9th Annual P3 Grant Recipients

Phase I | Phase II

9th Annual - Phase I Recipients: A National Student Design Competition for Sustainability Focusing on People, Prosperity, and the Planet

Institution EPA Grant Number Project Title Project Description
California State Polytechnic University - Pomona  SU835339 Capturing CO2 with MgO Aerogels California State Polytechnic University students are developing a new technology to capture CO2, a greenhouse gas contributing to climate change.
College of the Atlantic SU835304 Novel Co-Culture Process for Pretreatment of Food Waste for Alcohol Fuel Synthesis and Methanogenesis Food waste, the single-largest component of all waste in the United States, is not valued as a reusable resource.
Cornell University SU835307 AguaClara Stacked Rapid Sand Filtration – A Robust Filtration Process For Sustainable Drinking Water Infrastructure Suitable drinking water is a critical need world-wide, and fresh water is the limiting resource on the planet for the foreseeable future.
Cornell University SU835323 Fiber Optic Hybrid Lighting One of the characteristics that people look for in a green building is access to natural sunlight.
Cornell University SU835341 Pyrolytic Cookstoves and Biochar Production in Kenya: Today’s cooking methods in the developing world cause substantial greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation and diseases.
Dartmouth College SU835298 Small-scale hydropower generation and distribution system for rural electrification Dartmouth College students have designed a system that supplies power from a waterfall to rural Rwandan villages via a battery rental business.
East Central University SU835300 Making a Solid State Organic Photovoltaic Cell More Efficient and Economically Beneficial While solar power offers an attractive alternative to fossil fuels, the technology is expensive for people to use.  
Embry - Riddle Aeronautical University SU835301 Design and Test of a Solar Thermal Energy Storage and Delivery Storing heat from the sun is useful for both developed and developing nations.
Georgia Southern University Research & Service Fdn.,Inc. SU835302 Low Temperature Combustion with Reduced PM and NOx Emissions, Achieved  by n-Butanol in-Port Injected in an Omnivorous Diesel Engine Although fuel efficient, diesel engines continue to contribute air pollutants in urban areas.
James Madison University SU835319 Producing Biochar on Small Farms to Enhance Soil Fertility and Provide Heat The Chesapeake Bay watershed, which stretches from New York to southern Virginia, is threatened by nutrients running off farms into tributaries.
Johns Hopkins University SU835318 Integration of Waste Treatment with Algal Cultivation for Sustainable Aquaculture Feed and Renewable Biofuel Production A challenge to effective wastewater treatment is removal of excessive nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus.
Johns Hopkins University SU835337 Sustainable Irrigation in Rural South Africa: Studying the Alcock Ram Pump System for Optimized Manufacture and Reproducibility In rural communities in the developing world, women and children can spend hours each day hauling water for drinking and watering crops.
Loyola University of Chicago SU835314 A Sustainable and Interdisciplinary Solution to Biodiesel Production Wastewater    Building on the success of the school’s 2008 P3 Biodiesel project, students at Loyola University of Chicago are designing a unique green process to treat byproducts of biodiesel production.
Lynn University SU835309 From Grey Water to Drinking Water Lynn University students are designing a home water treatment system by improving on a standard cistern.
Manhattan College SU835310 A Solar-powered, Sustainable, Hybrid Electrodialysis/Reverse Osmosis Desalination System  The lack of clean drinking water is one of the most significant health issues in many countries around the world.
Michigan Technological University SU835315 Design Guidance for Healthier Cooking Environments  There is a growing international effort to improve adoption of clean cookstoves in the developing world.
Michigan Technological University SU835324 Treatment and Generation of Useful Products from Aluminum Extraction Waste Materials The process for extracting "virgin" aluminum produces a highly toxic waste called "red mud".
Navajo Technical College SU835335 Designing a Low Cost Solar Oven for Rural Native American Communities Navajo Technical College students are designing a solar oven made with low cost, available materials for people living in rural areas.
Oregon State University SU835328 A Web App for Enhancing Residential Green Infrastructure and Community-Based Environmental Management     How homeowners landscape their property has an environmental impact in their communities.
Pennsylvania State University SU835374 Affordable Greenhouses: Improving Livelihoods while Fostering Food Security and Sustainability     In many parts of the world food security is a challenge. In East Africa, sixty percent of the people are malnourished, and in some regions people are victims of famine.
Purdue University SU835327 Recycling of Liquid Crystal Displays for Maximum Resource Recovery With the surge in popularity of Liquid Crystal Displays (LCD) used in TV’s and computers, recycling them is expensive and complicated resulting in many units shipped illegally to Asia and Africa.
Purdue University SU835345 Community-Scale Water Treatment System for Application in Developing Countries According to the World Health Organization, roughly 800 million people lack access to safe drinking water.
Radford University SU835311 Synthetic Humic Acid Materials for Improved Water Purification Radford University students are designing new coatings to help ordinary sand capture heavy metals, such as cadmium and lead, as well as arsenic and organic contaminants.
