STRATEGIC FOCUS:
Sustainable Systems
T
he environment has long been a key area for NJIT. In the 1980s
when the university opened its York Center for Environmental
Engineering and Science, teaching and research concentrated
on hazardous substance management and pollution remediation and
prevention. The focus has broadened in recent years to apply sustainability principles to building and design, transportation and other fields,
to green chemistry, and to ecology and conservation.
■
■
■
10
Sustainable Systems in
NJIT’s Educational Programs
Educational offerings in sustainable systems underscore the
university’s broader role in technological education, spanning pre-college enrichment programs to career-related
credentials for practicing professionals. One example of the
former is NJIT’s partnership with Panasonic on behalf of
Newark’s Public Schools. Panasonic won a contract to install
solar photovoltaic electric systems and wind turbines for the
school system’s renewable energy project. As part of this
initiative, Panasonic and NJIT are partnering to educate
Newark’s students in solar power generation, controls, and
■
management as well as in alternate and new energy resources. The goal is to prepare Newark students to become
part of a future workforce for the energy and power industry.
Biology doctoral student
between field ecologists
Tanya Lubansky uses quan-
and quantitative ecologists.
titative methods to uncover
patterns in nature and determine how best to protect
species. She studies whale
movements in the Gulf of
Maine and uses the data to
build models that tell her
why whales go where they
do. She hopes that her
work will help to bridge
the gap that often exists
■
Industrial Design students Sara Jane Rin and Samantha Tartaro presented
their design of a sustainable playground and playground equipment for
Thailand at an Earth Day Educational Fair sponsored by Tishman
Construction. The playground design utilized local materials – bamboo,
rope and old tires. The designs were created in the studio of Adjunct
Professor Ran Lerner.
John Schuring, professor of civil engineering, led a research team
in a study of bridge scour, the erosive action by running water that excavates and carries away material from around the bridge supports.
Funded by the New Jersey Department of Transportation, the study
was aimed at developing a rational, defensible process to predict scour
depths for New Jersey bridges. The team recommended new guidelines to prioritize bridges for remediation.
Two teams of NJIT students won grants from the EPA to develop their
projects for presentation in the National Student Design Competition
for Sustainability Focusing on People, Prosperity and the Planet. NJIT’s
chapter of Engineers Without Borders, advised by Professor Jay
Meegoda, presented an ecologically-sustainable sanitation system
developed for a small hospital in northern Haiti with a special latrine
that not only collects human waste but also converts the waste into
methane and fertilizer. The second team, advised by Associate Professor
Maurie Cohen, developed The Greenvine, a Website that is a platform
for a virtual community to facilitate more socially and environmentally
equitable consumer purchasing practices. Both projects were displayed
at the National Sustainable Design Expo in Washington, DC.
Assistant Professor of Architecture Matt Burgermaster received a
design award from the American Institute of Architects for his Ice
Cycle house, which features a series of innovative building solutions to
sustainable living in northern climates. Its exterior envelope design
consists of uniquely multi-functioning components that reimagine
the performative capacity of conventional drainage and ventilation
strategies. The house, located in Buffalo, N.Y., was featured in an article
in the Journal of Architecture Education.
Albert Dorman Honors scholar Martha Molinini, electrical and computer engineering major, presented a research paper on the BP oil spill
at the ASEE Middle Atlantic Section Conference. The paper details
many of the containment efforts employed by BP Oil in an effort to
stem the spread of oil from the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf
of Mexico in 2009, examining the disaster from an ethical standpoint.
The research paper started as an assignment from Eric Katz, professor
of humanities, for Honors ethics.
Sustainable Systems in
NJIT’s Educational Programs
■
■
With EPA support, NJIT operates Technical Assistance to Brownfields
(TAB), to support and assist communities and nonprofits attempting
to clean up and reclaim brownfields. TAB offers advice on site
characterization, clean-up technologies, sustainable development,
government regulation and community outreach, as well as direct
technical mentoring and grant application preparation.
Richard Garber, associate professor of architecture, has been
named one of 32 new faces of design by Dwell magazine. He shares
the honor with Nicole Robertson, his partner in GRO Architects,
New York City. The accolade stems from Garber’s body of work, but
especially features his newest chef d’oeuvre, “PREttyFAB” house, a
one-family sustainable home in the Greenville section of Jersey City.
