2026 ERC EARTH Spring Summit

A collaborative working summit convening industry leaders, academic researchers, national laboratories, policy and regulatory experts, and key stakeholders to accelerate innovation, translate research into real-world impact, and shape the future of next-generation cooling.

The Environmentally Applied Refrigerant Technology Hub (EARTH)—a National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center focused on developing a circular refrigerant economy—will host the 2026 ERC EARTH Spring Summit at the University of Notre Dame March 11-13, 2026.

EARTH is excited to welcome you—leaders from industry, academia, national laboratories, and policy—to engage directly with EARTH’s leadership, faculty, students, and staff across its six core partner institutions and three affiliated universities in interactive, collaboration-driven sessions that will:

Contribute to policy and regulatory strategies that align innovation with evolving atmospheric, safety, and efficiency standards
Influence EARTH priorities and long-term strategy
Evaluate research progress and technology readiness across the EARTH portfolio
Identify partnership opportunities that move innovations from lab to market

We warmly invite you to the University of Notre Dame this March as we unite innovators, experts, and leaders to shape the future of low‑atmospheric‑impact cooling and systems.

Please register to attend below—all are welcome, and we’re excited to come together for this inspiring gathering.

Venue

McKenna Hall – University of Notre Dame
2026 ERC EARTH Spring Summit will take place at the McKenna Hall Conference Center at the University of Notre Dame, conveniently located in the heart of campus and connected to the Morris Inn.

Address:
115 McKenna Hall
University of Notre Dame
Notre Dame, IN 46556

McKenna Hall

Submit Registration

Closed Session Registration
For EARTH Faculty, Students, Staff, Scientific Advisory or Community Leaders Board Members, Industrial Consortium Members, and National Laboratory partners.
Closed Session registrants can attend all sessions — both Closed and Open.

Open Session Registration
Open Sessions are open to all guests including Professional Organizations, Stakeholders, Policy and Industry Leaders, and other invited guests.
Open Session registrants can attend Open Sessions only.

Important:
One registration applies for the entire summit.

