Three university teams from EPA Midwest Region earn funding to develop sustainable technologies

Three student teams from universities in the Midwest will compete with 35 other teams from throughout the country in the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) People, Prosperity and the Planet (P3) program.

Students from the University of Kansas, Kansas State University and University of Missouri will receive $15,000 to develop innovative, sustainable technologies, which they will present at the Sustainable Design Expo this spring. The EPA will then select some P3 teams to receive further funding, of up to $75,000, to continue developing their projects.

The University of Kansas team is working to make use of the heat produced by LED lights in green buildings, which is currently wasted, while the Kansas State University team is looking to improve indoor air quality and energy efficiency through net zero energy air filtration. Students from the University of Missouri will use their funding to develop a method for monitoring water quality at hydraulic fracturing sites with molecularly imprinted porous hydrogels.

“This year’s P3 teams have created innovative research projects that tackle some of our most pressing environmental and public health challenges,” EPA Science Advisor and Research and Development Office Deputy Assistant Administrator Dr. Thomas A. Burke said. “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.”