Columbia Green Roof Research Consortium Receives NSF Grant
Columbia's seven green roofs are part of the first ever green roof research center in New York City. An interdisciplinary team including researchers from the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory, NASA's Center for Climate Systems Research, and the Urban Design Lab, with substantial support from the Office of Environmental Stewardship, make up the team.
Engineers Without Borders Win Prestigious Competition
Date: April 22, 2009
Engineers Without Borders Win Prestigious Competition
Columbia University's Engineers Without Borders Uganda Program has won one of the Environmental Protection Agency's most prestigious student awards after spending a weekend in Washington, D.C. giving poster presentations and meeting with judges.
The group based its winning proposal on work accomplished through a $10,000 EPA grant received last fall, called the Multifunction Energy Platform (MFP) Pilot or Phase I Award. The purpose of this award, given to only 43 teams across the country, was to develop a sustainable technology designed for the EPA's People, Prosperity and the Planet - or P3 - Award.
Collaborating with several Ugandan organizations and institutions of higher learning, the EWB has accomplished this mandate by developing the means for agricultural equipment in this poverty-stricken country to operate using locally grown, non-edible oil from the jatropha plant.
Last weekend, Columbia's EWB moved to the next - or P3 - step, with their proposal titled Multifunction Energy Platform (MFP) and Jatropha Program. It included continued attention to cultivation and responsible use of the valuable jatropha plant, increased pilot MFP projects in the region, ongoing MFP design development, and additional educational and monitoring programs.
Members of Columbia's team are Matt Basinger, Janelle Heslop, Sara Del Fierro, Jennifer Wang, Jim Wang, Lacey Gleason, Watue Sowaprux, Christen Soden, Yasir Diab and Alison Ferris. The team leader is Vijay Modi, Professor of Mechanical Engineering; del Fierro and Heslop are the student leaders.
Representatives of The American Association for the Advancement of Science judged the competition. The EPA then chose five winners who will receive up to $75,000 to continue their work.
For a demonstration by Matt Basinger of the technology involved in working with jatropha and other plant oils, watch the video "Earth and Environmental Engineering: Biodiesel Project" on the Environmental Stewardship homepage.