NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE:DOW) will recognize the winners of its third annual Sustainability Innovation Student Challenge program at a ceremony being held at the University of California, Berkeley in Berkeley, California. Winning students from partner universities around the world will be recognized for their innovation and commitment to providing sustainable solutions to the world’s most pressing social, economic and environmental problems.
“Sustainable solutions are not just a driver of business and innovation, they are the key to solving the world’s most pressing challenges,” said Neil Hawkins, Dow’s Vice President of EHS and Sustainability. “I speak for everyone at Dow when I say how proud we are to recognize the innovative thinking and collaboration showcased among a new generation of scientists and leaders collectively working toward a more sustainable future.”
Established in 2009 in alignment with Dow’s 2015 Sustainability Goals, the Sustainability Innovation Student Challenge program is made possible through Dow’s partnerships with eight universities – four in the United States and four in other regions of the world. Participating universities include: University of California-Berkeley, University of Cambridge, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, University of Michigan, Northwestern University, Peking University, University of São Paulo and Tufts University.
Award winners were selected using a peer review process by the participating universities with guidance from high-level criteria provided by Dow. Examples of projects recognized include:
- A third-party credit rewards program that enables cardholders to invest their reward points or airline miles in clean energy projects, providing a simple way to help people off-set their carbon footprint.
- Research on glacier melt and runoff in Greenland and the Himalayas, an initiative that could help shed light on the impact global warming has on Earth’s water reserves.
- A project that aims to better understand how sustainable chemistry can be applied to modern medicine, using drug-resistant bacterial infections and Type II diabetes as the model for treatment.
A total of 46 student winners will be recognized globally for their enthusiasm and commitment to sustainability. The winners include:
- Daniel Arnold, Sarah Friedman, Jamie Kong, Michael Sankur, Galina Vlaeva, Genevieve Wang and Yu Zeng – University of California, Berkeley, California, U.S.
- Alison Banwell, Marcos Pelenur and Robert Pott – The University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- Wei Chen, Dominik Jantke and Craig Werner – King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
- Aditya Bhandari, Hunt Briggs, Graham Brown, Adam Carver, Siyang Chen, Mike Elchinger, Ryan Flynn, Andy Lubershane, Nolan Orfield, Rachana Patel, Ricardo Rodriquez and Anya Shyrokova – University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S.
- Mark Huntington, Nishant Patni, James Riley and Joseph Warfel – Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
- Zhao Boxuan, Qiu Di, Lin Guang, Wang Lin, Xiao Qing, Lin Shixian, Ren Weiwu, Zhao Xia, Fei Ye and Hao Ziyang – Peking University, Beijing, China
- Alice Dantas Brites, Thalita Peixoto Bass and Ana Luiza Silva Spínolal – University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
- Jonathan Torn, Ahmed Malik, Edward Spang and Konstantinos Tsioris – Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts, U.S.
The graduate student teams that were selected for their research and innovations received $10,000 for their innovative solutions to the world’s challenges. Selected winners from each winning team were represented at the annual recognition luncheon.
“The University of California, Berkeley is excited to host this year’s celebration, and recognize the Dow Sustainability Innovation Student Challenge winners for their creatively and innovative thinking,” said Tony Kingsbury, Dow Executive-in-Residence at the University of California, Berkeley. “We appreciate being a partner school for the program and are thrilled to see the vast array of solutions, technologies and innovations conceived by our students and others across the globe.”
For more information about the Sustainability Innovation Student Challenge and the 2011 honorees, please visit http://www.dow.com/studentchallenge. For more information about Dow's 2015 Sustainability Goals, please visit http://www.dow.com/commitments.
About The Dow Chemical Company
Dow (NYSE:DOW) combines the power of science and technology with the "Human Element" to passionately innovate what is essential to human progress. The Company connects chemistry and innovation with the principles of sustainability to help address many of the world's most challenging problems such as the need for clean water, renewable energy generation and conservation, and increasing agricultural productivity. Dow's diversified industry-leading portfolio of specialty chemical, advanced materials, agrosciences and plastics businesses delivers a broad range of technology-based products and solutions to customers in approximately 160 countries and in high growth sectors such as electronics, water, energy, coatings and agriculture. In 2010, Dow had annual sales of $53.7 billion and employed approximately 50,000 people worldwide. The Company's more than 5,000 products are manufactured at 188 sites in 35 countries across the globe. References to "Dow" or the "Company" mean The Dow Chemical Company and its consolidated subsidiaries unless otherwise expressly noted. More information about Dow can be found at www.dow.com.