History
Capabilities & Impact
The Energy Institute of Louisiana (EIL) features elite laboratory, pilot, and full-scale R&D infrastructure built to pioneer clean energy innovations, manage resource recovery, and support advanced technical initiatives.
Our Institutional Partners & Sponsors
Government Agencies
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), National Science Foundation (NSF), NASA, Louisiana Board of Regents, Louisiana Department of Natural Resources
Industry Leaders
Chevron, Cleco, Coastal Chemicals, Northstar Resources
Student Design & Global Engagement
In partnership with academic departments across campus, the EIL sponsors elite student technical design competitions, funds student delegations to prominent international energy forums, and regularly hosts visiting scholars from international research centers.
American Institute of Chemical Engineers Annual Meeting
Four chemical engineering students at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette are among the best in the world at ensuring refineries are safer, placing third in ChemEsports competition to reduce hazards inside a simulated environment for separating potentially combustible chemicals.
UL Lafayette Representative Team:
- Ashton Castete – Chemical Engineering
- Gavan Courville – Chemical Engineering
- Matthew Ronkartz – Chemical Engineering
- Drew Sikat – Chemical Engineering
Monaco Solar & Energy Boat Competition
A solar-powered boat designed and built by a five-member University of Louisiana at Lafayette mechanical engineering team. The Southern Solar team became the first from the U.S. to land a berth in the Monaco Energy Boat Challenge. Their special award highlights the team's remarkable ability to make a splash in the competitive maritime innovation landscape, despite being newcomers to the esteemed challenge.
UL Lafayette Representative Team:
- Brennan Guarisco – Mechanical Engineering
- Jordan Smith – Mechanical Engineering
- Taylor Thistlehtwaite – Mechanical Engineering
- Claire Werther – Mechanical Engineering
- Lelia Deville – Mechanical Engineering
American Institute of Chemical Engineers Annual Meeting
Four chemical engineering students pooled their talents to win an international contest to reduce hazards inside a simulated environment for separating potentially combustible chemicals.
UL Lafayette Representative Team:
- David Shoemaker – Chemical Engineering
- Anh Tran – Chemical Engineering
- Matthew Crawford – Chemical Engineering
- Paul Robicheaux – Chemical Engineering
IADC World Drilling
Three UL Lafayette Petroleum Engineering Students were sponsored by the International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC) to attend the 2019 IADC World Drilling and Conference and Exhibition in Milan, Italy on June 19-20, 2019.
UL Lafayette Representative Team:
- Wilson Salgado – Petroleum Engineering
- Allison Morency – Petroleum Engineering
- Omaima Boukadi – Petroleum Engineering
Vertech City Project Competition
An EIL-sponsored interdisciplinary student team captured top international honors for their project, "Sewage-to-Wattage: Demonstrating the Feedstock Potential of Waste Residuals as Renewable Chemicals and Fuels." The research pioneered sustainable avenues for biological resource recovery and biochar integration within municipal wastewater frameworks.
UL Lafayette Representative Team:
- Gabriela Barlabe – B.I.O.S. / Business
- Ashley Mikolajczyk – Chemical Engineering
- Dhan Lord Fortela – Chemical Engineering
- Jorge Belgodere – Chemical Engineering
Petrobowl
A team of University of Louisiana at Lafayette petroleum engineering students placed first in North America and second in the world in the international PetroBowl Championship held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
UL Lafayette Representative Team:
- Brandon Salazar – Petroleum Engineering
- Benjamin Como – Petroleum Engineering
- Gordon Guillory – Petroleum Engineering
- Stephen Au – Petroleum Engineering
- Nicholas Jarrett – Petroleum Engineering