미국 환경보호청(EPA)는 지속가능한 제품과 전략을 개발하기 위해 제안된 P3(People, Prosperity and the Planet) 프로그램에 대해 38개 대학생 팀에게 보조금을 지급하고 있다.

 

“올해의 P3팀은 우리의 가장 시급한 환경 및 공중보건 문제 중 일부를 해결하는 연구 프로젝트를 수행하고 있다”며 EPA 연구개발소 과학의 부관리자  Thomas A. Burke 박사는 말했다. 또한 “학생들은 교실 외적인 공간에서 학습 경험을 확장해 생활에 지속가능한 혁신을 위해 흥미롭고 새로운 아이디어를 창출하는 기회를 얻는다”고 덧붙였다.

 

보조금의 일부는 물 관련 프로젝트에 수여되었으며, 각 팀은 프로젝트에 대한 제안을 실현하기 위해 1만5천 달러까지 보조금을 받게 된다.

 

 

 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded a grants to 38 university student teams for proposed projects to develop new, sustainable products and strategies through the People, Prosperity and the Planet (P3) program.

 

“This year’s P3 teams have created innovative research projects that tackle some of our most pressing environmental and public health challenges,” said Dr. Thomas A. Burke, EPA’s Science Advisor and Deputy Assistant Administrator of EPA’s Office of Research and Development. “These students have the opportunity to bring their exciting new ideas for innovation in sustainability to life, by expanding their learning experience beyond the classroom.”

 

Several of the grants were awarded to projects related to water. Each team will receive up to $15,000 for their proposals.

 

 At Mississippi State University (MSU) in Starkville, Miss., led by principal investigator Dr. Veera Gnaneswar Gude, students will use the grant funds to develop a low-cost desalination process for rural and coastal communities. The team will refine an existing, novel low-temperature thermal desalination system MSU developed which operates under natural vacuum using process waste heat and solar collectors. Use of renewable energy sources, particularly solar, to drive desalination can be a sustainable and affordable approach to reclaim potable water from seawater and brackish waters.

 

At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), led by principal investigator Mark D. Sobsey, the UNC team will use the grant funds to develop a simple, self-contained, low-cost and portable test for cholera in drinking water. An estimated 1.4 billion people worldwide are at risk of cholera, the disease caused by the bacterium V. cholerae. Effective disease control depends on timely detection of the bacteria in drinking water. An existing compartment bag test (CBT) uses a multi-chambered plastic bag and a chromogenic medium “test bud” to detect and quantify E. coli bacteria in water. The team proposes to adapt the CBT system to detect and quantify V. cholerae bacteria in water using the same principles and similar technologies as now used to detect E. coli.

 

Funding for the P3 competition is divided into two phases. Teams selected for Phase I awards receive grants of up to $15,000 to fund the development of their projects, which are then showcased at the National Sustainable Design Expo in the spring. Following the Expo, P3 teams compete for Phase II awards of up to $75,000 to further develop their designs and potentially bring them to the marketplace.

 

[출처 = Water World / 2016년 2월 25일]