■
Chemical engineering
the production of drinking
major Seth Bortey (above
water from seawater and
left) does research for the
saline aquifers. Seth’s
NSF Membrane Science,
current work focuses on
Engineering and Technol-
the effects of magnetic
ogy Center (MAST) under
fields on the precipitation
the direction of Professor
and flocculation of slightly
Boris Khusid (above center).
soluble feed salts (calcium
The project’s overall goal is
carbonate and calcium
to study innovative reverse
sulfate) to mitigate fouling
osmosis (RO) processes for
of RO membranes.
An internationally recognized expert in membrane separation
technologies, Kamalesh Sirkar, distinguished professor of chemical
engineering, is now directing the Membrane Science, Engineering
and Technology Center, an NSF-funded Industry/University
Cooperative Research Center (MAST), in partnership with the
University of Colorado, Boulder. Membrane separations offer
a wide range of applications in fields such as pharmaceutical
manufacturing, water treatment and desalination, and protein
purification. He recently published a study with former postdoctoral
fellows Li Yang and Atsawin Thongsukmak and partners from
General Motors Research and Development in which a hollow fiber
membrane was used to remove water from engine oil in an
automobile.
11
Daniel Bunker,
assistant
Sustainable Systems in
NJIT’s Educational Programs
professor of
biology,
researches the
effects of global
environmental
change on
ecological
12
communities and
ecosystems
(above left, top
photo).
Sustainable highperformance
buildings are the
NJIT students collaborated
helping to avoid dramatic
with students from Rutgers
temperature fluctuations by
Evans, director
on Team New Jersey to
retaining heat in the winter
of NJIT’s Center
design an energy efficient
and keeping the home cool
for Building
house for the U.S. Depart-
in the summer. The NJIT
ment of Energy’s Solar
Team, advised by Associate
Decathlon for 2011. The
Professor Richard Garber,
team designed and built
and led by Jen Switala,
eNJoy House, a prototype
MArch ’11, included
smart home whose design
architecture students Brian
challenges traditional
Darling, Ahmed Emara,
Physics
building techniques and
Jon Gann*, Zachary Hvi-
Trevor Tyson,
suggests a new method of
zlak, Andrew Mailloux*,
studies the
approaching high perform-
Liam Morrow, Jay Piccone,
application
ance, energy efficient
Ian Seigal* and Jordan
housing. The eNJoy House
Tate; IT students Conrad
uses super-insulated pre-
Lope and Jason Weiner;
cast concrete panels as
computer science student
solution of
the primary construction
Kirill Vainer, and Enkela
energry and
material. The pre-cast
Malellari, ’11, civil
environmental
concrete contributes to the
engineering.
changes (photo
home’s high thermal mass,
*Albert Dorman Honors scholar
focus of Deane
Knowledge
(above left,
bottom photo).
Distinguished
Professor of
of novel physics
and materials
science
methods to the
far right).
A team of mechanical and industrial engineers at NJIT is developing analytical tools to help New Jersey businesses implement an eco-efficient
and sustainable energy use strategy. With nearly $1 million in funding
from the PSE&G Energy Technology Demonstration Grant Program,
Professor Reggie J. Caudill (above center) is leading a project to develop
a Web-based guide to eco-efficiency and sustainability for New Jersey
industry. Collaborating on the project are Professors Sanchoy Das and
Paul Ranky (not pictured), and Associate Professor Zhiming Ji. The team
will utilize the Sustainability Target Method (STM), a novel approach to
measuring sustainability and eco-efficiency of entire businesses, plant
operations and individual products. Developed originally at Bell Labs
and extended by the research team at NJIT, the STM methodology
establishes linkages between the Earth’s carrying capacity, economic
value, and environmental impact to provide an absolute or “target”
criteria for sustainability that is practical for use by managers and plant
engineers. They will also provide simulation and decision support
technologies to allow an engineering analysis of energy consumption
patterns and process inefficiencies and evaluation of alternative
strategies for improvement. The educational and training aspects will
utilize interactive multimedia technologies with Web-based and mobile
device interfaces to facilitate effective implementation.
