Spitler selected for Fulbright honor

Oklahoma State University Regents Professor Jeffery Spitler has been selected for a prestigious Fulbright award to work with his counterparts in Sweden in advancing geothermal technology starting this summer.

Spitler, mechanical and aerospace engineering professor, adviser and researcher in the College of Architecture, Engineering and Technology, was selected for this honor based on his research on the performance and emissions of geothermal heat pumps as an alternative energy source.

Spitler will serve as the 2014-2014 Fulbright Distinguished Chair of Alternative Energy Technology at Chalmers University of Technology during his yearlong stay in Gothenburg, Sweden. This opportunity will allow him to collaborate with colleagues in Sweden while on sabbatical leave from OSU.

Spitler is one of only 37 Fulbright Distinguished Chairs worldwide who were selected following a rigorous application process and review by national and international Fulbright Commission panels.

“I am looking forward to gaining a better understanding of this process and developing different perspectives on current and future models, especially considering my previous work with Swedish researchers and the advancement of geothermal heat pump technology in that country,” Spitler said. 

Signhild Gehlin, one of Spitler’s colleagues from the Swedish Centre for Shallow Geothermal Energy, is pleased to have the opportunity to work with him.

“Sweden already has a strong position within this field, and the collaboration with Professor Spitler will be of great importance to further development of ground source heat pump technology in Sweden as well as in the USA,” Gehlin said.

Spitler has been a faculty member at OSU since 1990 and is the recipient of several national and international awards and grants.

The Fulbright Program was established by the U.S. Congress in 1946 after being introduced by Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas. More than 8,000 grants are awarded to students, teachers and professionals each year. 

Story by Kaitlin Loyd