1st Tech4Impact Research Seed Grant
© 2018 EPFL
The 1st Tech4Impact Research Seed Grant Call attracted 22 very promising and highly impactful research project proposals from our EPFL research community. The submitted proposals used high-end technologies to address a vast variety of the sustainable development goals. At the end, only two projects could be selected for receiving a seed grant of CHF 50'000,-.
And the Awards go to…
RePlaSte: Reforming Plastic Waste into Fuel
The Laboratory for Functional Inorganic Materials headed by Prof. Wendy Lee Queen aims to contribute to the initiation of massive valorization of non-recycled plastic wastes following a plastic-to-power research initiative. The research group will work on developing efficient photo-reforming of stable polymeric chains into fuels, such as methane or hydrogen. The project represents an attractive approach to simultaneously address two global challenges - plastic waste alleviation and renewable fuel production.
Dr. Olga Trukhina, Prof. Wendy Lee Queen, and Vikram Karve.
DESPERS:Addressing Water Shortage by Desalination using Perovskite Solar Cells
The Group for Molecular Engineering of Functional Materials headed by Prof. Mohammad Khaja Nazeeruddin intends to develop an efficient and inexpensive module that desalinates seawater to provide drinking water powered by perovskite solar cells. The low-cost grid-free and portable module to provide drinking water could be particularly impactful for developing countries and refugee camps. Furthermore, large scale modules could positively impact water usage for agricultural purposes.
Dr. Cristina Roldán Carmona, Prof. Paul Joseph Dyson, and Prof. Mohammad Khaja Nazeeruddin
