Michael B. La Marca Energy Award
The La Marca Family has endowed the Michael B. La Marca Award to support faculty research in the College of Engineering, with a preference for solar energy research.
Michael B. La Marca was a UM alumnus who worked in the solar energy sector who passed away unexpectedly at the age of 39. The La Marca family fundraises through the Annual Cycle for Michael Charity Bike Ride: https://www.givecampus.com/schools/UniversityofMichigan/4th-annual-cycle-for-michael-charity-bike-ride. The funds are intended to directly support the faculty’s clean energy research.
Current Awardee:
Andrej Lenert, an Associate Professor in Chemical Engineering, is the 2025 recipient of the Michael B. La Marca Energy Award.
Lenert’s research group focuses on understanding light-matter interactions and developing nanostructured materials that control the direction and wavelength of radiative transport, with various applications in solar energy conversion, energy storage, sustainable chemical production and infrared sensing.
Lenert intends to use this funding towards developing a proof-of-concept system for monitoring the health of individual panels in a solar farm. By deploying a system of strategically placed environmental sensors and tracking the power outputs with greater temporal resolution, this approach can create a more affordable methodology for monitoring and forecasting panel degradation.