 |
|||||||||||||||
       |
 |
 Outreach SEE ALSO: UGA Engineering Outreach Service
June 2008
Natalia Argentina Montenegro Garcia and Ulises Cesar Triana Dominguez, Biochemical Engineering students from Universidad Autónoma de Coahuila in Torreon, have completed their UGA visit as part of a grant from the USAID Training, Internships, Exchanges and Scholarships Initiative.
DOWNLOAD: Read the article from UGA Columns, "UGA-Mexico TIES Symposium Highlights New Sustainable Development Strategies," about the April 2008 one-day meeting of faculty and students from UGA and Mexico working in specific areas of waste management and biofuel production in the poultry and livestock industries, part of a USAID TIES partnership.
April 2008
Five faculty from biochemical engineering and agricultural engineering at the Universidad Autonoma de Coahuila in Torreon and the Universidad Autonoma Agraria Antonia Narro in Saltillo, Mexico will visit UGA between April 15 and 25, 2008. This visit is part of an educational partnership between these universities through the TIES—Training, Internships, Education and Scholarship program. The program is funded through Higher Education for Development (HED) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Presently two interns from Coahuila are spending five months at UGA training in various aspects of biochemical engineering. The faculty visit will include a symposium on April 17 (see next story), meetings with faculty counterparts at UGA, a workshop on sustainable biofuels in Tennessee, and tours of various UGA research facilities.
April 2008
Join us April 17, 2008 at Driftmier Auditorium, Driftmier Engineering Center, University of Georgia, for this symposium held in conjunction with a TIES faculty exchange. The TIES initiative, funded by USAID with Higher Education for Development, allows universities in the United States and Mexico to form educational exchange partnerships for the purpose of creating economic and social growth in Mexico. For more details on the symposium please contact K.C. Das at kdas@engr.uga.edu. Speaker schedule can be downloaded here.
February 2008
Two students from Mexico have arrived to complete a five month internship that will incorporate lab experience in anaerobic digestion, field visits, and an outreach component.
Natalia Argentina Montenegro Garcia and Ulises Cesar Triana Dominguez are both from Universidad Autónoma de Coahuila in Torreon, and are visiting UGA as part of a grant from the USAID Training, Internships, Exchanges and Scholarships Initiative.
Krystyna Malinska, Ph.D., a researcher at the Institute of Environmental Engineering at Czestochowa University of Technology, Poland, was selected for the 2007 Norman E. Borlaug International Agricultural Science and Technology Fellows Program. The primary goal of this program is provision of training and collaborative research opportunities in international agricultural science, leadership and policy for Polish scientists, faculty and policy makers. For 2007 the main focus of the program is the development of cellulose-based biomass for biofuels and production of ethanol.
Krystyna is spending five weeks at the Biorefining and Carbon Cycling Program laboratories at UGA. The main aim of her research project, mentored by Dr. K.C. Das, is production of ethanol from ligninocellulosic biomass (e.g. forest residues, variety of grasses, biodegradable fraction of municipal waste, etc.) with special focus on the pretreatment technologies, such as acid and enzymatic hydrolysis, supercritical extraction, and ozonation. Additionally, she is learning about the fuel economy in the USA, regulations and incentives for biofuels production, and also cost-effectiveness of biofuel production in the USA.
DOWNLOAD: Amphol Aworn, Ph.D. student in Environmental Technology from the Joint Graduate School of Energy and Environment, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi, Thailand, is spending six months at the Biorefining and Carbon Cycling Program laboratories at UGA. He is a visiting scientist through a scholarship from the Royal Golden Jubilee (RGJ) Ph.D. Program under Thailand Research Fund.
He is conducting research on methods for preparation of activated carbon from corncob and bagasse bottom ash and using it for ethylene glycol adsorption. The objective of the work is to study possibility for biomass derived activated carbon and substitute commercial activated carbon (made from coconut-shell). Additionally he is developing an understanding of the mechanism of adsorption for ethylene glycol by this activated carbon.
