| Overall Rating | Silver - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 63.61 |
| Liaison | Greg Kozak |
| Submission Date | March 3, 2017 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
Northwestern University
AC-9: Academic Research
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
3.75 / 12.00 |
William
Bach Project Manager Facilities Management - SustainNU |
Number of the institution’s faculty and/or staff engaged in sustainability research:
Total number of the institution’s faculty and/or staff engaged in research:
Number of academic departments (or the equivalent) that include at least one faculty or staff member that conducts sustainability research:
The total number of academic departments (or the equivalent) that conduct research:
A copy of the sustainability research inventory that includes the names and department affiliations of faculty and staff engaged in sustainability research:
Names and department affiliations of faculty and staff engaged in sustainability research:
A brief description of the methodology the institution followed to complete the research inventory:
The Institute for Energy and Sustainability at Northwestern and the Office for Sponsored Research maintain an inventory of sustainability and energy related research underway. To supplement these inventories, we looked on department websites to find descriptions of faculty research areas. The office for research maintains information on the total research efforts within the university.
A brief description of notable accomplishments during the previous three years by faculty and/or staff engaged in sustainability research:
Northwestern University, its Institute for Sustainability and Energy at Northwestern (ISEN), and Exelon Corporation announced today the formation of a five-year strategic research partnership focused on clean energy innovation. The Northwestern-Exelon Master Research Agreement will provide for an initial five-year period of research around a robust project portfolio, including grid management and resilience, energy storage and renewable technologies. The partnership is designed to streamline the process for evaluating, testing and scaling scientific discoveries made in Northwestern labs for commercial use. Discoveries in research could have immediate and tangible implications on the way energy is produced, transmitted and consumed in the United States.
<http://isen.northwestern.edu/northwestern-university-and-exelon-establish-partnership-for-clean-energy-innovation>
John M. Torkelson, a Walter P. Murphy Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering and the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Northwestern University, has found a solution to a common problem with rubber: it can’t be recycled. Torkelson and two of his Ph.D. students, Kailong Jin (Chem. Eng. ’17) and Lingqiao Li (Chem. Eng. ’19) have developed a simple, one-step strategy to solve this problem by modifying the way in which the polymers in rubber are linked. The research, supported by the McCormick Research Catalyst Awards Fund at Northwestern University and by discretionary funds associated with Torkelson’s Walter P. Murphy Professorship, will be detailed in an upcoming issue of Advanced Materials, and is currently available online as an early view article.
<http://isen.northwestern.edu/reinventing-the-wheel-northwestern-researchers-develop-recyclable-rubber>
In recent years, a class of highly absorbent, nanoporous materials called metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have emerged as a promising material for carbon capture in power plants. But finding the optimal MOF to do the best job is another story. Randall Q. Snurr, who is the John G. Searle Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering, and his group have discovered a way to rapidly identify top candidates for carbon capture — using just 1 percent of the computational effort that was previously required. By applying a genetic algorithm, they rapidly searched through a database of 55,000 MOFs.
<http://isen.northwestern.edu/finding-ideal-materials-for-carbon-capture>
Numerous other research teams and faculty are also focusing on sustainability in their research, notably exploring sustainable/renewable energy and storage solutions, solar cell development, and our entry into the 2017 U.S. DOE Solar Decathlon competition. Additional articles on these and other sustainability accomplishments at Northwestern University can be found on the ISEN news page at the following link: <http://isen.northwestern.edu/news>
The website URL where information about sustainability research is available:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.