WASHINGTON, DC, Apr. 21, 2009 -- EPA has announced the university teams who won the annual People, Prosperity and the Planet (P3) competition. The P3 award competition encourages college students to apply technology in innovative ways to tackle global environmental challenges. P3 designs must be economically profitable, which is why each winner receives funding up to $75,000 to commercialize their designs.
"Scientific innovation has long been a driving force behind the U.S. economy," said Lek Kadeli, acting assistant administrator for the Office of Research and Development. "The ingenuity displayed by this year's People, Prosperity and the Planet award winners shows that we can look forward to a bright future where economic growth and environmental sustainability go hand in hand."
Winners of this year's awards and their projects are:
University of Arizona -- Development of Sustainable Integrated Aquaculture Systems with Assessment of Environmental, Social, and Economic Implications
Columbia University -- Multifunction Energy Platform Pilot
Drexel University, Syntactic Selective Near Infrared Scattering Architectural Coatings
University of South Florida -- Water Awareness, Research and Education in east Tampa: A Pilot Collaboration Involving USF, Young Magnet Middle School, and the East Tampa Community
Massachusetts Institute of Technology -- A Novel Solar Thermal Combined Cycle with Bio-methane Carbon Capture for Distributed Power Generation
University of Tennessee at Knoxville -- The New Norris House: A Sustainable Home for the 21st Century
The P3 Award competition was held at EPA's Annual National Sustainable Design Expo on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., Apr. 18-20. Each year, the expo showcases innovative, cutting-edge technologies designed by the P3 teams along with sustainable policies and technologies developed and implemented by government and state agencies and nonprofit organizations.
Support for the competition includes more than 40 partners in the federal government, industry and scientific and professional societies. This year's expo was co-sponsored by Beyond Benign, a nonprofit organization that educates people on green chemistry.
>> More information on the winners
>> More information on the P3 Award competition
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