Closed Session Registration Closed Session Registration

Open Session Registration Open Session Registration

Event Schedule
2026 ERC EARTH SPRING SUMMIT AGENDA
Wednesday, March 11 CLOSED SESSION McKenna Hall Conference Center
7:30 – 9:30 PM	ERC EARTH Spring Summit Welcome Reception	215/216
Thursday, March 12 CLOSED SESSION McKenna Hall Conference Center
7:30 – 8:15 AM	Breakfast	Pre-Function 215/216
DATE: Thursday, March 12 TIMES: 8:00 AM–2:00 PM 3:45–5:45 PM 7:15–8:30 PM
8:15 – 8:25 AM	Notre Dame Welcome – Mark McCready, Professor and Senior Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Affairs, College of Engineering, University of Notre Dame	215/216
8:25 – 8:30 AM	EARTH Welcome – Jennifer Schaefer, Sheehan Family Collegiate Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Notre Dame; Center Deputy Director	215/216
8:30 – 9:00 AM	Perfect Pitch Final Competition – Tony von Sadovszky, Innovation Officer, University of Kansas	215/216
9:00 – 9:15 AM	Break	Pre-Function 215/216
9:15 – 9:30 AM 9:30 – 9:45 AM 9:45 – 10:00 AM 10:00 – 10:25 AM	HFC Circularity Presentations and Panel · “Hierarchically Functional Polymer Membranes for HFC Separations” – Ruilan Guo, Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Notre Dame · “Zeolites for HFC Separations” – Andrew Yancey, Postdoctoral Associate (Shiflett Group), University of Kansas · “Catalyst Development for Repurposing Legacy HFCs” – Luc Mauro, Graduate Student (Vicic Group), Lehigh University Moderated Q&A – Aaron Scurto, Professor of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, University of Kansas	215/216
9:15 – 10:25 AM	Concurrent Working Session for Crosscut 2 Researchers; Role of Socio-Economic Behavior across Circular Refrigerant Economy	204
10:25 – 10:40 AM	Break	Pre-Function 215/216
10:40 – 10:55 AM 10:55 – 11:10 AM 11:10 – 11:25 AM 11:25 – 11:50 AM	Metal-Organic Supercontainers (MOSCs) Presentations and Panel · “Metal-Organic Supercontainers for Refrigerant Separation and Dehumidification” – Kriti Chitrakar, Graduate Student (Wang Group), University of South Dakota · “Understanding Water and HFC Binding in Metal-Organic Supercontainers (MOSCs) with Density Functional Theory” – Bess Vlaisavljevich, Associate Professor of Chemistry, University of Iowa · "Incorporating Metal-Organic Supercontainers in Porous Polymer Substrates" – Redemption Edegbe (Phillip Group), University of Notre Dame Moderated Q&A – Zhenqiang (Rick) Wang, Professor of Chemistry, University of South Dakota	215/216
10:40 – 11:50 AM	Concurrent Working Session for Crosscut 2 Researchers; Role of Socio-Economic Behavior across Circular Refrigerant Economy	204
11:50 – 12:50 PM	Lunch and Speaker (12:10) “Title” – Kashif Nawaz, Section Head - Building Technologies Research, Oak Ridge National Laboratory	Pre-Function 215/216
12:50 – 1:05 PM 1:05 – 1:20 PM 1:20 – 1:35 PM 1:35 – 2:00 PM	Alternative Cooling and Manufacturing Presentations and Panel · "High-Performance and Low-Cost Printed Thermoelectrics for Solid-State Cooling" – Yanliang Zhang, Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Collegiate Professor of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, University of Notre Dame · "Elastocaloric Cooling for Sustainable Refrigeration" – Boyang Liu, Graduate Student (Takeuchi Group), University of Maryland · “Elastocaloric Material Manufacturing” – Gianna Valentino, Assistant Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Maryland Moderated Q&A – Ichiro Takeuchi, Professor and Chair of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Maryland	215/216
12:50 – 2:00 PM	Concurrent Working Session for Crosscut 2 Researchers; Role of Socio-Economic Behavior across Circular Refrigerant Economy	204
2:00 – 2:15 PM	Break	Pre-Function 206/207
2:15 – 3:00 PM	Poster Session 1	206/207
3:00 – 3:45 PM	Poster Session 2	206/207
3:45 – 5:45 PM	Concurrent Sessions · Open House: Career Development Tools and Workspace · Project Meetings and Other Collaborative Discussions · Industry Advisory Board (IAB) Meeting (Closed for Board Members Only) · Science Advisory Board (SAB) Meeting (Closed for Board Members Only)	205/206 215/216 204 202
Thursday, March 12 OPEN SESSION O’Neill Hall Emcee: Jennifer Schaefer, Sheehan Family Collegiate Professor, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Notre Dame, and Center Deputy Director
6:00 – 7:00 PM 7:00 – 8:30 PM	Reception and Networking Dinner and Speaker (7:30) Jennifer Butsch, Director of Regulatory Affairs, Copeland	Foley’s
