Energy & Environment Food & Water Public Health

Across the globe, engineering a healthier environment

Olympic Village in Beijing
Deteriorating air quality in parts of Asia, including India and China, is a huge global concern. The haze in this view of the Olympic Village in Beijing is just one example of conditions there. This summer, a group of faculty members from the School of Engineering and Applied Science traveled to both countries to tackle the massive problem. (Photo credit: Brent Williams)

In summer 2017, a group of aerosol scientists, engineers and administrators from Washington University in St. Louis traveled to Asia to address some of the important problems related to energy, environment and health that we face today. The scientists, members of the Center for Aerosol Science and Engineering — or CASE — took part in collaborative workshops at McDonnell Academy Global Energy and Environment Partnership (MAGEEP) institutions in Hong Kong, China and India. Their high-level presentations and brainstorming sessions were designed to share ideas to help combat air-quality problems — both in Asia and around the world.

2017 Asia Outreach participants

Dean Aaron Bobick
Richard Axelbaum
Nick Benassi
Pratim Biswas
Rajan Chakrabarty
Rudy Husar
Tao Ju
Vijay Ramani
Jay Turner
Brent Williams

Several formal partnerships also were forged with Washington University’s School of Engineering & Applied Science and allied universities during the trip, including a new collaboration with Tsinghua University in Beijing. The schools will work together on research and student programs designed to address some of the world’s most pressing problems.

Four of the faculty members from the School of Engineering & Applied Science who were on the trip shared their summer experiences and takeaways from the experience in their own words. Read the full article, with their insights, in the Source.