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March Press 16 2009 Northwestern Students Receive $10,000 Prizes from the Dow Sustainability Innovation Challenge The Northwestern Institute for Sustainable Practices announced today that two individuals and one team will each receive $10,000 prizes from the Dow Sustainability Innovation Challenge in recognition of their research contributing to global sustainability. The Dow Sustainability Challenge is a new initiative to recognize exceptional work by students who are engaged in ongoing scientific, technical or social research to develop innovative, interdisciplinary approaches to meet human needs while also protecting the environment, promoting economic growth and achieving social welfare, now and into the future. The winners of the $10,000 prizes are: Can Bayram, for his work to develop highly energy efficient green light emitting diodes, under the supervision of Professor Manijeh Razeghi; Cynthia Pierre, for her work to improve the recycling of PET by transforming linear PET to lightly branched PET using an innovative, scalable, mechanochemical process, under the supervision of Professor John M. Torkelson; and, Zachary Lindemann, Yann Manibog, Eric West and SuelynYu, for their initiative to develop mini wind turbine kits that, in combination with solar units, will provide clean, renewable, off-the-grid energy in developing nations, under the supervision of Professor Walter Herbst. Northwestern prize winners join prize winners from five other universities Cambridge, Peking, Tufts, Michigan and Sao Paolo - that are also part of the Dow Sustainability Innovation Student Challenge. Noting that 34 Northwestern students submitted applications for the Dow Prize, Professor Kimberly Gray stated, "I'm thrilled that the Northwestern Institute for Sustainable Practices is able to feature on a global stage the extraordinary on work sustainability at Northwestern University. We are grateful to the Dow Chemical Company Foundation for partnering with us in this international effort to promote sustainability." Professor Gray directs the Northwestern Institute for Sustainable Practices along with Professor David Dana. The Dow Chemical Company Foundation initiated the Sustainability Innovation Student Challenge this year. Eligible areas of research include sustainable chemistry, energy efficiency and conservation, reducing climate change impact, life cycle product safety, and sustainable freshwater supply and distribution.
Dr. Neil Hawkins, Vice President of Sustainability for the Dow Chemical Company, said, "Dow is delighted to work with NiSP to promote sustainability, and we join NiSP in congratulating the winners and thanking all the entrants to this year's Challenge. We are very excited by the vibrant work in sustainability that we see at Northwestern. The Dow Sustainable Innovation Student Challenge underscores our commitment to stimulating, encouraging, and training the next generation of sustainabil...