8:30 – 10:00 PM	Game Night! (Closed for Council of Students Only)	512 Duncan Student Ctr
Friday, March 13 OPEN SESSION McKenna Hall Conference Center Emcee: Jennifer Schaefer, Sheehan Family Collegiate Professor, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Notre Dame, and Center Deputy Director
7:30 – 8:20 AM	Breakfast	Pre-Function 215/216
8:00 – 8:20 AM	EARTH Overview and Industry Consortium for Prospective Industry Members – Tony von Sadovszky, Innovation Officer, University of Kansas, and Casey Williams, Industry Liaison Officer, University of Kansas	204
DATE: Friday, March 13 TIMES: 8:15 AM–1:45 PM 2:15–3:15 PM 3:30–4:00 PM
8:20 – 8:25 AM	Notre Dame Welcome – Edward Maginn, Keough-Hesburgh Professor of Engineering and Associate Vice President for Research, University of Notre Dame	215/216
8:25 – 8:40 AM 8:40 – 9:25 AM	“Introduction to the Circular Refrigerant Economy” – Mark Shiflett, Foundation Distinguished Professor, J.L. Constant Distinguished Professor, Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, University of Kansas; Center Director Panel Discussion – Moderated by Casey Williams, Industry Liaison Officer, University of Kansas · Kalin Baca, CEO & Co-Founder, Icorium Engineering Company · Steve Harrill, CEO/Owner, Chiller Services Refrigerant Recovery & Reclamation, LLC · Kate Houghton, Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Hudson Technologies · Chris Mussey, General Manager, American Refrigerants, Inc.	215/216 215/216
9:25 – 9:35 AM	Break	Pre-Function 215/216
9:35 – 10:05 AM 10:05 – 10:50 AM	“Update on Refrigerant Transitions in the HVACR Sector” – DougReindl, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison; ASHRAE Technology Council Member Panel Discussion – Moderated by Kieko Matteson, Associate Professor and Department Chair of History, University of Hawaiʻi Mānoa · Jennifer Butsch, Director of Regulatory Affairs, Copeland · Patrick Marks, American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Fellow and Engineering Manager, Johnson Controls · Doug Reindl, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison; ASHRAE Technology Council Member · Elizabeth Scheehle, Chief of Research Division, California Air Resources Board (CARB) · Samantha Slater, Vice President of Government Affairs, Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI)	215/216 215/216
10:50 – 11:00 AM	Break	Pre-Function 215/216
11:00 – 11:15 AM 11:15 – 11:30 AM 11:30 – 11:45 AM 11:45 – 12:00 PM	Atmospheric Chemistry and Modeling Presentations and Panel · "Hidden Energy Burdens: How Neglecting Refrigeration Efficiency Distorts Cooling Degree Day Estimates" – Jake Casselman, Postdoctoral Associate (Karamperidou Group), University of Hawaiʻi Mānoa · "Refrigerant Atmospheric Chemistry” – Christian Salvadore, Aerosol Science and Technology Research Staff, Oak Ridge National Laboratory · "HFC Atmospheric Decomposition Chemistry” – Allen Vincent, Graduate Student (Sun Group), University of Hawaiʻi Mānoa Moderated Q&A – Casey Williams, Industry Liaison Officer, University of Kansas	215/216
12:00 – 1:00 PM	Lunch and Networking	Pre-Function 215/216
1:00 – 1:45 PM	HVACR Workforce Development Panel Discussion – Moderated by Jennifer Sprague, Education and Outreach Director, University of Kansas · Patrick Englert, Chancellor, Ivy Tech Community College-South Bend · Ellyn Lester, Assistant Dean of Construction and Architectural Technologies, Pennsylvania College of Technology · Patrick Rouse, Vice President of Advanced Manufacturing, Engineering and Applied Sciences from Systems Administration, Ivy Tech Community College · Paul Downing, HVACR Faculty Fellow, Ivy Tech Community College-South Bend · TBD, Walmart, Inc. · TBD, Trane University · TBD, Union Representatives	215/216
1:45 – 2:00 PM	Gather for Campus Tours	Pre-Function 215/216
2:00 – 3:30 PM	Curated Campus and Laboratory Tours – Campus Highlights, McCourtney Hall East (MCH-E) and West (MCH-W)
2:00 – 3:30 PM	Raclin Murphy Museum of Art Tour – St. André Way
2:15 – 3:15 PM	Curriculum Committee Meeting (Closed for Committee Members Only)	204
3:30 – 4:00 PM	Summit Recap and Closing Remarks – Jennifer Schaefer, Sheehan Family Collegiate Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Notre Dame; Center Deputy Director, and Mark Shiflett, Foundation Distinguished Professor, J.L. Constant Distinguished Professor, Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, University of Kansas; Center Director	215/216

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