For the previous decade, the Abdul Latif Jameel Water and Meals Techniques Lab (J-WAFS) has been instrumental in selling pupil engagement throughout the Institute to assist remedy the world’s most urgent water and meals system challenges. As a part of J-WAFS’ central mission of securing the world’s water and meals provide, J-WAFS goals to domesticate the subsequent technology of leaders within the water and meals sectors by encouraging MIT pupil involvement by way of quite a lot of applications and mechanisms that present analysis funding, mentorship, and different forms of assist.
J-WAFS affords a variety of alternatives for each undergraduate and graduate college students to have interaction within the development of water and meals techniques analysis. These embody graduate pupil fellowships, journey grants for participation in conferences, funding for analysis initiatives in India, video competitions highlighting college students’ water and meals analysis, and assist for student-led organizations and initiatives targeted on vital areas in water and meals.
As J-WAFS enters its second decade, it continues to show college students throughout the Institute to experiential hands-on water and meals analysis, profession and different networking alternatives, and a platform to develop their revolutionary and collaborative options.
Graduate pupil fellowships
In 2017, J-WAFS inaugurated two graduate pupil fellowships: the Rasikbhai L. Meswani Fellowship for Water Options and the J-WAFS Graduate Scholar Fellowship Program. The Rasikbhai L. Meswani Fellowship for Water Options is a doctoral fellowship for college kids pursuing analysis associated to water for human want at MIT. The fellowship is made potential by Elina and Nikhil Meswani and household. Every year, as much as two excellent college students are chosen to obtain fellowship assist for one educational semester. By way of it, J-WAFS seeks to assist distinguished MIT college students who’re pursuing options to the urgent international water provide challenges of our time. The J-WAFS Fellowship for Water and Meals Options is funded by the J-WAFS Analysis Affiliate Program, which affords corporations the chance to collaborate with MIT on water and meals analysis. A portion of every analysis affiliate’s charges helps this fellowship.
Aditya Avinash Ghodgaonkar, a PhD pupil within the Division of Mechanical Engineering (MechE), displays on how receiving a J-WAFS graduate pupil fellowship positively impacted his analysis on the design of low-cost emitters for inexpensive, resilient drip irrigation for farmers: “My J-WAFS fellowship gave me the pliability and monetary assist wanted to discover new instructions within the space of clog-resistant drip irrigation that had the next danger factor which may not have been possible to handle on an industrially sponsored undertaking,” Ghodgaonkar explains. Emitters, which management the amount and circulation fee of water used throughout irrigation, typically clog because of small particles like sand. Ghodgaonkar labored with Professor Amos Winter, and with farmers in resource-constrained communities in international locations like Jordan and Morocco, to develop an emitter that’s mechanically extra proof against clogging. Ghodgaonkar studies that their energy-efficient, compact, clog-resistant drip emitters are being commercialized by Toro and could also be obtainable for retail within the subsequent few years. The alternatives and funding assist Ghodgaonkar has obtained from J-WAFS contributed enormously to his entrepreneurial success and the development of the water and agricultural sectors.
Linzixuan (Rhoda) Zhang, a PhD pupil suggested by Professor Robert Langer and Principal Analysis Scientist Ana Jaklenec of the Division of Chemical Engineering, was a 2022 J-WAFS Graduate Scholar Fellow. With the fellowship, Zhang was in a position to give attention to her revolutionary analysis on a novel micronutrient supply platform that fortifies meals with important nutritional vitamins and vitamins. “We consumption micronutrients from principally all of the wholesome meals that we eat; nonetheless, around the globe there are about 2 billion individuals at the moment affected by micronutrient deficiency as a result of they don’t have entry to very wholesome, very contemporary meals,” Zhang says. Her analysis entails the event of biodegradable polymers that may ship these micronutrients in harsh environments in underserved areas of the world. “Vitamin A will not be very secure, for instance; we now have vitamin A in several greens however once we cook dinner them, the vitamin can simply degrade,” Zhang explains. Nonetheless, when vitamin A is encapsulated within the microparticle platform, simulation of boiling and of the abdomen surroundings reveals that vitamin A was stabilized. “The significant components behind this experiment are actual,” says Zhang. The J-WAFS Fellowship helped place Zhang to win the 2024 Collegiate Inventors Competitors for this work.
J-WAFS grant for water and meals initiatives in India
J-WAFS India Grants are meant to additional the work being pursued by MIT people as part of their analysis, innovation, entrepreneurship, coursework, or associated actions. School, analysis workers, and undergraduate and graduate college students are eligible to use. This system goals to assist initiatives that may profit low-income communities in India, and facilitates journey and different bills associated to immediately participating with these communities.
