Syracuse Center of Excellence in Environmental and Energy Systems awards $2.1 million to researchers studying ways to improve air and water quality

Syracuse Center of Excellence in Environmental and Energy Systems awards $2.1 million to researchers studying ways to improve air and water qualityJuly 27, 2006Kelly Homan Rodoskikahoman@syr.edu

Researchers at Syracuse University and other regional academic institutions will soon begin new, groundbreaking studies aimed at improving the quality of air and water in built and urban environments thanks to $2.1 million in research grants awarded today by the Syracuse Center of Excellence in Environmental and Energy Systems (Syracuse CoE).

The Collaborative Activities for Research and Technology Innovation (CARTI) grants were awarded to projects addressing research questions associated with either air quality or water resource management, in support of the development of technology innovations for improving environmental quality. The awards are made possible through funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency secured by U.S. Rep. James T. Walsh.

A scientific advisory committee of eight nationally recognized researchers from the academic, research and scientific communities deliberated and recommended the projects for CARTI awards following a rigorous competitive process used by the National Science Foundation and USEPA for competitively awarded projects. Professor Denice Wardrop of Pennsylvania State University led the water quality members of the committee. The team of air quality experts was led by David Grimsrud, emeritus professor at the University of Minnesota, well-recognized for his more than 35 years of air quality research.

“These announced awards represent the best in air quality and water resource management research being conducted in the United States today,” says Walsh.

“I’m proud to have secured this funding to advance the mission of the Syracuse Center of Excellence in Environmental and Energy Systems and support ongoing research and education initiatives at Syracuse University, SUNY ESF, Upstate Medical, Clarkson and the University of Rochester. The Center of Excellence initiative continues to link academia and research institutions with appropriate business outlets across New York state, creating jobs, building wealth and expanding opportunity.”

“These awards will enhance the mission of our Center of Excellence by encouraging collaborations among academia, industry and business that can lead to new technologies that will improve the health and well-being of our children and our communities,” says Syracuse University Chancellor and President Nancy Cantor. “We once again thank Congressman Walsh for his leadership and vision in supporting us and our partners’ efforts to improve our communities and spur economic growth all across Central New York.”

“We’re thrilled to announce this first batch of competitively selected scientific and engineering research projects,” says Syracuse CoE Executive Director Edward Bogucz. “The Syracuse CoE academic partners are poised to advance our understanding of key issues in built and urban environment. These leading research projects will elevate the stature of Syracuse CoE and its partners among the international scientific community in our field. The projects will create great opportunities for innovations to come out of Central New York’s talented commercial and industrial enterprise.”

“The SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry is pleased to partner with the Syracuse CoE and Congressman Walsh to advance applied and innovative water resources research in Central New York,” says Cornelius B. Murphy Jr., president of SUNY ESF.

“We are pleased with the caliber of scientific research and potential innovations that will be advanced by the CARTI projects,” says R. Leland Davis, senior vice president at O’Brien and Gere and chair of the Syracuse CoE board of directors. “The industry partners of the Syracuse Center of Excellence look forward to commercializing the technology developed from this research that will help invigorate economic and job growth in our community.”

“Clarkson University is both pleased and excited that a number of our faculty have been awarded grants through the Syracuse Center of Excellence CARTI program,” says Anthony G. Collins, president of Clarkson. “The Syracuse CoE and the CARTI program in particular allow our regional universities to participate in the development of solutions to some of today’s most critical national and global environmental problems. The industrial partners within the Syracuse CoE will then have a first hand opportunity to take these solutions to the marketplace.”

The award recipients, their institutions and a brief description of their proposed research is listed below. Full abstracts on the research projects that received awards can be found on the Syracuse Center of Excellence website at http://www.syracusecoe.org.

• Goodarz Ahmadi of Clarkson University’s Department of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering, $300,000 for a two-year project to develop tools for technology innovations for creating new Intelligent Environmental Quality Systems (i-EQS) for improved health and security in indoor environments.
• Philip Borer of SU’s Department of Chemistry, $99,993 for a one-year project in biosensor development, developing a method that allows a screening platform to rapidly screen a collection of biological targets in parallel.
• Gregory Boyer of SUNY ESF’s Department of Chemistry, $299,931 for a two-year project to develop three unique water quality sensor systems for ecosystem health and the development and monitoring of remediation efforts.
• Suresh Dhaniyala of Clarkson University’s Department of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering, $100,000 for a one-year project to develop a compact, instrumented unmanned aerial vehicle for real-time, air quality characterization in urban airsheds.
• Stephen Faraone of Upstate Medical University’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, $100,000 for a one-year project examining the potential role of maternal cigarette smoking on the risk of the development of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children.
• Philip Hopke of Clarkson University’s Department of Chemical Engineering and the Center for Air Resources Engineering and Science, $99,834 for a one-year project for development leading to a prototype instrument that can be used to measure particles in exposure studies.
• Peter Jacques of Clarkson University’s Department of Biology, $100,000 for a one-year project to develop a set of measurement parameters to better estimate important exposure conditions for children riding diesel buses to school.
• Karin Limburg of SUNY ESF’s Department of Environmental and Forest Biology, $299,882 for a two-year project for further development of an integrated assessment tool that links economic activity to land use change and land use change to changes in watershed ecological condition “watershed health.”
• Yan-Yeung Luk of SU’s Department of Chemistry, $99,949 for a one-year project for the development of two mechanisms to monitor indoor air pollutants in real time using nano-structured smart surfaces.
• Dacheng Ren of SU’s Department of Biomedical and Chemical Engineering, $99,958 for one year for a preliminary study to develop a platform for studying bacteria-surface interactions and preventing biofilm formation.
• Dr. Mark Utell of the University of Rochester’s Department of Medicine, $300,000 for a two-year project to study whether ambient ultrafine particle exposures are associated with alterations in sensitive heart measures during exercise and in blood biomarkers.
• Pramod Varshney of SU’s Deparment of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, $100,000 for a one-year project to collect data with a wireless sensor network that will be used to develop new models and algorithms for improved indoor environmental quality.
• Jensen Zhang of SU’s Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, $99,999 for a one-year project to conduct simulations for various types of building envelope materials, wall assemblies and occupant activities to derive methods for minimizing the risk of mold formation in buildings.

The Syracuse Center of Excellence in Environmental and Energy Systems is a federation of more than 70 businesses, organizations, and academic and research institutions. Gov. Pataki established the Syracuse CoE in June 2002 to create jobs and wealth across the state through collaborations in research, development and education. Within the Syracuse CoE, the Environmental Quality Systems (EQS) Strategically Targeted Academic Research (STAR) Center coordinates research relating to healthy buildings and environmental quality among 12 partner academic and research institutions. The EQS STAR Center was established in May 2001 by the New York State Office of Science, Technology and Academic Research (NYSTAR).