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute SU835305 A Novel Microbial Fuel Cell Reactor Design for Drinking Water Treatment Treating water and wastes can be an expensive challenge for small communities.
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute SU835320 Sustainable Accommodations for Communities in Need: Providing Affordable, Sustainable and Portable Housing for Developing Nations The 2010 earthquake in Haiti left more than one million people homeless, including thousands of orphans.
Rowan University SU835355 Marine Electricity from High Altitude Wind There are more than 10 million boat engines operated in the Unites States, and they are among the highest contributors of air pollutants that cause respiratory diseases in many areas of the country.
San Jose State University SU835321 3D Printing Sustainable Building Components for Facades and as Window Elements San Jose State University students are applying 3D printer technology to make sustainable building materials.
Southern Polytechnic Applied Research Corp SU835299 Increasing Photovoltaic Panel Power Output by Having the Solar Cells Track the Sun One challenge to widespread use of solar power is how to increase the energy collected by photovoltaic panels.
Stanford University  SU835313 Community-Level Water Disinfection Technology for Dhaka, Bangladesh Treatment   Diarrhea is a major cause of death of young children in developing countries. The microorganisms that cause the disease often enter water distribution systems through broken pipes.
University of California - Riverside SU835346 Pasteurization Using a Lens and Solar Energy (PULSE) Method University of California- Riverside students are designing a technology for solar disinfection that will rapidly pasteurize water in developing countries using a Fresnel lens and waste plastic bottles.
University of Florida SU835326 Urine Source Separation and Treatment: Nutrient Recovery using Low-Cost Materials Today farm fertilizer is made primarily from fossil fuels and mining minerals.
University of Illinois at Champaign SU835340 Design and Implementation of a New Top-Lit UpDraft Stove (TChar) in Gressier, Haiti Charcoal use, especially for cooking, is a major contributor to extensive deforestation in Haiti.
University of Kentucky Research Foundation SU835303 Marine Developing a Novel Low Cost Biodiesel and Biochar Processor for Rural Cameroon  In rural parts of the developing world, electricity and fuel sources are often expensive and unreliable.
University of Massachusetts - Lowell SU835342 ‘Greener’ Surfactants from Bio-based Waste as Efficient Alternatives to Nonylphenol Ethoxylates Surfactants are predominantly petroleum based compounds used in millions of everyday products such as household detergents, personal care products, and industrial cleaners.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill SU835351 A Decision-Making Support Tool for Water and Sanitation Projects in Low-Resource Settings Despite significant global investments in Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WaSH) initiatives, 35 to 80 percent fail in low resource communities.
University of North Carolina at Charlotte SU835322 Beyond Green: Bio-reactor Integrated Building Envelope (BIBE) in Urban Environment University of North Carolina at Charlotte students are designing a building with exterior walls made of plexiglass enclosed tubes of algae.
University of Puerto Rico - Mayaguez SU835325 Evaluation of Chitosan and Chitosan - Ag Electrospun Membranes for Lead And Bacterial Removal From Potable Water of Puerto Rico At least the 79% of the population of Puerto Rico has consumed drinking water that does not meet the quality standards established by the local and federal regulations.
University of Tennessee - Knoxville SU835344 PSTAT: Promoting Sustainable Transportation Among Teens In a recent survey, 18 to 35 year olds made up 23 percent of new car buyers.
University of Toledo SU835297 Design a clean energy generation system via biophotofuel cell approach University of Toledo and California State Polytech University students are developing a more efficient fuel cell that applies nanotechnology to generate energy and hydrogen from wastewater and sunlight as it cleans the water.
University of Utah SU835308 Treatment and Recycle of Olive Mill Waste at Rural Olive Mills in the West Bank Food production around the world often generates highly toxic waste products. This is a particular problem for small operations such as olive oil mills in the Mediterranean region.
University of Utah SU835316 Optimizing the Use of Biofuels in Cook Stoves for Improved Indoor Air Quality and Forest Sustainability in Rural Nepal Today rural Nepali communities use open fires for cooking and heating their homes.
University of Washington SU835312 SQWater: Atmospheric Water Resources in the Slums of Lima, Peru     In Lima, Peru more than a third of the city’s 9 million occupants live in slums, many without reliable access to clean water.
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee SU835306 Development of Photo-Bioelectrochemical Systems for Wastewater Treatment and Bioenergy Production     Recent technology innovations have used microbes in a fuel cell to produce energy or algae in a bioreactor to treat wastewater.
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University SU835317 Design and Prototype of a Sustainable Egg-Washer  With the rise of pastured egg production, there is a critical need for egg washers work for small-scale farm operations.
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University SU835352 Vision-based Monitoring and Control of Construction Operations Carbon Footprint The construction industry is a large contributor of greenhouse gas emissions, and will be subject to new EPA air regulations.

