Jeffrey Doser-Forestry and Environmental Sciences

Jordan Rogers-History

Raoul Farer-Textiles

Aditi Mallavarapu-Computer Science

Danielle Moloney Gallagher-Teacher Education and Learning Sciences

Description: This is an extension project designed to introduce middle school students to the complex interaction between forestry conservation and clothing manufacture, to reduce the reliance on fast fashion and promote cultures of sustainability within the next generation. The project utilizes virtual reality and 3D modeling to expose students to the environmental consequences of the production of clothing, providing a hands-on, dynamic experience. Virtual assets allow students to manipulate clothing objects made from different fabrics and their manufacturing process.

The project also allows students to see, within the virtual experience, the varying environmental consequences of these different fabric types, for instance the difference in environmental impact between the use of natural fibers vs. plastics. Our goal is to provide these resources in an open access format, hosted by the University Libraries, that can be accessed by any educator interested in utilizing a virtual, interactive, storytelling teaching tool in their classroom. By engaging with our project, students will better understand the importance of sustainable production and reuse of clothing, and how our individual choices in clothing affect the environment that we all share.

-Susan J. (Poultry Science)

-Kai L. (Forestry Biomaterials)

-Claudia S. (Educational Leadership)

-Colton M. (Communication/Media Relation Srudies)

-Ritwick G. (Forestry)

This project aims to educate about sustainable agriculture by integrating poultry science and forestry into school curricula and consumer media. It involves developing educational materials that teach students, consumers, stakeholders about sustainable poultry practices, reforestation, and environmental stewardship through social media.

The goal is to foster environmental awareness and leadership skills in students while promoting sustainable practices in agriculture and forestry.

Carmen Durham, James Reynolds, Makena Stewart, Erin Rivers, Meredith McDevitt

A community engagement initiative to offer courses in English and Spanish about monitoring tap water for forever chemicals (BFA's). Our courses partner with local community colleges and provide education to community members, empowering them to understand and use sensor technologies to monitor their water quality.

Jay Rickabaugh

Graham Ambrose

Hans Schmitz

Raymond Unocic

Spencer Hamrick

We are interested in developing a new kind of environmentally friendly battery for electric vehicles. Our team is uniquely qualified to lead this endeavor. We bring materials science technology at the nanoscale with lithium battery technology. We also bring experience with NGOs to understand the impacts to society. There is a disconnect between who has access to the electric grid and its technology and those who need it. Typically, the lower socioeconomic classes have the greatest need. The digital divide must be brought to the forefront with a community advisory board to include the disenfrachised. Our team also has the connections to applying for federal grants. An early quick win is to begin including locations for charging stations on the blue signs on the highway for gas stations.

We will have a 5-5-5 plan.

In the first 5 years, we will focus on gathering the data and doing statistical analysis of where the greatest need is, using geospatial maps and creating financial incentive programs to adopt the technology. We will adapt census data where available. The technology team will begin to develop the battery technology to steer toward technologies that rely less on rare earth minerals, such as cobalt and lithium.

In the second 5 year period, we will begin to work on cost efficiencies of the product as well as analyzing our footprint and the application and adoption of our technologies.

In our third 5 year period, we aspire to expand our results to the global community. We will reduce the societal and environmental impact to some of the least advantaged countries in the world.

It's a new era. Cross-cultural communication is more possible than ever, yet it seems that cultural and generational divisions remain as strong or stronger than ever. In particular, translating science effectively and rigorously is extremely difficult. We propose a collaboration between scientists across disciplines with communication and language experts aimed at creating effective tools to translate across barriers to information.

Josh Brinkman

Stan Cheung

Abdul Quddus

Roshaunda Breeden

Bryan Clift

In this community-led project, researchers work alongside rural North Carolina communities to localize a system of drones with AI LIDAR optic sensors. We respond to the issue of losing farmland to urban development, heightening the need to develop more precise, smart agricultural production. Our main aim to localize the project by facilitating connections and education among interested stakeholders in rural communities.

