Washington, U.S.A.  – NASA has announced the selection of 10 research efforts from the agency’s inaugural Space Technology Research Opportunities for Early Career Faculty solicitation. NASA will provide grants of as much as $200,000 per year for as long as three years in support of these faculties and their research in specific, high-priority technology areas.

The selected faculty will conduct research in areas closely aligned with NASA’s Space Technology Roadmaps and priorities identified by the National Research Council. These priorities include extending and sustaining human activities beyond low Earth orbit, exploring the evolution of the solar system and potential for life elsewhere, and expanding our understanding of Earth and the universe.

“It’s an honor to announce this outstanding group of early career faculty researchers, representing some of the most talented new faculty from the best institutions of higher learning in America,” said Michael Gazarik, director of NASA’s Space Technology Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “NASA will benefit from the work these researchers conduct in unique, disruptive or transformational space technologies or concepts, while strengthening America’s continued global leadership in the new technology economy.”

The selected Early Career Faculty researchers are:

• Chih-Hao Chang, North Carolina State University, Raleigh
• Nicolaus Correll, University of Colorado at Boulder
• Julia Greer, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
• Mary Lind, Arizona State University, Tempe
• Michele Manuel, University of Florida, Gainesville
• Jeremy Munday, University of Maryland, College Park
• Marco Pavone, Stanford University, Stanford, Calif.
• Mina Raies-Zadeh, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
• Debbie Senesky, Stanford University
• Wei-Chuan Shih, University of Houston

Newly-selected early career efforts will develop technologies to automate the production of food in space and investigate and test advanced wastewater recovery technologies. These efforts also will look to develop robust timekeeping technologies that enable more precise landing and autonomous rendezvous in space, and formulate new ultra-lightweight materials with properties that can be tailored.

NASA’s Early Career Faculty efforts are an element of the agency’s Space Technology Research Grants Program. It is designed to accelerate the development of technologies originating from academia that support the future science and exploration needs of NASA, other government agencies and the commercial space sector.

Image Courtesy of  Christopher Halloran / Shutterstock.com

The article NASA Announces Research Grants for Universities appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

Waste Management of Arizona and Arizona State University (ASU) has announced their collaborative program “Roadmap to Zero Solid Waste” that aims to eliminate 90 percent or more of ASU’s solid waste by 2015.

The program is being developed in three phases including waste assessment, roadmap development and program implementation. It includes all four ASU campuses – Tempe, West, Polytechnic and Downtown Phoenix.

Waste Management already is working with an ASU team to assess the university’s complete waste-collection processes, waste generation and material conveyance. Waste Management dedicated an on-site project manager and two student interns to provide continual guidance and direction throughout the roadmap development process, including the execution of the waste-elimination plan.

“Harnessing the expertise of the Waste Management team will enable us to properly align our resources within ASU sustainability operations to achieve our zero solid-waste strategies,” said Ray Jensen, ASU associate vice president University Business Services and university sustainability operations officer. “We are fortunate to work with Waste Management on a ‘Roadmap to Zero Solid Waste’ to keep us on track to our 2015 zero solid-waste goal.”

The objectives outlined in ASU’s current 2015 zero-waste strategy include averting 30 percent of campus solid waste from the landfill and diverting 60 percent. The ASU community can help meet aversion goals in several ways by reducing consumption.

Landfill-waste diversion includes recycling, repurposing, reusing and composting practices. Waste-related operations at each of the four ASU campuses including generation trends, collection flow, container and compactor placement, front and back of house solutions and the final waste elimination processes are key areas for solid waste diversion measures.

“Waste Management’s goal is to extract the maximum value from the waste stream, and we are a company that is truly committed to turning waste into a resource,” said Pat DeRueda, Waste Management of Arizona-New Mexico area vice president. “We are proud to work with ASU, a leader in sustainability, to help them achieve their Zero Waste initiatives.”

Waste Management has provided collection, processing, recycling and transport services of waste materials to Arizona State University since 2007.

The article Arizona State University’s Roadmap to Zero Solid Waste appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.