University of Chicago Partners with BGU to Advance Water Technology Research
University of Chicago Partners with BGU to Advance Water Technology Research
March 19, 2013
BEER-SHEVA, ISRAEL, March 19, 2013 – The University of Chicago and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) have signed an agreement to collaborate on new water production and purification technologies for deployment in regions of the globe where fresh water resources are scarce.
BGU President Rivka Carmi and University of Chicago President Robert J. Zimmer signed the memorandum of understanding in Chicago on March 8.
Located in the Negev desert, BGU is recognized as a world leader in water technologies and research in desert agriculture, water desalinization, water engineering, environmental hydrology, hydro-biology, and water resource economics.
“BGU has been at the forefront of advanced basic and applied water-related research for more than four decades and has developed a number of innovative technologies in the field,” Prof. Carmi said. “The collaboration with the University of Chicago will result in the development of new technologies for the benefit of people all over the world.”
UChicago and BGU researchers will meet next month in Beer-Sheva to begin discussing interdisciplinary collaborative water-related research projects of technical and societal significance. Joint activities may include the exchange of visiting faculty members, researchers and students; the development of funding proposals for collaborative work; and the creation of innovative commercial technologies and new business ventures.
“Increasing both the quantity and quality of water is one of the major engineering challenges of the 21st century,” Prof. Zimmer said.
“A collaborative research and technology center based in both Chicago and Beer-Sheva, focusing on the molecular aspects of water science and technology will result in a powerful new approach for addressing the various and pervasive challenges to the global water supply.”
Leading the collaboration for BGU is Moshe Gottlieb, Frankel Professor of Chemical Engineering. “In this collaboration we intend to take advantage of the great strides achieved over the last decade in nanotechnology, materials science, biology, and chemistry at both institutions,” says Gottlieb. “These new tools and insights afford a molecular-level approach to tackle an age-old human plight.”
Leading the Chicago side of the collaboration is Prof. Matthew Tirrell, the Pritzker Director of UChicago’s Institute for Molecular Engineering. Tirrell’s team will include scientists from Argonne National Laboratory, which UChicago manages for the United States Department of Energy.
“Water is the most fundamental molecule for sustaining all forms of life, but it is in dramatically short supply in many parts of the world,” Tirrell says. “Water in all parts of the world faces numerous threats, which in turn endanger human and economic health.”
The dangers include increased demand driven by energy production, agricultural runoff, and depletion and contamination of aquifers by salt water and by industrial, organic and biological toxins.
ABOUT AMERICANS FOR BEN-GURION UNIVERSITY
By supporting a world-class academic institution that not only nurtures the Negev, but also shares its expertise locally and globally, Americans for Ben-Gurion University engages a community of Americans who are committed to improving the world. David Ben-Gurion envisioned that Israel’s future would be forged in the Negev. The cutting-edge research carried out at Ben-Gurion University drives that vision by sustaining a desert Silicon Valley, with the “Stanford of the Negev” at its center. The Americans for Ben-Gurion University movement supports a 21st century unifying vision for Israel by rallying around BGU’s remarkable work and role as an apolitical beacon of light in the Negev desert.
About Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev embraces the endless potential we have as individuals and as a commonality to adapt and to thrive in changing environments. Inspired by our location in the desert, we aim to discover, to create, and to develop solutions to dynamic challenges, to pose questions that have yet to be asked, and to push beyond the boundaries of the commonly accepted and possible.
We are proud to be a central force for inclusion, diversity and innovation in Israel, and we strive to extend the Negev’s potential and our entrepreneurial spirit throughout the world. For example, the multi-disciplinary School for Sustainability and Climate Change at BGU leverages over 50 years of expertise on living and thriving in the desert into scalable solutions for people everywhere.
BGU at a glance:
20,000 students | 800 senior faculty | 3 campuses | 6 faculties: humanities & social sciences, health sciences, engineering sciences, natural sciences, business & management, and desert research.
For all press inquiries, please contact:
James Fattal, J Cubed Communications
516.289.1496
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