Research by Sima Bagheri , professor of civil and environmental
engineering (below left), focuses on phytoplankton, a class of microscopic
organisms that live in both fresh and salt water environments. Frequently
the first indicator of a change in their environment, phytoplankton, as
revealed by ocean color images, can show scientists where ocean currents
NJIT Ne xt
■
S t r at e g i c d i r e c t i o n s
■
2012
s t r at e g i c F o c u s : s u s ta i n a b l e s y s t e m s
provide nutrients for plant growth and where subtle changes in the
climate — warmer or colder, more saline or less saline — affect phytoplankton growth. Her long term research, which focuses on the Hudson/
Raritan Estuary of New Jersey and New York off Sandy Hook, NJ, makes
use of ocean color data collected by satellites such as NASA’s SeaWIFS and
MODIS as well as sensors flown in aircraft as in NASA’s AVIRIS program.
A faster, better and cheaper desalination process enhanced by carbon nanotubes has been developed by Somenath Mitra, distinguished professor
and chair of chemistry and environmental science (left in photo at left) and
his research team, doctoral students Ornthida Sae-Khow (right in photo)
and Ken Gethard (not pictured). The process creates a unique new architecture for the membrane distillation process by immobilizing carbon
nanotubes in the membrane pores. Conventional approaches to desalination are thermal distillation and reverse osmosis, but these methods are
too expensive for many countries and cities that lack potable water. It is
hoped that the new technique will help to bring clean water to poor areas.
A team lead by
Michael Jaffe,
Sustainable Systems in
the Educational Programs
research professor
of biomedical
engineering
(above, top
left photo), is
developing
cost-effective
corn based
chemistries and
processes
Distinguished Professor of Physics Trevor Tyson studies the application of
novel physics and materials science methods to the solution of energy and
environmental challenges. He was part of a team that developed a selfcleaning technique to allow solid oxide fuel cells to be powered directly by
coal gas at operating temperatures as low as 750 degrees Celsius using
barium oxide nanoparticles. The technique, developed in collaboration
with Georgia Institute of Technology, Brookhaven National Laboratory,
and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, could provide a cleaner and more efficient alternative to conventional power plants for generating electricity
from the nation’s vast coal reserves. The water-mediated carbon removal
technique was reported June 21 in the journal Nature Communications.
relevant to the
commercial
polymer industry.
Zeyuan Qiu,
Ashish Borgaonkar,
won second place in the
associate
doctoral student in envi-
2011 Samuel and Rhoda
professor of
ronmental engineering
Chalfin Memorial Scholar-
chemistry and
(above), has developed a
ship Competition for his
environmental
new technique for remov-
design of the “Lean Green
science (above,
ing potentially harmful
Chair” that is constructed
nano-particles from the
entirely of cardboard, and
water supply. He uses
held together through
bottom left
photo), studies
the close
land-water
magnetic particles to
compression without
connections.
remove the microscopic
the use of glue, tape, or
With funding
residue left behind by
staples. Inspired by Gerrit
from the U.S.
cosmetics and shampoos
Thomas Rietveld’s “Berlin
Department
more efficiently than
Chair,” Pashalian’s piece,
of Agriculture,
conventional treatment
methods. Taha Marhaba,
professor and chairman of
civil and environmental
engineering, is his faculty
advisor.
he helps local
agencies
develop a
riparian
restoration plan
for agricultural
lands in
New Jersey’s
Interior Design student
Tristan Pashalian (right)
Raritan River
Basin.
High-performance, sustainable buildings, particularly housing and
schools, are the focus of Deane Evans, director of NJIT’s Center for Building Knowledge. He leads a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) program
to create a comprehensive series of four online courses to train and teach
mechanical engineers across the country how to improve the energy efficiency of existing commercial buildings. He is also the NJIT lead in a research and deployment partnership to help dramatically improve the
energy efficiency of American homes ─ the Building America Retrofit
Alliance (BARA). NJIT is partnering with Building Media Inc. (BMI), a
DuPont subsidiary, to establish one of 15 teams appointed by DOE to deliver innovative energy efficiency strategies to the residential market and
address barriers to bringing high-efficiency homes within reach of all
Americans. Finally, his center is a core member of the Greater Philadelphia
Innovation Cluster, a DOE “Innovation Hub” focused on improving the
energy efficiency of commercial office buildings in the United States.