While at the Biorefining and Carbon Cycling Program laboratories, Amphol is working on preparation and upgrading of bio-oil from corncob and coir fiber. He says "In the future, I am very interested in the development and implementation of bio-oil as coproduct while developing activated carbon production processes. I think this program at UGA will enrich my technical skills and knowledge of thermochemical processes." From UGA Office of Public Affairs Livestock production worldwide has grown rapidly in light of increased demand for meat in developing countries. The potential for rural economic development and threats of environmental degradation alike have grown alongside the need for new sources of bioenergy. New energy sources from waste streams within the industry is one way engineers have determined to fuse these three aspects into one route for competitive advantage and sustainable growth. The confluence of engineering technology with agricultural economics is a UGA strength that created the context for the new partnership.
The project, "Integrated Waste Management with Energy Production for Increased Competitiveness of the Livestock Industry in Northeast Mexico," is designed to provide Mexico's current and future agricultural professionals the skills needed to analyze and support sustainable management of resources at the interface of agriculture and the environment. Along with Das, co-P.I.'s for the grant represent UGA's Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
The University of Georgia partnership with the Universidad Autónoma de Coahuila (UAC), Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León (UANL), and Universidad Autónoma Agraria Antonio Narro (UAAAN) will sponsor a demand-driven, integrated and interdisciplinary program of training and technical support to the livestock industry in the Laguna region of Mexico. The program will provide scholarships for 18 students from Mexico and sponsor faculty exchanges of 12 Mexican faculty visiting the U.S and 10 UGA faculty visiting Mexico over a two year period.
"The growth of the livestock industry across our border has many implications for the U.S.," said Dale Threadgill, Director of the UGA Faculty of Engineering. "We look forward to sharing and expanding our bioenergy expertise through this program, and seeing this industry positively affect the economy and the environment."
The program will target technology and business policy relating to integrated waste management that is cost-effective and will provide additional income through co-product generation from waste treatment. One aspect of the grant will integrate new innovations in animal waste treatment with the production of biofuels and bioenergy. In addition, the program will develop and analyze public policy, with a goal of regulatory regimes that improve productivity and competitiveness in the livestock sector.
"With this HED grant, students will come here to gain insights and training in engineering technology connected to managing and converting waste to energy in the livestock sector," said K.C. Das, UGA Engineering professor, who will direct the program at UGA. "I am excited about it—grant funds will support education of graduate and undergraduate students at UGA, and training of research and outreach faculty in Mexico and at our institution," he said.
Joint training programs and workshops in the partnership will be organized by UGA-Mexican partner universities for students, faculty, government officials, and regulatory board officials, as well as livestock industry personnel. Participants will focus on animal waste—using it to grow algae in the production of biodiesel, or anaerobically digesting it to produce methane, for example—and the fuels that can be generated from waste materials.
The UGA Faculty of Engineering was established in 2001 to advance comprehensive engineering at the University of Georgia. With over 100 members from twenty-four departments in nine schools and colleges across campus, the Faculty of Engineering provides an entrepreneurial setting for engineering academic programs in the unique environment of UGA. For more information, visit www.engineering.uga.edu. This program is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Higher Education for Development (HED) office. The contents are the responsibility of the University of Georgia and do not necessarily reflect the views of HED, USAID or the United States Government. |
|
||||||||||||
The University of Georgia is one of five successful recipients of a USAID Training, Internships, Exchanges and Scholarships (TIES) Program grant, administered by Higher Education for Development (HED) and awarded in June 2007. The grant is for two years and provides $249,410 from HED, with a total project budget of $483,626 including university cost share. This partnership between UGA and three universities in northeast Mexico will receive funding for exchange of faculty, training of Mexican undergraduate and graduate students at UGA (including assistantship and travel), and conducting of educational workshops. Please follow the links below for additional details.
