Author: Corrie A. Harris

Corrie A. Harris is the Assistant Director for the Hunter and Stephanie Hunt Institute for Engineering & Humanity. Harris manages the design, implementation, and growth of the Global Development Lab's project portfolio. She has significant experience in operational excellence for organizations focused on poverty alleviation, both locally and globally. Harris has also worked across various sectors, including academia, international government relations, nonprofit organizations, entrepreneurial ventures, and for-profit institutions.
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March 10, 2022 ImpactNights™ – Women of Impact: Leading Change in our Global Society

March 10, 2022 ImpactMaps™ Women of Impact: Leading Change in our Global Society

 

In celebration of Women’s History Month, Hunt Institute hosted its first in-person event of the academic year on March 10, titled “Women of Impact: Leading Change in Our Global Society.” The event was attended by about 40 guests and is the latest installment in HI’s ImpactNights series, designed to build awareness, collaboration, and empowerment to lead change in a global society.

Led by Dr. Eva Csaky, Executive Director of Hunt Institute, and Corrie Harris, Assistant Director at Hunt Institute, the event celebrated the impact of women in all areas of society through academic achievement, philanthropic contributions, environmental work, community outreach efforts, and more.

Women of Impact featured a range of leaders in STEM, climate-smart, and DEI spheres, including Kathy Hubbard, a Hunt Institute Fellow and Assistant Dean for DEI at SMU Lyle School of Engineering; Dr. Aurelie Thiele, a Hunt Institute Fellow and Associate Professor of Operations Research and Engineering Management at Lyle; and Dr. Candice Bledsoe, a Hunt Institute Fellow, the Executive Director of the Action Research Center, and the founder of the Collective.

ImpactNights™ in the Hunt Institute is about collaboration

The event was broken into three sessions covering important topics like climate-smart economic development, diversity and inclusion, and decision-making through robust optimization.

“We talked a lot about the different risks people face in their business or area of expertise, and about robust optimization and scenario planning that can help them mitigate the risks they face,” said Dr. Theile, who led a session on making decisions under highly uncertain circumstances. “It’s so impressive to see the projects people have come here to do in the DFW area. You get people from different backgrounds who love talking to different people. There were some very interesting conversations.”

Jared Helmsberger, a Master’s student in sustainability at SMU, participated in Dr. Thiele’s breakout session. “It kind of touches on game theory, which is super interesting to me. It really does come back to the smallest social aspects of all these different things and how the small interactions can empower people to completely change their approach to life. Even in small conversations like this, you can pick up so many small things about how everyone’s operating within the same framework. It can change your whole perspective.”

Leroy Ahwinahwi, a Master’s student at SMU in engineering, said his favorite thing about ImpactNights is being able to hear multiple people from different backgrounds and experiences speak about their passions. “They are able to connect and inspire, which could lead to potential future collaborations.”

During these uncertain times, the ImpactNights series is committed to discovering and embracing stories of women who inspire, empower, and demonstrate resilience even in the most challenging situations.

Follow us on Eventbrite to stay informed when the next ImpactNights™ session is scheduled.

Written by Chris Kelley with contributions from Bri Flores

Photos by Bri Flores

To read more about the Hunt Institute’s work to develop future-focused solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems, please click here. For the latest news on the Hunt Institute, follow our social media accounts on LinkedIn. We invite you to listen to our Podcast called Sages & Seekers. If you are considering engaging with the Institute, you can donate, or sign-up for our newsletter by emailing huntinstitute@smu.edu

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Dr. Michael Adler, Hunt Institute Fellow

Mike Adler, Hunt Institute Fellow

Mike Adler, PhD,  joins the Hunt Institute as a Fellow, bringing with him his expertise in community engagement with the Puebloan Nations in New Mexico.

Dr. Adler is an Associate Professor of Anthropology at Southern Methodist University and holds the William Clements Jr. Endowed Executive Director position in the SMU-in-Taos program. His academic training is in archaeology, and his primary research focus is the complex ancestries of Native Americans, particularly Puebloan, communities in the American Southwest. He has also worked overseas in Jordan on early village archaeological contexts. He has a strong interest in the current roles (and sometimes, failures) of archaeology in the creation of knowledge about the past.

