Jia Mi: Making big waves in marine renewable energy

This story was written in the spring of 2021 by GRAD 5144 (Communicating Science) student Frankie Edwards as part of an assignment to interview a classmate and write a news story about his research.

This photo shows a young Asian man with short dark hair clad in a light blue shirt, grey vest, grey trousers, and brown tie and shoes standing in front of a colorful research poster. He has a nametag around his neck and a cheerful smile on his face. — Jia Mi presenting his research poster at the conference of Energy Harvesting from Infrastructure and Ocean Systems (EHIOS), Hoboken, NJ, 2019. Photo courtesy of Jia Mi.

Jia Mi is not your everyday mechanical engineer. He's on a mission to make an impact on marine renewable energy in the United States and abroad, not only from the technical side but also on the business side.

Mi, a Ph.D. candidate at Virginia Tech in the Center for Energy Harvesting Materials and Systems led by Dr. Lei Zuo, is studying how we can sustainably use ocean resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods, and jobs while preserving the health of ocean ecosystems, often referred to as the blue economy.

Mi is working to tap an enormous source of energy: ocean waves.

“Amazingly, the U.S. Department of Energy’s latest report shows the available marine energy surrounding the United States is equal to 2,300 terawatts per year, which is equivalent to 57% of the electricity that was generated in 2019,” he said. “Utilizing just one-tenth of the available marine energy would equate to 5.7% of the electricity generated by our nation—enough energy to power 22-million homes.”

Mi’s research focuses on efficiently converting kinetic energy into another form of energy (such as electricity or hydraulic energy), referred to as a power takeoff (PTO) system. Specifically, a buoy that floats in the seawater converts the hydrokinetic energy of ocean waves into mechanical energy, ultimately converted into electricity by the PTO system.

However, during each of these conversions there is an inevitable energy loss. An essential part of Mi’s research is developing an efficient system that mitigates the energy loss during each conversion and ensures good robustness. His research starts from scaled models generated in a "wave tank" that mimics ocean waves but on a much smaller scale.

This photo shows a young man with short dark hair and swim goggles in a pool. Above the pool is a complicate set of gears and pulleys and cords.d — Researcher Jia Mi deploying his prototype in the wave tank of the Davidson Laboratory at the Stevens Institute of Technology. Photo courtesy of Jia Mi.

Given that the United States has two oceans on either side of its land mass, the Pacific and the Atlantic, and several smaller territories spread throughout the oceans, major economic impacts from technologies relying on ocean waves are achievable, Mi said. According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s 2016 report, ocean-related industries will contribute more than $1.5 trillion to the overall economy each year, and this value is expected to double by 2030.

“Marine energy technologies are still at an early stage of development due to the fundamental challenges of generating power from a dynamic, low-velocity, and high-density resource while withstanding corrosive marine environments,” Mi explained.

At this point in his career, Mi is actively engaged in his technical research. He also keeps his eyes on technology transformation and commercialization. In 2020, he teamed up with business students from Columbia University and won the third place and the Best Plan Award in the U.S. Department of Energy Marine Energy Collegiate Competition: Powering the Blue Economy.

Mi also serves on a committee for the International Network on Offshore Renewable Energy (INORE.org). In this role, he helps support and empower students and early-career professionals in offshore renewable energy fields through networking and professional events. His work has been recognized with several notable awards, including one sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and two supported by the U.S. Department of Energy.

Mi is a graduate student making waves right now, and, in the future, he hopes to head up his own renewable energy company.