9th Annual Phase II Recipients: A National Student Design Competition for Sustainability Focusing on People, Prosperity, and the Planet

Institution EPA Grant Number Project Title Project Description
Appalachian State University SU835330 An On-Site Biological Greywater Treatment System Suitable for Small Business Students from Appalachian State University are designing and implementing a plant-based biological filter for graywater remediation and reuse in a small business.
Butte College SU835294 Rice Hulls as Alternative Building Material Students from Butte-Glenn Community College are developing an environmentally acceptable method for disposal of rice hulls which are left behind in huge quantities after harvesting and processing.
Embry - Riddle Aeronautical University SU835290 Portable Solar Water Purification System for Public Use during Disaster Recovery Students from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University are improving on the P3 Phase I design of a prototype solar powered water purification backpack for use in post disaster response by reducing its weight and cost and increasing its efficiency. 
Gonzaga University SU835295 Integrating Improved Sustainable Technologies into the Heart of the Home-the Kitchen Students from Gonzaga University are developing, testing, and improving technologies to improve indoor air quality and ceramic water filtration systems in homes for developing nations.
Oregon State University SU835348 Developing Sustainable Alternatives to Plastic Mulch Students from Oregon State University are developing and testing a sustainable mulch prototype made from flax and conducting an analysis of the cost of different mulches throughout their lifecycles.
Princeton University SU835364 Power in a Box: Bringing Sustainable Energy to Recovering and Off-Grid Communities Students from Princeton University are developing a novel technology, “Power in a Box,” for portable sustainable power generation on the scale of 1kW that is reliable, cost-effective, and easily deployable.
Santa Clara University SU835288 Passive Regenerative Fuel Cell for Energy Storage in Off-Grid Locations Students from Santa Clara University are optimizing and scaling-up power production of their Passive Unitized Regenerative Fuel Cell (PUReFC) to provide a supply of clean, reliable energy storage to those in off-grid locations. 
Southern Illinois University - Carbondale SU835349 The Production of High Grade Minerals and Cement-less Green Concrete Students from Southern Illinois University- Carbondale are developing low cost processes to extract metal oxides (like Iron oxides and Aluminum oxides) from fly ash and bottom ash for re-use, as well as developing a method for producing cement-less geopolymer-based concrete using fly ash and bottom ash.
SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry SU835331 Sustainably Overcoming Hindrance to Struvite Recovery from Anaerobically Digested Dairy Manure Students from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry are optimizing the process developed in Phase I to recover struvite for fertilizer use from digested dairy manure and sludge and operate a pilot system at a nearby farm for proof of concept.
Texas State University - San Marcos SU835292 Extracting lignocellulose and synthesizing silica nanoparticles from rice husks Students from the Texas State University-San Marcos are developing the technology to extract lignocellulose from rice husk (RH) biomass to form gas hydrates (methane, hydrogen) for use as a biofuel. 
University of California - Riverside SU835329 Heating Attic Air for Space Heating and Dryer Applications Using Solar Thermal Energy Students from University of California-Riverside are designing an energy efficient heating unit for space heating needs that combines air in home attics and solar energy to heat ambient air.
University of Cincinnati - Main Campus SU835291 Community based biodiesel production from trap grease Students from the University of Cincinnati are developing and evaluating technologies that successfully convert trap grease into biodiesel to reduce waste and generate fuel.
University of Oklahoma Norman Campus  SU835289 Comparing the Sustainability of a Compressed Earth Block House to a Conventionally Framed House Students from the University of Oklahoma-Norman are constructing a compressed earth block (CEB) house and comparing it for sustainability and energy efficiency to a conventionally constructed house.
Vanderbilt University  SU835287 Don't Eat Your Spinach: Nature Inspired Biohybrid Solar Cells Students from Vanderbilt University are developing bio-hybrid solar panels where the active components are nanoscale solar cells for improved solar conversion efficiency.

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Last updated on July 17, 2024