• Ting-Feng Yeh (Forest Biomaterials)

• Kinga Unocic (Materials Science and Engineering)

• Valeria Lopez Torres (Graphic and Experience Design)

• Andrés Téllez (Media Arts, Design & Technology)

Project Motivation

The need for innovative materials that can drive future technologies is more pressing than ever.

The challenge lies not only in developing these materials but also in discovering their potential applications through a transdisciplinary approach that integrates design, science, and engineering.

Overview

MatXplore is a pioneering project that brings together expertise in material science, biomaterials, structural engineering, and design to explore and develop the materials of tomorrow.

The project operates within a transdisciplinary framework, involving students and researchers alike in the process of material-driven exploration.

Rather than being application-driven, MatXplore emphasizes a reverse approach where materials themselves inspire novel uses and innovations.

Project Structure

The project unfolds in three stages:

1) Researchers and students in the lab explore the properties, affordances, and behaviors of new biomaterials under various conditions.

2) These materials are then introduced into a design-focused space where students and designers engage in creative exploration, allowing the materials to guide potential applications.

3) Feedback from this exploration is brought back to the lab for further testing and refinement, creating a dynamic loop between science and design.

Potential Outcomes

MatXplore aims to foster new technologies and applications that are not merely replacements for existing ones but are entirely novel.

The project also seeks to cultivate interdisciplinary collaboration at both the researcher and student levels, ultimately leading to innovations that could shape future industries.

Additionally, the inclusion of a "Materials Gallery" allows for a sensory experience where the public can interact with these cutting-edge materials, further expanding the possibilities for their use.

Raja Ghosh

Zahra Saki

Audrey Barnes

Mohammad Hosseinian

Zhenxuan Wang

Jack Harris

Among renewable energy systems, solar power is promising, but the industry is stymied by optimization, economic, and implementation barriers. This research proposal establishes ethical design principles for the development and implementation of organic solar cells.

First, engaging with materials science, we will make a case for the adoption of carbon-based organic solar cells (over inorganic alternatives).

Second, we will offer guidelines on the synthesis of dyes and textiles that are fit-for-purpose, and address reliability, cost, and operational barriers.

Third, we will explain the ethical implications for this roll-out of solar cell design.

Fourth, we will evaluate the economic impacts and climate change mitigation potential of these solar cell products.

•Nonoy Bandillo – Wheat development (Plant breeding and genetics)

•Shima Hosseininasab – Education and outreach (Libraries)

•Allison Beaty- Multimedia dance performance (Dance)

•Ann Bybee-Finley – Sustainable crop production (Agroecology)

•Cristiana Boi – Bread production with 0 waste (Chemical engineering)

•Jenn  Woodhull-Smith – Project manager-entrepreneurship (Entrepreneurship)

This project will enable school kids to learn about healthier and more sustainable food production. We will be making bread from engineered wheat with low glycemic index with an environmentally friendly crop production, and a zero-waste process. This means no pesticides, straw recycling (bioethanol), lowering diabetes incidence, and engaging in active life (breaddancing!). The project will involve an interactive dance performance in public schools and libraries to engage and educate children to make healthier choices individually and collectively from an early age. Public funding will allow school kids to have free access to “breaddancing”: free bread, dancing classes and heathy food education.

Group members:

Daniel Kim

Byungsoo Kim

Yen-Hao Lai

Panji Darma

Hantao Cui

Potential funding agencies:

Department of Housing and Urban Development

NSF

DOE

Seth Gaiters (philosophy, Africana studies)

Paschalis Gkoupidenis (electrical & computer engineering)

What if you didn't have to use words to describe what you were feeling? What if you could prove you were in pain?

The compassion connector is a device that translates biological signals into electrical signals, providing a baseline neural connection that is visualizable, to enhance communication of lived experience between sentient organisms.

In a time where victimhood has been coopted by corporations and groups to the point of feeling competitive, we are fundamentally desensitized to others reports of pain and suffering. He compassion connector will help us know the pain of others, so that our collective pain creates collective struggles and collective solutions.