The goal of this resource within the engineering school
and the college of arts and sciences is to take a comprehensive, interdisciplinary
view of environmental management, developing the technology and materials to enable
government and industry to respond to these issues in a cost-effective and efficient
way.
Since 1993, the IBM Environmental Research Program has awarded over $1.4
M to establish and build the Computational Laboratory for Environmental Biotechnology,
devoted to the quantification, simulation, and design of in situ bioremediation
processes--a powerful, cost-effective technology for restoring contaminated sites
by exploiting the natural degradative and migratory abilities of bacteria
The
engineering school also participates in the Program for Interdisciplinary Research
in Contaminant Hydrogeology, which enables Environmental Sciences, Chemical Engineering,
and Civil Engineering graduate students to participate in an NSF-supported Graduate
Traineeship Program and to study fundamental and applied problems associated with
chemical contamination of the subsurface environment. This program has been supplemented
with support from the university's Academic Enhancement Program.
The Environmentally
Conscious Chemical Manufacturing Program within the Chemical Engineering Department
has received support from NSF and the university's Academic Enhancement Program.
This program is engaged in groundbreaking research to provide industry with cost-effective,
nonpolluting alternatives to traditional catalysts and solvents.
The engineering
school's Center for Risk Management develops theory and methodology for the assessment
of risk in a variety of civilian, defense, water resources, and other engineering
systems. Applications of the center's work include: environmental impact, hazardous
waste, groundwater; water resources, inland navigation, water distribution, and
civil infrastructure.
