Students in the Spotlight

  • Interdisciplinary Ph.D. Student, Anna Demeo Plans to Use Smart Energy Monitor in Schools

    Posted February 12, 2012

     

    Smart grid research by a University of Maine doctoral student is helping grade school educators learn about energy and how to conserve it in their schools and homes.

    Interdisciplinary Ph.D. candidate Anna Demeo, a physics instructor at College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, helped develop the prototype of the Smart Energy monitor with funds from the Maine Space Grant Consortium. She and her COA colleague David Feldman received a $95,000 grant in 2010 for smart grid research and energy education. Demeo is completing her doctorate in ocean engineering at UMaine.

    A central focus of Demeo’s research is monitoring energy consumption and production on Roque Island in Washington County, Maine, where there are several year-round homes and a farm. Among other findings, the Smart Energy prototype there revealed a persistently high reading on one circuit, helping to identify a pump that was running continuously.  As the island moves toward using more renewable electricity, such as solar, Demeo will use the Savant Energy system to turn on and off appliances to reduce demand when production is low and increase demand when there is a surplus. The goal is for the island to decrease reliance on an underwater cable that carries electricity from the mainland and ultimately to become energy-independent.  For the full UMaine News story, please click here. 

  • Master of Arts in Liberal Studies Student, David Slagger First Maliseet Representative for M

    Posted January 5, 2012

    David Slagger, a Masters of Arts in Liberal Studies student  was recently featured in a Maine Public Broadcasting Network story as the first Maliseet Tribal Representative in Maine history to be appointed to the Maine House of Representatives 125th Legislature. Slagger is a member of the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians who also has connections to the Aroostook band of the Mi’kmaq Indian nation and the Woodstock First Nation (Maliseet) in Canada.  Slagger said as a new member of the legislature, he will initially be mostly watching, listening, and getting to know his colleagues.

    Slagger is seen at left shaking hands with Governor Paul LePage.  Photo courtesy of Joe Phelan of the Portland Press Herald.

  • Marine Biology Ph.D. Student, Dan DenDanto Featured in BDN - Reassembling Whale Bones

    Posted January 5, 2012

    A Doctor of Philosophy in Marine Biology student, Dan DenDanto was recently featured in a Bangor Daily News story for his work reassembling the skeleton of “Stumpy” an adult female Northern Right Whale who was struck by a large ship in 2004.  DenDanto works as a carpenter and whale researcher, who accumulates whale bones and then reassembles the skeletons for museums such as the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh, where “Stumpy” is slated to be delivered sometime in mid-January.  DenDanto also works as a research assistant at the College of the Atlantic’s non-profit organization Allied Whale.

  • M.S. in Mechanical Engineering Alum Featured in BDN as Successful Business Owner

    Posted January 1, 2012

    A Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering alumni, Ryan Beaumont is the owner and founder of R. M. Beaumont Corp in Brunswick, ME which was recently featured in The Bangor Daily News as a result of his success in the green energy technology field and his ability to run a successful business in Maine.  Beaumont has been involved in testing off shore wind turbines, experimental tidal energy projects, and has contracted for the paper industry all over the state. Beaumont attributes his success to his firm’s combined computer programming and mechanical engineering skills and small size. “I was tempted to go somewhere else and say maybe I’ll retire back to Maine someday,” Beaumont says, “But my wife and I have decided that we won’t find the same quality of life anywhere else that we have in Maine.” For the full Bangor Daily News story click here.  Beaumont is pictured above (right) working in the field in Eastport for ORPC.

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