Gokul Sampath, a PhD pupil within the Division of City Research and Planning, and Jonathan Bessette, a PhD pupil in MechE, initially met by way of J-WAFS-sponsored convention journey, and found their mutual curiosity in the issue of arsenic in water in India. Collectively, they developed a cross-disciplinary proposal that obtained a J-WAFS India Grant. Their undertaking is learning how ladies in rural India make selections about the place they fetch water for his or her households, and the way these selections affect publicity to groundwater contaminants like naturally-occurring arsenic. Particularly, they’re creating low-cost distant sensors to higher perceive water-fetching practices. The grant is enabling Sampath and Bessette to equip Indian households with sensor-enabled water assortment units (“good buckets”) that may present them information about fetching practices in arsenic-affected villages. By demonstrating the efficacy of a sensor-based method, the group hopes to deal with a significant information hole in worldwide improvement. “It is because of applications just like the Jameel Water and Meals Techniques Lab that I used to be in a position to receive the assist for interdisciplinary work on connecting water safety, public well being, and regional planning in India,” says Sampath.
J-WAFS journey grants for water conferences
Along with funding graduate pupil analysis, J-WAFS additionally supplies grants for graduate college students to attend water conferences worldwide. Usually, college students will solely obtain journey funding to attend conferences the place they’re presenting their analysis. Nonetheless, the J-WAFS journey grants assist studying, networking, and profession exploration alternatives for distinctive MIT graduate college students who’re concerned about a profession within the water sector, whether or not in academia, nonprofits, authorities, or business.
Catherine Lu ’23, MNG ’24 was awarded a 2023 Journey Grant to attend the UNC Water and Well being Convention in North Carolina. The convention serves as a curated house for policymakers, practitioners, and researchers to convene and assess information, scrutinize scientific findings, and improve new and present methods for increasing entry to and provision of companies for water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH). Lu, who studied civil and environmental engineering, labored with Professor Dara Entekhabi on modeling and predicting droughts in Africa utilizing satellite tv for pc Soil Moisture Lively Passive (SMAP) information. As she evaluated her analysis trajectory and profession choices within the water sector, Lu discovered the convention to be informative and enlightening. “I used to be in a position to broaden my information on all of the sectors and points which are associated to water and the implications they’ve on my analysis subject.” Moreover, she notes: “I used to be actually impressed by the varied vary of folks that have been in a position to attend the convention. The worldwide perspective provided on the convention offered a helpful context for understanding the challenges and successes of various areas around the globe — from WASH schooling in faculties in Zimbabwe and India to rural water entry disparities in the US … Having the ability to have interaction with such passionate and devoted individuals has motivated me to proceed progress on this sector.” Following commencement, Lu secured a place as a water assets engineer at CDM Smith, an engineering and development agency.
Daniela Morales, a grasp’s pupil in metropolis planning within the Division of City Research and Planning, was a 2024 J-WAFS Journey Grant recipient who attended World Water Week in Stockholm, Sweden. The annual international convention is organized by the Stockholm Worldwide Water Institute and convenes main specialists, decision-makers, and professionals within the water sector to actively have interaction in discussions and developments addressing vital water-related challenges. Morales’ analysis pursuits contain ingesting water high quality and entry in rural and peri-urban areas affected by local weather change impacts, the consequences of municipal water shutoffs on marginalized communities, and the connection between regional water administration and public well being outcomes. When reflecting on her expertise on the convention, Morales writes: “Being a part of this occasion has given me a lot motivation to proceed my skilled and educational journey in water administration because it pertains to public well being and metropolis planning … There was a lot vitality that was collectively generated within the convention, and so many new concepts that I used to be in a position to course of round my very own profession pursuits and my function as a future planner in water administration, that the final day of the convention felt much less like an ending and extra of the start of a brand new chapter. I’m excited to take all the knowledge I realized to work in direction of my very own analysis, and proceed to construct relationships with all the brand new contacts I made.” Morales additionally notes that with out the assist of the J-WAFS grant, “I’d not have had the chance to make it to Stockholm and take part in such a singular week of water knowledge.”
Seed grants and Options grants
J-WAFS affords seed grants for early-stage analysis and Options Grants for later-stage analysis that is able to transfer from the lab to the industrial world. Proposals for each forms of grants have to be submitted and led by an MIT principal investigator, however graduate college students, and generally undergraduates, are sometimes supported by these grants.
