News

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s Dr. Serdar Celik earned Best Presentation Award for his research “Effect of Cooling on Solar Panel Performance” at the 6th International Conference on Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering in Paris, France.

An SIUE School of Engineering associate professor of mechanical engineering (ME), Celik faced 66 competitors among the more than 200 engineering professionals attending the conference from around the world.

The presentation was the result of a yearlong collaboration between Celik and former SIUE School of Engineering graduate student Rehan Ali. Their study compared the effects of cooling on the performance of photovoltaic systems.

Celik and Ali used two different methods (water and air) of cooling in an effort to prove which cooling agent more successfully prolonged the energy conversion efficiency of photovoltaic cells.

“This recognition has brought about several great future opportunities,” said Celik. “I made several connections at the conference and was invited to be a guest speaker for their next annual event.”

Celik is proud of the several real-world applications that his presentation will receive, particularly in his SIUE lectures for the ME 417 HVAC (Heating, Ventilating and Air-Conditioning) course.

“It is obviously a good feeling to get this award among other researchers from different parts of the world that are working in the same field,” he said. “It was also a good indication that we have good quality research and graduate students at SIUE.

“This presentation motivates me to go further to observe how much more the system can be improved. This honor ultimately belongs to the SIUE School of Engineering, as all of this achievement could not have been gained without the resources and support that the School provided to us.”