NSF Engines Development Award: Building an sustainable plastics innovation ecosystem in the Midwest (MN, IL)

NSF 引擎发展奖：在中西部（明尼苏达州、伊利诺伊州）建立可持续塑料创新生态系统

• 批准号: 2315247
• 负责人: Annabelle Watts
• 金额: $ 100万
• 依托单位: University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Cooperative Agreement
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2024-04-15 至 2026-03-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2315247&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: NSF; Engines; Development; Award; Building

This Regional Innovation Engines Development Award seeks to create an ecosystem to facilitate the transition to a sustainable, new circular plastics economy. Led by University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, it is comprised of use-inspired research, translation of solutions to adoption, workforce expansion, and a culture of inclusivity. The project team is comprised of 11 academic institutions, 4 non-profit/community organizations, 5 government facilities, 16 industry partners, and 6 economic development groups, with the University of Minnesota serving as the lead institution. The region served is urban/suburban areas around Chicago and Minneapolis-St. Paul and parts of Indiana and Wisconsin.The project will build the foundations for an innovation ecosystem that will: a) create a hub for identifying and solving use-inspired research problems, b) fill critical gaps in the innovation ecosystem and c) enable equity-centered growth across the ecosystem. Society is at a crossroads with how it makes, uses, and discards plastics, and the current course is demonstrably unsustainable. The ubiquitous use of plastics, coupled with low recovery rates, depletes resources and leaks plastic waste into the environment, harming environmental and human health and disproportionately impacting economically and socially disadvantaged groups. Modern societies need plastic but can no longer afford the unsustainable and damaging consequences of the current plastics ecosystem. The concentration of relevant expertise and resources in the Midwest make it ideally suited to recreate and re-imagine the plastics industry as a circular economy.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

该区域创新引擎开发奖旨在创建一个生态系统，以促进向可持续的新循环塑料经济过渡。在明尼苏达大学双胞胎大学的领导下，它由使用启发的研究，采用解决方案的翻译，劳动力扩张和包容性文化组成。项目团队由11个学术机构，4个非营利/社区组织，5个政府机构，16个行业合作伙伴和6个经济发展小组组成，明尼苏达大学担任领导机构。所服务的地区是芝加哥和明尼阿波利斯-ST附近的城市/郊区。保罗和印第安纳州和威斯康星州的一部分。该项目将为创新生态系统建立基础：a）创建一个用于识别和解决使用启发的研究问题的枢纽，b）填补创新生态系统中的关键空白，c）在整个生态系统中启用以股票为中心的增长。社会正处于其制造，使用和丢弃塑料的方式上，而当前的过程显然是不可持续的。无处不在的塑料使用，再加上低回收率，耗尽资源并将塑料废物泄漏到环境中，损害了环境和人类健康，并对经济和社会上处于弱势群体产生了不成比例的影响。现代社会需要塑料，但不再负担当前塑料生态系统的不可持续和破坏性后果。中西部中相关专业知识和资源的集中度使其理想地适合于塑料行业重新创建和重新想象塑料行业。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并被认为是值得通过基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的审查标准通过评估来进行评估的。