Research Projects

To date, NETI has funded 39 projects in pollution prevention research totaling approximately $4.0 million. Projects have involved 52 industry partners and 3 federal partners who have provided an additional $2.5 million in in-kind and direct support. NETI draws on research faculty from diverse disciplines, to date involving faculty from eight departments in three colleges on the Amherst campus - Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Civil & Environmental Engineering, Electrical & Computer Engineering, Mechanical & Industrial Engineering, Microbiology, Polymer Science & Engineering, and Environmental Health Sciences. Plans are underway to open the solicitation beyond the UMass Amherst campus.

To date, more than 550 students have benefited from NETI research projects as post-doctorates, graduate students, and undergraduates in the research lab and classroom.

Projects FY 2002

• Water-based Coatings for Cedar Siding: Use of a Lamellar Black Copolymer to Prevent Extraction of Tannins
  Dr. Surita Bhatia, Dept. of Chemical Engineering
• Application of Molecular Simulation Techniques to the Design of Poly (hydroxy alkanoate) Modified Plyurethanes: Miscibility and Property Control
  Dr. Shaw Ling Hsu, Dept. of Polymer Science & Engineering
• Mechanistic Predictions of PAC Pollutant Formation
  Dr. Phillip Westmoreland, Dept. of Chemical Engineering
• Fabrication of a Tunable Molecular-Sieve/ Polymer Composite Membrane and its Use in Oxygen Enrichment of Air Streams (Phase II)
  Dr. Michael Tsapatsis and Dr. H. Henning Winter, Dept. of Chemical Engineering
• Zero Discharge in the Textile Industry: Phase II Scale-up and Implementation of Ozonation and Electrochemical Treatment (Phase II)
  Dr. Sarina Ergas, David Reckhow, Dr. David Pines, Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering
• Identification of Gel Materials for Quartz Crystal Microbalance Sensors that Monitor Metal and Ion-Contaminant Effluent Streams (Phase II)
  Dr. David A. Hoagland, Chemical Engineering
• The Use of Additives To Increase the Mechanical Properties of Parts Produced Via High-Temperature High-Pressure Sintering of Waste Rubber Powder (Phase II)
  Dr. Richard J. Farris and Dr. Drew E. Williams, Dept. of Polymer Science & Engineering
• Environmentally-Conscious Lubrication for Superfinishing (Phase II)
  Dr. Stephen Malkin, Dept. of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering
• Development of High Value Added End Products Based on Cyclic Polyester Oligomers Made From Recycling of Waste Polyesters
  Dr. William J. MacKnight, Dept. of Polymer Science & Engineering

Complete List of NETI Research Projects, Partners, and Research Applications