Tau Technical Communications was founded by Dawn Santoianni, an engineering professional who has produced scientific documents for congressional, academic, corporate, and public audiences over the the past two decades. Dawn has leveraged her engineering knowledge and analytical skills to edit regulatory compliance documents, write technical reports, conduct economic assessments, produce white papers, develop quality assurance plans, and design technical proposals. View Dawn’s Resume. Portfolio items are roughly listed by completion date, and most items are in the public domain. If you would like to see further credentials, or want to view an actual piece, please contact Dawn.

Original Written Content:

Dawn was invited by the editors of Scientific American to provide commentary on the technological challenges of reducing reliance on coal power and integrating renewable energy sources into the U.S. electric grid. The intent of the piece was to inform readers of the evolution of the nation’s generating fleet and transmission system. The Backbone of the Electric System: A Legacy of Coal and the Challenge of Renewables was published on May 17, 2012. Read it here.

Dawn wrote about microgrid technology for Scientific American’s Plugged In blog, including the economic and regulatory obstacles to adoption. Are Microgrids the Key to Energy Security? was published on December 18, 2012. Read it here.

Dawn also reviewed potential waste-to-energy (WTE) technology game-changers for Scientific American. Innovation Cleans Up Waste-to-Energy was published on August 1, 2012. Read it here.

Dawn was invited by American Coal Magazine to provide commentary on coal power and the implications of low natural gas prices and technological possibilities. Is There a Future for Coal Power was published in the fall issue. Read it here.

Proposal Design:

Dawn designed and produced a successful proposal to the world’s leading entertainment and eCommerce company on behalf of a local entertainment venue. The client had no content or qualifications developed prior to initiating the project, so Dawn interviewed the management team and wrote content for the proposal. The proposal included technical data, demographic data, management profiles, and featured modern design with numerous full-color images on every page.

Executive Report:

Dawn helped prepare an executive report that was sent to members of Congress for consideration during the crafting of new legislation. It was important to the client that the report conveyed pertinent analysis methodology but presented key findings in a visually appealing format. The report was used as a reference by Congressional leaders during Committee markup on the proposed legislation.

Congressional Testimony:

Dawn testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy on April 14, 2011. The hearing focused on H.R. 1391, a bill to prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating fossil fuel combustion waste under subtitle C of the Solid Waste Disposal Act. Click on the link above to watch the webcast.
Dawn’s testimony starts at time 1:48:00.

Technical Report:

Dawn was a principal investigator and author on a technical report used for formal comment to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on a proposed environmental regulation.  The report, Cost Analysis of Proposed National Regulation of Coal Combustion Residuals from the Electric Generating Industry 1022296, follows the client’s standard formatting and style.

Technical Paper and Presentation:

Dawn presented a technical paper on the economic impacts of coal combustion residuals regulation at the World of Coal Ash conference on May 10th, 2011.  The presentation laid out the analytical methodology used to calculate compliance costs for each power plant.

White Paper:

A white paper on the technical and regulatory barriers to utility-scale electricity derived from animal waste was presented by Dawn at the Energy, Utility, & Environment Conference (EUEC) in February 2008 and published in the conference proceedings journal.

Select Journal Publications:

Yoo, J.I., T. Shinagawa, J.P. Wood, W.P. Linak, D.A. Santoianni, C.J. King, Y.C. Seo, and J.O.L. Wendt.  2005.  “High Temperature Sorption of Cesium and Strontium on Kaolinite Powders in Combustors.”  Environmental Science & Technology 39: 5087–5094.

Lemieux, P.M., C.C. Lutes, and D.A. Santoianni.  2004.  “Emissions of Organic Air Toxics from Open Burning:  A Comprehensive Review.”  Progress in Energy and Combustion Science 30(1): 1–32.

Linak, W.P., C.A. Miller, D.A. Santoianni, C.J. King, T. Shinagawa, J.O.L. Wendt, J.I. Yoo, and Y.C. Seo.  2004.  “High Temperature Interactions between Residual Oil Ash and Dispersed Kaolinite Powders.”  Aerosol Science & Technology 38: 1–14.

Linak, W.P., C.A. Miller, D.A. Santoianni, C.J. King, T. Shinagawa, J.O.L. Wendt, J.I. Yoo, and Y.C. Seo. 2003. “Formation of Fine Particles from Residual Oil Combustion: Reducing Nuclei through the Addition of Inorganic Sorbent.” Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering 20(4):664–669.

Santoianni, D.A., M.E. DeCroix, and W.L. Roberts.  2001.  “Temperature Imaging in an Unsteady Propane-Air Counterflow Diffusion Flame Subjected to Low Frequency Oscillations.”  Flow, Turbulence and Combustion 66(1): 23–36.