TURI » Our Work » Research » Academic Research  

>>
Research
The requirement to have an industrial partner ensures that I have a reality check on the work – and while it means more effort up front to establish the right relationships, in the end this is really helpful because it allows me to have some confidence that what I’m doing is as practical and relevant to real-world needs as possible.
- Daniel Schmidt of UMass Lowell Plastics Engineering

Academic Research

Dr. Nagarajan inspects safer surfactant

Faculty Researches Safer Alternatives for Industry, Consumer Products and Institutional Needs

TURI awarded four research grants to UMass Lowell faculty for fiscal/academic year 2012:

  • Assistant Prof. Ramaswamy Nagarajan of Plastics Engineering is developing safer surfactants for laundry detergents.
  • Assistant Prof. Nancy Goodyear of Clinical Laboratories and Nutritional Sciences is evaluating disinfection in homes and hospitals.
  • Associate Prof. Daniel Schmidt of Plastics Engineering is developing and testing a safer formulation for adhesives based on plant oils and other less hazardous ingredients.
  • Associate Prof. Sanjeev Manohar of Chemical Engineering is developing safer flexible, transparent conducting films for electronic screen applications

Read the article "Faculty to Research Safer Ingredients in Everyday Products."

Seed Funding to Reduce Toxics

The Academic Research program is designed to connect research innovations of UMass to the challenges faced by Massachusetts businesses.  This research focuses on advancing the investigation, development and evaluation of technologies that are environmentally, occupationally and economically sound. 

*******************************************************************************************************************************

The 2013 Academic Year Request for Proposals for the Safer Alternatives Development Academic Research Grant Program now available.  Proposals due by May 29, 2012. Up to $25,000 is available to support research, with an emphasis on identifying and verifying safer alternatives to current uses of toxic chemicals in Massachusetts.  You can access the RFP here:

*******************************************************************************************************************************

Every year we provide seed funding to initiate research that will lead to new opportunities for companies to reduce their use of toxic chemicals. Since its inception in 1992 this program has provided over $1,300,000 in funding to UMass researchers, supporting more than 80 graduate and doctoral level students. The research has contributed to industry adoption of toxics use reduction, has resulted in patents and commercial products, and has contributed to TURI's goal of reducing the use of toxic chemicals to promote safer worker and environmental health.

Search our publications for academic research reports.

This page was updated, Tuesday May 01 2012