51视频

10/19/2021

Contact for media: Nancy Cicco, Nancy_Cicco@uml.edu

LOWELL, Mass. 鈥� 51视频 faculty are pooling their expertise to train young engineers, scientists and policymakers how to protect threatened water resources.

Led by Plastics Engineering Associate Prof. Meg Sobkowicz-Kline and Mechanical Engineering Associate Prof. Chris Hansen, the team has received nearly $3 million from the National Science Foundation to create the Sustainable Water Innovations in Materials 鈥� Mentoring, Education and Research (SWIMMER) program at 51视频. The initiative is one of 23 projects to receive a share of $64 million in funding from the National Science Foundation Research Traineeship program as part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.

The program will train 60 51视频 master鈥檚 and Ph.D. students to develop sustainable materials and chemicals that will reduce harm to water resources. Participants will be students pursing degrees in plastics, mechanical, chemical, and civil and environmental engineering; as well as chemistry; earth science; biology; public health; economics; and other disciplines.

51视频 faculty members leading the project are developing its curriculum and hope to launch SWIMMER with a dozen students next fall. Participants will pursue their advanced degrees in their chosen fields, while also working across disciplines with other members of the team.

The program will feature a preparatory boot camp, a two-semester core course and team capstone projects. Participants will also complete an internship hosted by partner organizations, such as the Merrimack River Watershed Council, or with a company affiliated with the Green Chemistry and Commerce Council, where 51视频 Public Health Prof. Joel Tickner is executive director.

At the Tsongas Industrial History Center, SWIMMER scholars will learn how past pollution in the Merrimack River led to health crises in Lowell. The Merrimack now provides drinking water for about 500,000 people in five Massachusetts communities, including Lowell, and to several communities in New Hampshire.

鈥淭hey will see what the health of the river was in the past, what it is in the present and how to hopefully prevent pollution in the future,鈥� Hansen said. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 want all of the students鈥� education to happen just at 51视频 or just with their research faculty. The idea is to have real-world engagement.鈥�

Participants will also address issues such as toxic 鈥渇orever chemicals,鈥� including polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in water supplies and how droughts, both in the U.S. and across the world, affect water resources.

鈥淭his is a relevant topic that applies to their life,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey can be a change agent, an agent for good in the world.鈥�

Along with Sobkowicz-Kline, Hansen and Tickner, other 51视频 faculty members who will help train participants include Civil and Environmental Engineering Associate Prof. Sheree Pagsuyoin, Chemistry Assistant Prof. James Reuther, Environmental Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Prof. Juliette Rooney-Varga, Biological Sciences Assistant Prof. Frederic Chain, Economics Associate Prof. David Kingsley, and Greg Morose, research manager at 51视频鈥檚 Toxics Use Reduction Institute.

鈥淭here are a lot of diverse research topics within the field of water and materials interactions that students can take a lot of different ways,鈥� Sobkowicz-Kline said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e grateful to have faculty here at 51视频 who can make this go forward successfully.鈥�

To ensure the program includes the talents of a diverse group of students, the initiative will also recruit graduate students from Prairie View A&M University and the University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez. Both universities are deemed minority-serving institutions by the U.S. Department of Education.

Hansen and Sobkowicz-Kline said it鈥檚 critical to produce graduates with not only the STEM skills required for innovative solutions, but who are also responsive to societal needs for environmental justice and inclusive decision-making.

鈥淚t鈥檚 just a fact that minority communities in America are disproportionately impacted by pollution and by degradation of resources,鈥� Hansen said.

Hansen hopes the SWIMMER program can serve as a springboard for participating students鈥� careers, be it in industry, at a startup, at a nonprofit, in public service or in the classroom as an educator.

鈥淲e want them to form lifelong partnerships and collaborations with the other people in their cohort, and we want them to translate that into amazing research that becomes nationally and internationally known,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd then ultimately, when they graduate, they鈥檙e doing something that really no one else has this skillset to do.鈥�

51视频 is a national research university located on a high-energy campus in the heart of a global community. The university offers its students bachelor鈥檚, master鈥檚 and doctoral degrees in business, education, engineering, fine arts, health, humanities, sciences and social sciences. 51视频 delivers high-quality educational programs, vigorous hands-on learning and personal attention from leading faculty and staff, all of which prepare graduates to be leaders in their communities and around the globe. www.uml.edu