Marianthi Ierapetritou, Bob and Jane Gore Centennial Chair of Chemica and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Delaware, receives $3 million in funding from the National Science Foundation.
A team of educators at the University of Delaware is aiming to create a blueprint for a more renewable manufacturing future with a $3 million grant from the National Science Foundation, according to the university.
“It’s important to educate the new generation of engineers to try to change the mentality of how we’re utilizing the limited resources we have,” says Marianthi Ierapetritou, UD’s Bob and Jane Gore Centennial Chair of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. She will lead the project as she works with Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Professors Dionisios Vlachos and Raul Lobo, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Associate Professor Hui Fang and Joseph R. Biden, Jr. School of Public Policy and Administration Assistant Professor Kalim Shah to launch the future manufacturing project in 2022.
According to the university, the goal is to thoroughly examine existing literature around renewable products and processes in manufacturing, which will help researchers synthesize existing data and identify gaps in knowledge. From there, researchers can develop a framework for examining the potential economic, environmental and market impacts of alternative products and processes, while also evaluating the realistic probability of introducing new “green” solutions into existing supply chains and consumer markets.
“The big idea here is how to better utilize available information,” Ierapetritou says. “It’s a collaboration between chemical engineering, computer science and public policy.”
Several students at the undergraduate and graduate levels in both the College of Engineering and the Biden School will participate in some of the computational work, research and design while collaborating with real-world chemical companies and with the American Institute of Chemical Engineers’s Rapid Advancement in Process Intensification Deployment (RAPID) Institute as a manufacturing partner. The project’s funding is expected to span four years.
For more information, visit: www.udel.edu