch Inc. to host a four-week summer enrichment program offering hands-on activities in battery technology to rising 11th graders. Students built electrochemical cells and measured voltage and current. They also designed and constructed a functional battery prototype for an LED light bulb.

Group of people in aprons and labcoats — Clark Atlanta University. *Photo by NREL*

Florida A&M University EmpowerEd: The university partnered with Stanford Building Decarbonization Learning Accelerator to offer a weeklong summer camp to teach middle school and high school students about reducing emissions in buildings. Students learned theoretical concepts and practical application of low-carbon materials, solar energy, robotics, and more.

Morris Brown College Future Ready Clean Energy Program: This program introduced high schoolers to diverse clean energy topics over the span of eight weeks. Students engaged in activities around environmental justice, interdisciplinary learning, climate change education, conservation and restoration, drone technology, and fieldwork data and analysis.

Paul Quinn College Energized for Change: This weeklong program introduced students from pre-K to 9th grade to the intersection between clean energy and climate justice. The program hosted classroom and hands-on sessions to help students understand the real-life impacts of climate change and identify skills to address them.

Southern University and A&M College Energizing Minds through Advanced Clean Energy Education (EMACE)-Inspires Program: This weeklong program is an expansion of the university’s Summer Science and Engineering Institute (SSEI) program. The program provided 6th–11th graders educational activities that investigate multifunctional composite materials and manufacturing in support of sustainable bioenergy, wind energy, solar energy, carbon capture, and decarbonization efforts.

Tennessee State University Energy Exploration Camp: This two-week summer enrichment program introduced rising 11th and 12th graders to clean energy technology areas, including bioenergy, buildings, geothermal, hydrogen and fuel cells, industrial efficiency and decarbonization, advanced materials and manufacturing technologies, solar, vehicles, water, and wind. Students built knowledge in these areas through interactive presentations, activities, and site visits.

Group of people standing and sitting in front of solar panels — Tennessee State University. *Photo by NREL*

Tuskegee University Mentoring into Clean Energy Program: This weeklong program connected 8th–11th graders to clean energy topics through interactive discussions, hands-on building and testing of clean energy projects, guest speakers, and a visit to a hydropower plant.

University of Maryland Eastern Shore Clean Energy Youth Development Bridge Program: This two-week summer bridge program is a remediation program designed to strengthen the math and science background of 8th, 9th, and 10th graders. Students participated in hands-on lab experiments and model building, exposing them to traditional and clean energy science, engineering, and operational systems combined with parental/family engagement.

Group of students work over technology at a table — University of Maryland Eastern Shore. *Photo by NREL*

Xavier University of Louisiana Program for K–12 Initiation to Clean Energy: This two-week program gave 8th–12th graders an introduction to clean energy, programming, electronics, and materials through lectures, activities, and interactions with industry professionals. The program focused on motivating interest in and progress toward advanced STEM studies and clean energy career development.

Many of these programs focused on recruiting minority students—opening the door to populations historically underrepresented in STEM and clean energy professions. Overall, the common goal of the camps was to equip students with the knowledge and skills needed to successfully pursue a career in clean energy.

Continuing Clean Energy Education

As the Inspire Track draws to a close, competitors await the results of the Partnerships Track Phase 2, which concluded earlier this summer. The Partnerships Track challenges HBCUs to create partnerships with government agencies, industry leaders, and other universities aimed at long-term educational program growth and support for undergraduate and graduate students.

10 HBCUs were selected as winners for Phase 1 this past winter and were awarded $100,000 each. The winners of Phase 2 will split a total prize pool of up to $4,000,000 and will move on to compete in the final phase, where up to three final winners will split a total prize pool of up to $1,750,000.

"The HBCU Clean Energy Education Prize tracks are working hand in hand to inspire and encourage students of all ages to pursue clean energy careers,” Mosley said. “We hope that the HBCUs continue the programming made possible through this prize to support even more students through their educational journey in the years to come.”

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