{"625894":{"#nid":"625894","#data":{"type":"news","title":"College of Sciences Grad Students Shine in Carbon Reduction Challenge","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EEditors Note: This story is an abridged version of an article by Kelsey Abernathy and Selena Perrin \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.scheller.gatech.edu\/centers-initiatives\/ray-c-anderson-center-for-sustainable-business\/news\/articles\/Students-Champion-Workplace-Sustainability-in-the-Third-CRC.html\u0022\u003Epublished originally on Aug. 29, 2019\u003C\/a\u003E, by the Scheller College of Business. A different headline\u0026nbsp;was set for\u0026nbsp;the College of Sciences audience.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHow do you stop millions of pounds of heat-trapping CO2 from ever being emitted? In Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s Summer 2019 Carbon Reduction Challenge, student interns used their ingenuity to identify opportunities for scalable carbon reduction projects at a wide variety of partnering organizations. In doing so, they delivered large energy and cost savings to their employers.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOver the 10-week challenge, the students benefited from frequent coaching sessions led by faculty co-directors Kim Cobb, Director of the Global Change Program and professor in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences,\u0026nbsp;and Beril Toktay, Director of the Ray C. Anderson Center for Sustainable Business and professor in the Scheller College of Business.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ENow in its third year, the internship-based Challenge has resulted in a total of over 30 million pounds of avoided CO2 emissions while delivering hundreds of thousands of dollars in avoided energy costs to partner organizations. In this year\u0026rsquo;s Challenge, 45 students from Georgia Tech, Agnes Scott College, Clemson University, Emory University, Georgia State University, and the University of Georgia competed for prizes provided by the Sheth Foundation.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOn August 13, students presented their Summer 2019 projects to the general public and key industry leaders at the Challenge\u0026rsquo;s Summer Poster Expo at the Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business. Partnering organizations included Agnes Scott College, AT\u0026amp;T, Boeing, Emory University, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Jacobs Engineering, Michaud Cooley Erickson, and SunTrust Banks.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe top prize of $5,000 was awarded to Georgia Tech College of Sciences students Rebecca Guth-Metzler, Brooke Mancinelli-Rothschild, and Priyam Raut, who worked to implement a number of energy-saving initiatives in the Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience Building. Working with Georgia Tech Facilities, they replaced fluorescent light bulbs with LED bulbs and created a system for bundling energy-intensive autoclave loads. When fully implemented, their proposed changes will result in over 250,000 pounds of CO\u003Csub\u003E2\u003C\/sub\u003E\u0026nbsp;reductions per year.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Our scientific research requires that we work in labs that are energy-intensive,\u0026rdquo; the team said. \u0026ldquo;We saw the Carbon Reduction Challenge as an opportunity to advocate for updates to our lab building and to lead the way toward more environmentally friendly lab practices.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe second prize went to a team that developed a proactive plan to recycle aluminum in\u0026nbsp;SunTrust signage that will need to be replaced as the company rebrands following its merger with BB\u0026amp;T. This project will save 1.2 million pounds of CO\u003Csub\u003E2\u003C\/sub\u003E\u0026nbsp;and generate a revenue of $125,000.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETwo projects tied for third place. One is a project to upgrade dozens of outdoor lighting fixtures to LEDs at Michaud Cooley Erickson in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which will save 62,000 pounds of CO\u003Csub\u003E2\u003C\/sub\u003E\u0026nbsp;and $5,500 per year. The other project was a proposal for a more efficient lighting schedule for sprawling buildings at the Boeing campus in Seattle, Washington, which will translate to a savings of 6 million pounds of CO\u003Csub\u003E2\u003C\/sub\u003E\u0026nbsp;and $700,000 per year. Honorable mentions were awarded to projects with Agnes Scott College, Jacobs Engineering, and SunTrust Banks.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EStudent interns\u0026rsquo; innovative work at the Poster Expo illustrated that employees do not need to have \u0026ldquo;sustainability\u0026rdquo; in their job title in order to be successful climate champions at work. \u0026ldquo;The Carbon Reduction Challenge is a particularly innovative real-world learning opportunity,\u0026rdquo; said Andrea Pinabell, President of Southface Institute, who served as a judge. \u0026ldquo;It equips students for success in an era of increasing interest in sustainable and climate-driven solutions.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003ETop Three Teams\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFirst Place ($5000)\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cem\u003EGeorgia Tech Labs Project\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nRebecca Guth-Metzler (Biochemistry, second-year PhD student)\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nBrooke Mancinelli-Rothschiled (Biochemistry, second-year PhD student)\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nPriyam Raut (Bioinformatics, MS \u0026rsquo;20)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESecond Place ($3000)\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cem\u003ESunTrust Banks Project\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nNicholas Loprinzo (Industrial and Systems Engineering, BS \u0026rsquo;20)\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nRaina Parikh (double major: Business Administration, International Affairs and Modern Languages; BS \u0026rsquo;21)\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nSarah Poersch (Business Administration, BS \u0026rsquo;19)\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nHongyangyang Shi (Analytics, MS \u0026rsquo;19)\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAthara Vaidya (Georgia State University, Analytics, MS \u0026rsquo;19)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThird Place (tie, $1000 each)\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cem\u003EBoeing Project\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nKian Halim (Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, BS \u0026rsquo;21)\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nLouis Hou (Business Administration, BS \u0026rsquo;20)\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nSam Shapiro (Computer Science, BS \u0026rsquo;20)\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nChris Wink (Business Administration, BS \u0026rsquo;20)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cem\u003EMichaud Cooley Erickson Project\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nNic Fite (Electrical Engineering, BS \u0026rsquo;22)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Team proposed energy-savings initiatives for the Institute of Bioengineering and Bioscience Building"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThree College of Sciences graduate students won first prize in the 2019 Carbon Reduction Challenge. They proposed energy-saving initiatives for the Institute of\u0026nbsp; Bioengineering and Bioscience Building.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Team proposed energy-savings initiatives for the Institute of Bioengineering and Bioscience Building."}],"uid":"30678","created_gmt":"2019-09-09 20:38:06","changed_gmt":"2019-09-09 20:53:17","author":"A. Maureen Rouhi","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2019-09-11T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2019-09-11T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"625896":{"id":"625896","type":"image","title":"All smiles for first prize. From left: Kim Cobb, Brook Rothschild-Mancinelli, Rebecca Guth-Metzler, and Beril Toktay. Team member Priyam Raut is not pictured.","body":null,"created":"1568062213","gmt_created":"2019-09-09 20:50:13","changed":"1568062213","gmt_changed":"2019-09-09 20:50:13","alt":"","file":{"fid":"238290","name":"2019 Carbon REduction Challenge.FirstPrize.sq_.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/2019%20Carbon%20REduction%20Challenge.FirstPrize.sq_.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/2019%20Carbon%20REduction%20Challenge.FirstPrize.sq_.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":654656,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/2019%20Carbon%20REduction%20Challenge.FirstPrize.sq_.jpg?itok=jUNZEZrY"}}},"media_ids":["625896"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"364801","name":"EAS"},{"id":"1275","name":"School of Biological Sciences"},{"id":"85951","name":"School of Chemistry and Biochemistry"}],"categories":[{"id":"154","name":"Environment"}],"keywords":[{"id":"182282","name":"2019 Carbon Reduction Challenge Winners"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maureen.rouhi@cos.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaureen.rouhi@cos.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["maureen.rouhi@cos.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}