ASME, EPA partner on student contest on sustainability

Mel Torre
ASME Public Information

ASME is partnering with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and other organizations, including the National Science Foundation, to launch a new national student design contest that will enable college students to research, develop and design sustainable solutions to environmental issues.

The intercollegiate design contest, the P3 Competition, will highlight the three components of sustainability — people, prosperity and planet.

Interdisciplinary student teams will be asked to research, develop and design solutions to the technical challenges of sustainability in both the developed and developing world. Key components to the success of any sustainable design are relevant social, economic and environmental considerations.

"There is nothing more essential in moving toward the long-term goal of sustainability than teaching the next generation of scientists and engineers how to incorporate sustainable principles into their work," said Paul Gilman, EPA assistant administrator for research and development.

Entries for the P3 Competition may focus on a wide range of categories, including water quality, energy, engineering, biotechnology, conservation, product design, information technology and others.

The competition is open to teams of undergraduate and/or graduate students attending U.S. colleges, universities and other post-secondary educational institutions. Up to 50 awards will be made for a maximum of $10,000 per team in the autumn of 2004. The money will be used for research and development of the team's sustainable design during the 2004-2005 academic year.

In spring 2005, all teams will be invited to submit their completed design to a peer review panel to compete for the P3 Award. ASME has nominated John F. Elter, vice president of Research and System Architecture at Plug Power Inc., and Charles J. Hanley and Sandra K. Begay-Campbell, both principal members of the technical staff at Sandia National Laboratories, to serve on the panel and participate in evaluating and judging the winning design entries.

The P3 Competition, which is supported by more than 27 partners from the federal government, industry, and scientific and professional societies, will culminate in a demonstration event on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., in 2005.

Applications for P3 are being accepted now through March 24. For further details, including program requirements, visit http://es.epa.gov/ncer/p3/designs_sustain_rfp.html, or contact Julie Zimmerman, U.S. EPA Office of Research and Development at zimmerman.julie@epa.gov.

 

back to news & features