The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded Mississippi State University with funding for two People, Prosperity and Planet (P3) projects. The student teams will design innovative solutions to sustainable challenges in the developed and developing world.
The Mississippi State projects are:
-- "Integrated Desalination and Wastewater Treatment Systems for Enhanced Water and Energy Recovery" -- The objective of this project is to design and develop an integrated microbial desalination system to treat wastewater with nitrogen removal for electricity generation and to produce desalinated water simultaneously.
-- "User-friendly Design Tools for Sustainable Wastewater Treatment in Rural and Disadvantaged Communities" -- The objectives of this project are to determine appropriate low-cost and effective nutrient removal alternatives for wastewater treatment for rural and low-income disadvantaged communities in the Mississippi delta and coastal communities.
V. Gnaneswar Gude, an assistant professor in the Bagley College of Engineering's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, is the principal investigator for both project awards.
Funding for the P3 projects is divided into two phases. In the first phase, student teams submit a proposal for a project, and if they are selected, they compete with other Phase I winners at the National Sustainable Design Expo in Washington, D.C. At the expo, teams compete for Phase II funding of up to $75,000.
Since 2004, the P3 Program has provided funding to student teams in all 50 states and Puerto Rico, committing over $10 million to cutting-edge, sustainable projects designed by university students.
For additional information about the program, visit www.epa.gov/ncer/p3.
MSU is online at www.msstate.edu, facebook.com/msstate, instagram.com/msstate and twitter.com/msstate.