MIT PIs to receive funding and support for projects seeking impact in the developing world.The MIT Tata Center for Technology and Design recently announced eight new projects for the academic year 2018-2019 that will be supported through its annual seed fund. These projects were shortlisted after an exhaustive review and awarded on the basis of their potential impact on the developing world.
The size and breadth of this year’s response have been astonishing. The Center received close to 70 inspiring proposals that will put the MIT community’s wealth of knowledge and creativity to work for the world’s disadvantaged communities.
These newly-awarded proposals will become part of a portfolio of 45 active projects currently being supported by the Center. Having funded more than 150 proposals over the past six years, the Center, along with Tata Trusts, is “helping shepherd many of these proposals through a translational process that will ready them for adoption by start-ups, established firms or policymakers in the coming years,” said Tata Center Director Rob Stoner.
The new Tata Center projects for 2018-2019 are:
Next-Generation Electrochemical System for Water Treatment in Rural Communities
Alan Hatton, Department of Chemical Engineering
A Novel Assay for Simultaneous Detection of Latent Malaria Reservoirs and Artemisinin Drug Resistance
James Collins, Department of Biological Engineering
Modeling and Deployment Strategies for Low-Cost Air Quality Sensors in Urban India
David Hsu, Department of Urban Studies and Planning
Youssef Marzouk, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Jesse Kroll, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering
Utilization of Creamery Waste to Produce High-Quality Animal Feed
Greg Stephanopoulos, Department of Chemical Engineering
Devin Currie, Department of Chemical Engineering
Designing New Policy and Technology Interventions to Mitigate Indian Agricultural Residue Burning Impacts Considering Effects on Local Agriculture
Steven Barrett, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Leslie Norford, Department of Architecture
Understanding the Sources Contributing to the Air Pollution Crisis in India
Colette Heald, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Mobile Technology to Enable Non-invasive Screening and Therapy for Diabetes
Richard Fletcher, D-Lab
Assessing the Socioeconomic and Technical Requirements for Village-Scale Water and Sanitation Systems
Amos Winter, Department of Mechanical Engineering
Founded at MIT in 2012 with support from the Tata Trusts, one of India’s oldest philanthropic organizations, the Tata Center gives holistic support to MIT faculty and graduate student researchers working on projects aimed at improving quality of life in the developing world. A part of the MIT Energy Initiative, the Tata Center is on the web at tatacenter.mit.edu.