Arjav Shah, a PhD-MBA pupil in MIT’s Division of Chemical Engineering and the MIT Sloan College of Administration, is at the moment pursuing the commercialization of a water therapy know-how that was first supported by way of a 2019 J-WAFS seed grant after which a 2022 J-WAFS Options Grant with Professor Patrick Doyle. The know-how makes use of hydrogels to take away a broad vary of micropollutants from water. The Options funding allows entrepreneurial college students and postdocs to put the groundwork to commercialize a know-how by assessing use eventualities and exploring enterprise wants with precise potential clients. “With J-WAFS’ assist, we weren’t solely in a position to scale up the know-how, but additionally achieve a deeper understanding of market wants and develop a robust enterprise case,” says Shah. Shah and the Options group have found that the hydrogels could possibly be utilized in a number of real-world contexts, starting from large-scale industrial use to small-scale, moveable, off-grid purposes. “We’re extremely grateful to J-WAFS for his or her assist, notably in fostering business connections and facilitating introductions to traders, potential clients, and specialists,” Shah provides.
Shah was additionally a 2023 J-WAFS Journey Grant awardee who attended Stockholm World Water Week that yr. He says, “J-WAFS has performed a pivotal function in each my educational journey at MIT and my entrepreneurial pursuits. J-WAFS assist has helped me develop each as a scientist and an aspiring entrepreneur. The publicity and alternatives offered have allowed me to develop vital abilities resembling buyer discovery, monetary modeling, enterprise improvement, fundraising, and storytelling — all important for translating know-how into real-world affect. These experiences offered invaluable insights into what it takes to convey a know-how from the lab to market.”
Shah is at the moment main efforts to spin out an organization to commercialize the hydrogel analysis. Since receiving J-WAFS assist, the group has made main strides towards launching a startup firm, together with successful the Pillar VC Moonshot Prize, Cleantech Open Nationwide Grand Prize, MassCEC Catalyst Award, and participation within the NSF I-Corps Nationwide Program.
J-WAFS pupil video competitions
J-WAFS has hosted two video competitions: MIT Analysis for a Water Safe Future and MIT Analysis for a Meals Safe Future, in honor of World Water Day and Phrase Meals Day, respectively. In these competitions, college students are tasked with creating authentic movies showcasing their revolutionary water and meals analysis carried out at MIT. The chance is open to MIT college students, postdocs, and up to date alumni.
Following a evaluation by a distinguished panel of judges, Vishnu Jayaprakash SM ’19, PhD ’22 gained first place within the 2022 J-WAFS World Meals Day Scholar Video Competitors for his video targeted on eliminating pesticide air pollution and waste. Jayaprakash delved into the science behind AgZen-Cloak, a brand new technology of agricultural sprays that stops pesticides from bouncing off of vegetation and seeping into the bottom, thus inflicting dangerous runoff. The J-WAFS competitors offered Jayaprakash with a platform to focus on the common, low-cost, and environmentally sustainable advantages of AgZen-Cloak. Jayaprakash labored on comparable know-how as a funded pupil on a J-WAFS Options grant with Professor Kripa Varanasi. The Options grant, in reality, helped Jayaprakash and Varanasi to launch AgZen, an organization that deploys AgZen-Cloak and different merchandise and applied sciences to regulate the interactions of droplets and sprays with crop surfaces. AgZen is at the moment serving to farmers sustainably are inclined to their agricultural plots whereas additionally defending the surroundings.
In 2021, Hilary Johnson SM ’18, PhD ’22, gained first place within the J-WAFS World Water Day video competitors. Her video highlighted her work on a novel pump that makes use of adaptive hydraulics for improved pump effectivity. The pump was a part of a sponsored analysis undertaking with Xylem Inc., a J-WAFS Analysis Affiliate firm, and Professor Alex Slocum of MechE. On the time, Johnson was a PhD pupil in Slocum’s lab. She was instrumental within the improvement of the pump by engineering the volute to broaden and contract to fulfill altering system circulation charges. Johnson went on to later turn out to be a 2021-22 J-WAFS Fellow, and is now a full-time mechanical engineer on the Lawrence Livermore Nationwide Laboratory.
J-WAFS-supported pupil golf equipment
J-WAFS-supported pupil golf equipment present members of the MIT pupil group the chance for networking {and professional} development by way of occasions targeted on water and meals techniques subjects.
J-WAFS is a sponsor of the MIT Water Membership, a student-led group that helps and promotes the engagement of the MIT group in water-sector-related activism, dissemination of knowledge, and analysis innovation. The membership permits college students to spearhead the group of conferences, lectures, outreach occasions, analysis showcases, and entrepreneurship competitions together with the previous MIT Water Innovation Prize and MIT Water Summit. J-WAFS not solely sponsors the MIT Water Membership financially, however affords mentorship and steering to the management group.