The research of Assistant Professor of Biology Daniel Bunker is aimed at
understanding the effects of global environmental change on ecological
communities and ecosystems. In collaboration with Shahid Naeem of Columbia University, he is developing TraitNet, a research coordination network and biological database designed to foster the systematic collection
and dissemination of species trait data such as body size and metabolic
rate. The goal is to build an ecoinformatics backbone that will enable
seamless data contributions to a fully searchable, geo-referenced database.
13
NJIT Ne xt
■
S t r at e g i c d i r e c t io n s
■
2012
s t r at e g i c F o c u s : s u s ta i n a b l e s y s t e m s
STRATEGIC FOCUS:
Life and
The structural applications of composite and renewable materials are a research interest of Ala Saadeghvaziri, professor of
civil and environmental engineering (left), and his graduate
student Amin Jamali (right). They have been studying recycled
aggregate concrete (RAC), to learn what level of stresses and deformations recycled concrete can withstand under a seismic event.
Healthcare Science
and Engineering
I
n just 10 years since its establishment, the Department of
Biomedical Engineering has emerged as one of the university’s
strongest departments with research programs that are already
nationally recognized in such areas as tissue engineering and rehabilitation medicine. The health sciences have become a pervasive theme
throughout the university with contributions to research and education in nearly every department:
■
Robert Miura, distinguished professor of mathematics, is leading a
research team in a study of cortical spreading depression (CSD), a nonlinear chemical and electrical (slow) wave phenomenon in the cortices
of different brain structures known to be connected with migraine
with aura, and possibly with stroke and transient global amnesia.
■
14
They developed a mathematical model for predicting the
impact of high levels of stresses and strains on response of the
RAC structures, and conducted extensive experimentation with
the material in NJIT’s High Performance Concrete Laboratory.
Although additional testing is required, they project that RAC
may be suitable for structural use.
■
Zeyuan Qiu, associate professor of chemistry and environmen-
tal science, studies the close land-water connections. With funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, he helps local
agencies develop a riparian restoration plan for agricultural
lands in New Jersey’s Raritan River Basin. The restoration plan
identifies agricultural lands in riparian areas, prioritizes restoration projects, estimates restoration costs, identifies and evaluates available funding sources to complete the riparian restoration projects and also details comprehensive education and outreach activities for farmers and the general public.
The development of new or improved synthetic materials from
corn derivatives is the goal of a partnership among NJIT researchers and the Iowa Corn Promotion Board. With NSF support and industrial partners, the research team, lead by Michael
Jaffe, research professor of biomedical engineering, is developing cost-effective corn based chemistries and processes relevant
to the commercial polymer industry. The study focuses on
isosorbide, a substance derived from corn sugar that is currently
used in pharmaceuticals but could replace other chemicals in
the production of plastics.
■
■
Cheickna Sylla, professor of management, published an article proposing a cost/benefit justification framework for the establishment
of a workplace ergonomics program that will reduce the incidence
of musculoskeletal disorders. The paper appeared in the International
Journal of Networking and Virtual Organization.
Carol Venanzi, distinguished professor of chemistry, uses computational chemistry and molecular modeling techniques to analyze the
relationship of molecular structure to biological function through
computer-aided drug design. In an NIH-supported project, she has
been studying salvinorin A, a substance that shows promise both
in the treatment of stimulant abuse and for the development of
analgesics with a reduced tendency for tolerance and dependence.
Her team is working in collaboration with scientists at the National
Institutes of Health and the University of Iowa.
The research of Ecevit Bilgili, assistant professor of chemical, biological and pharmaceutical engineering, is aimed at enhancing the
bioavailability of poorly soluble active pharmaceutical ingredients.
Recent projects have employed nano-particle coated pellets and the
fluidized bed (FB) technology developed at NJIT’s New Jersey Center
for Engineered Particulates.
Associate Professor of History Stephen Pemberton studies the 20thcentury history of medicine, biomedical sciences and technology, and
the history of public health to understand how social issues intersect
with scientific breakthroughs. His most recent book deals with
efforts to manage hemophilia and other hereditary bleeding disorders
and how those advances eventually devolved into the AIDS crisis. His
earlier book, The Troubled Dream of Genetic Medicine: Ethnicity and
Innovation in Tay-Sachs, Cystic Fibrosis and Sickle Cell Disease, looks
at the role of ethnicity in medical innovation and treatment.