With the support of the Chemistry of Life Processes (CLP) Program in the Division of Chemistry, Professors Michael Therien and David Beratan of Duke University and William DeGrado of University of California San Francisco are studying new approaches to design materials that direct, store, and release energy. Biology has developed numerous designs that carry out these functions; chemists, however, have yet to create energy harvesting, storage, and release systems from scratch that possess the sophistication of those seen in nature. Recent advances in protein design enable chemists to construct large molecules that capture and manage the flow of positive charges, negative charges, and energy. By designing protein-based materials that migrate and collect charges and energy, unique optical, electrical, and chemical functions will be realized. The experimental procedures used in this effort provide new tools to build proteins having innovative designed functions. This pursuit allow graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to acquire specialized training in synthetic chemistry, protein design, protein biochemistry, modern computational methods, and techniques to monitor fast processes that move charge and energy. The protein design methods developed are broadly applicable and enable construction of new biologically inspired materials that carry out novel functions not seen in nature. Outreach activities of this project introduce college and pre-college students to important new t