The MIT Meals and Agriculture Membership can also be supported by J-WAFS. The membership’s mission is to advertise the engagement of the MIT group in meals and agriculture-related subjects. In doing so, the scholars lead initiatives to share the revolutionary know-how and enterprise options researchers are creating in meals and agriculture techniques. J-WAFS assists within the connection of passionate MIT college students with those that are actively working within the meals and agriculture business past the Institute. From 2015 to 2022, J-WAFS additionally helped the membership co-produce the Rabobank-MIT Meals and Agribusiness Innovation Prize — a pupil marketing strategy competitors for meals and agricultural startups.
From 2023 onward, the MIT Water Membership and the MIT Meals and Ag Membership have been becoming a member of forces to arrange a mixed prize competitors: The MIT Water, Meals and Agriculture (WFA) Innovation Prize. The WFA Innovation Prize is a marketing strategy competitors for student-led startups targeted on any area or market. The groups current enterprise plans involving a know-how, product, service, or course of that’s aimed toward fixing an issue associated to water, meals, or agriculture. The competitors encourages all approaches to innovation, from engineering and product design to coverage and information analytics. The purpose of the competitors is to assist rising entrepreneurs translate analysis and concepts into companies, entry mentors and assets, and construct networks within the water, meals, and agriculture industries. J-WAFS affords monetary and in-kind assist, working with pupil leaders to plan, manage, and implement the levels of the competitors by way of to the ultimate pitch occasion. This yr, J-WAFS is continuous to assist the WFA group, which is led by Ali Decker, an MBA pupil at MIT Sloan, and Sam Jakshtis, a grasp’s pupil in MIT’s science in actual property improvement program. The ultimate pitch occasion will happen on April 30 within the MIT Media Lab.
“I’ve had the chance to work with Renee Robins, govt director of J-WAFS, on MIT’s Water, Meals and Agriculture Innovation Prize for the previous two years, and it has been each immensely helpful and a delight to have her assist,” says Decker. “Renee has helped us in all areas of prize planning: brainstorming new concepts, considering by way of startup finalist choice, connecting to potential sponsors and companions, and extra. Above all, she helps us with ardour and pleasure; every time we meet, I sit up for our dialogue,” Decker provides.
J-WAFS occasions
All year long, J-WAFS goals to supply occasions that may have interaction any within the MIT pupil group who’re working in water or meals techniques. For instance, on April 19, 2023, J-WAFS teamed up with the MIT Power Initiative (MITEI) and the Environmental Options Initiative (ESI) to co-host an MIT pupil poster session for Earth Month. The theme of the poster session was “MIT analysis for a altering planet,” and it featured work from 11 MIT college students with initiatives in water, meals, vitality, and the surroundings. The scholars, who represented a variety of MIT departments, labs, and facilities, have been available to debate their initiatives and have interaction with these attending the occasion. Attendees might vote for his or her favourite poster after being requested to contemplate which poster most clearly communicated the analysis drawback and the potential answer. On the finish of the evening, votes have been tallied and the winner of the “Individuals’s Selection Award” for greatest poster was Elaine Liu ’24, an undergraduate in arithmetic on the time of the occasion. Liu’s poster featured her work on managing failure cascades in techniques with wind energy.
J-WAFS additionally hosts less-structured pupil networking occasions. As an illustration, throughout MIT’s Impartial Actions Interval (IAP) in January 2024, J-WAFS hosted an ice cream social for pupil networking. The casual occasion was a chance for graduate and undergraduate college students from throughout the Institute to fulfill and mingle with like-minded friends working in, or concerned about, water and meals techniques. College students have been in a position to clarify their present and future analysis, pursuits, and initiatives and ask questions whereas exchanging concepts, participating with each other, and probably forming collaborations, or on the very least sharing insights.
Looking forward to 10 extra years of pupil affect
Over the previous decade, J-WAFS has demonstrated a robust dedication to empowering college students within the water and meals sectors, fostering an surroundings the place they will confidently drive significant change and innovation. PhD pupil Jonathan Bessette sums up the J-WAFS group as a “one-of-a-kind group that allows important analysis in water and meals that in any other case wouldn’t be pursued. It’s one of these analysis that isn’t typically the main target of main funding, but has such a robust affect in sustainable improvement.”
J-WAFS goals to offer college students with the assist and instruments they should conduct genuine and significant water and food-related analysis that may profit communities around the globe. This assist, coupled with an MIT schooling, allows college students to turn out to be leaders in sustainable water and meals techniques. Because the second decade of J-WAFS programming begins, the J-WAFS group stays dedicated to fostering pupil collaboration throughout the Institute, driving revolutionary options to revitalize the world’s water and meals techniques whereas empowering the subsequent technology of pioneers in these vital fields.