Page 7 - CEGE Spring 2023

• MICHAEL LEVIN “School Times Impact on Students Walking or Biking to School: Safe Routes to School,” sponsored by MnDOT, and “Impacts of Shared Mobility on Infrastructure usage, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, and Accessibility,” sponsored by LLRB
The U.S. DOT awarded $15 million to the U of Michigan and a team of nine Midwestern research partners, including the U of M Center for Transportation Studies (CTS), to help lead the transition to connected and automated vehicles (CAVs). Zhi-Li Zhang (Computer Science and Engineering) and CTS associate director Gina Baas will lead the UMN team; RAPHAEL STERN is one of the researchers.
The CENTER ON GEO-PROCESSES IN MINERAL CARBON STORAGE (GMCS), one of the University of Minnesota’s
two Energy Frontier Research Centers, was established in August 2022 to develop the fundamental science and engineering capability in support of large-scale subsurface storage of CO2 via mineralization. The Center, directed by Emmanuel Detournay, brings together researchers from UMN, Georgia Institute of Technology, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Northwestern University, and University of Southampton.
GMCS is busy assembling the team, which now consists of 16 senior investigators, ten postdocs, eight graduate students, three undergraduate students, and an administrator. The
researchers have been meeting and holding seminars on the three themes of the center, with each covering a distinct length scale of the subsurface processes: porous medium scale, fracture-porous medium scale, and fracture network scale.
In early May 2023, GMCS will host the DOE CO2 Mineralization Workshop on the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus. The workshop will include talks and attendees from academia, national laboratories, Department
of Energy, United States Geological Society, and the private sector. GMCS is also planning their annual meeting in late July 2023 with members of the GMCS community and their Scientific Advisory Board in attendance.
Read news online at https://cse.umn.edu/cege/news
The new CIRCULARITY IMPACT PROGRAM, funded by the NSF for five years, is well underway in planning programs, recruiting students, and launching a new class on the circular economy. This interdisciplinary program brings students and faculty together from engineering, science, urban planning, and public policy to study and research the circular use of water, energy, and materials. Graduate students are applying to the program now to join a cohort in Fall 2023 when they will take core classes, participate
in skills development workshops, work with the program’s Artist in Residence Gudrun Lock, and participate in internships related to their research. In the fall, a cohort
of graduate students and their faculty advisors will come together to officially kick off this exciting new program.
The inaugural offering of the class Introduction to Circularity Systems is being taught this spring semester. Twenty-six students enrolled in the course, representing undergraduates and graduate students from engineering and policy. Bill Arnold and Gudrun Lock are co-teaching and helping students expand their perspectives while learning about the science and policy behind circular economies.
In addition to educating students and building strong relationships within UMN and beyond, an aim of the
first five years of the program is to equip the program
to serve UMN and the community for years to come. Opportunities are open for graduate students and for industry partners who would like to establish internships or work experiences in future summers. To learn more, visit circularity.umn.edu or reach out to the Program Coordinator at circularity@umn.edu.
University of Minnesota College of Science and Engineering | DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL, ENVIRONMENTAL, AND GEO- ENGINEERING 7
CEGENEWS CONT ...