Miles C. Barr has received the prestigious $30,000 Lemelson-MIT Student Prize for his innovative solar technologies and creativity. Barr received his Ph.D. from the Department of Chemical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2012 and a Master of Science in Chemical Engineering Practice in 2008. Barr is honored alongside the 2012 $30,000 Lemelson-MIT Collegiate Student Prize winners from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Miles Barr was an imaginative risk taker from an early age. Refusing to be constrained by the limits of any one interest area, he immersed himself in a variety of subject matters completing majors in chemical engineering, mathematics and music as an undergraduate student at Vanderbilt University. Barr’s passion for diverse influences remains at the core of his approach to invention today.
"Miles Barr is a terrific example of how not just science and math majors, but individuals with a multitude of interests can be successful inventors. We celebrate students like Miles, those with wide-ranging backgrounds who inspire creative thinking in others, with the Lemelson-MIT Student Prize," said Joshua Schuler, executive director of the Lemelson-MIT Program. "With his passion for innovation, Miles has leveraged his diverse credentials to advance solar technology in a way that could change the world."
Barr’s most recent inventive breakthrough – a pioneering approach to fabricating solar cells on a variety of everyday surfaces – could lead to widespread adoption of solar power. Barr’s approach, which enables solar cells to be printed directly on common materials like paper and textiles, could reduce the cost of solar energy by eliminating the need for specialized installation.
"There is a huge opportunity to harvest energy from the light that hits every surface around us," Barr said. "If we can take that energy and convert it into electricity without compromising the aesthetics of everyday surfaces that is extremely powerful." Developed with the support of the eni-MIT Solar Frontiers Center and professors Karen Gleason and Vladimir Bulović, Barr’s lightweight and bendable solar technology opens untapped venues for commercial applications, including wall paper, window shades, and clothing. The portability of the technology will allow for inexpensive power generation, which Barr not only hopes will increase adoption in the U.S., but help those in the developing world as well.
During his time at MIT, Barr took notice of "the great ecosystem MIT offered entrepreneurs starting commercial endeavors." Inspired by seeing the technologies of fellow students go to market and recognizing the value of his own innovations, Barr developed a commercialization plan. He co-founded Ubiquitous Energy, Inc. in 2011, a technology start-up that recently secured initial funding to develop commercial prototypes. Ubiquitous Energy is currently focused on developing new technologies to deploy solar energy harvesting capabilities in the form of products and surfaces we interact with every day.
Barr’s success has in large part been made possible by the ideals fostered in him by numerous mentors. Committed to paying it forward, Barr strives to positively contribute to society as a mentor himself and has led diverse groups of both engineers and musicians. He has mentored undergraduate and graduate researchers in his lab and has also served as the head teaching assistant for the Chemical Engineering Projects Laboratory at MIT, where he managed 40 undergraduates in semester-long projects.
"Miles is without question one of the most creative and imaginative doctoral students I have advised in my 23 years as a professor at MIT," said Karen Gleason, Barr’s advisor and professor of Chemical Engineering at MIT. "His imaginative demonstrations readily communicate the import of his research to a general audience, and are a source of inspiration to the next generation of aspiring scientists and engineers."