He collaborates with Native American communities to investigate concepts of ancestry, cultural identity, and how communities create and recreate that complicated concept called “the past.” He also works with traditional acequia irrigation cooperatives in Northern New Mexico to document their ancestral land and water use systems. He works with his students and colleagues to bring archaeology and knowledge of the past to the public and considers experiential education as one of the most important legacies we can provide to future generations.

When asked what his motivation is for doing impact work he replied, “I would say that I’m privileged to be able to help communities better understand their unique and collective pasts.  Every community deserves a past that best reflects their accomplishments and challenges, and to do that one has to listen first to the community needs and interests, and continue listening as the past becomes better understood.”

To read more about the Hunt Institute’s work to develop future-focused solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems, please click here. For the latest news on the Hunt Institute, follow our social media accounts on LinkedIn. We invite you to listen to our Podcast called Sages & Seekers. If you are considering engaging with the Institute, you can donate, or sign-up for our newsletter by emailing huntinstitute@smu.edu.

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T3 Series: Blockchain Use Case in Healthcare

At a very basic level, blockchains are shared databases that store and
verify information in a cryptographically secure way. It is monitored
and organized by a peer-to-peer blockchain network, which also serves
as a secure ledger of transactions, e.g., buying, selling, and transferring.
One can think of a blockchain as a Google spreadsheet, except that
instead of being hosted on Google’s servers, blockchains are
maintained by a network of computers all over the world. These
computers (sometimes called miners or validators) are responsible for
storing their own copies of the database, adding and verifying new
entries, and securing the database against hackers.
A cryptocurrency is an encrypted data string that denotes a unit of
currency.

Crypto, as we know it today, has a significant environmental impact,
but it’s hard to measure exactly how significant. Many frequently cited
statistics come from industry groups, and it’s hard to find trustworthy,
independent data and analysis.

In these essays, Varsha Appaji, a 2021 SMU graduate, and a Research
Associate at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco -and a former
student Research Analyst in the Hunt Institute- looks at the impact of
blockchain technology and its impact on major issues facing society
for better and for worse.

. . .

The healthcare record-keeping infrastructure is battling an issue known as interoperability, which refers to the way health information systems communicate across organizations to provide holistic healthcare. Since people have varying needs, it’s important for specialized health care providers to access previous health records in order to build a comprehensive patient profile.

Blockchain’s ability to provide decentralized record-keeping as well as ensure privacy and control over identity data could revolutionize the ways that our communities stay healthy.

Blockchain’s unique characteristics could:

  • Open a path for a universal patient identifier,  so that health data can be matched to the proper individuals, even when data is transferred between healthcare systems
  • Allow for greater control over personal information by providing security over health data and autonomy over access to medical records
  • Make medical record keeping on the blockchain a much cheaper alternative than current healthcare data systems by providing security and cutting time costs in cross-organization communication
  • Cut  down on counterfeit pharmaceuticals and drugs  around the world by tracking clinical trial and drug data to make it verifiable. This would hold all editors of the blockchain, or all drug transaction points, accountable
  • Make doctor-patient in-office care more efficient by organizing layers of information verification and record-keeping in one digital place
  • Assure better patient delivery of pharmaceuticals and drugs
  • And provide many more potential use cases in healthcare.

The MediLedger Project is an organization using blockchain applications to verify the pharmaceutical supply chain in real-time.

Cons

The disruptive potentials of blockchain technology are still emerging, and there are still many potential risks. Notably, the security of the blockchain remains a large issue. For personal healthcare data, access to your own individual data is important as well. With the way that the digital key works now, losing this digital identifier would also cause you to lose access to the blockchain. Additionally, the investment cost in creating a blockchain-healthcare ecosystem would be huge since all organizations integrated in the system would need to install technology that could communicate with other blockchain users in the system.

Valuable additional reading: Global Blockchain in Healthcare 2018-2025 Report , or The Global “Blockchain in Healthcare” Report: The 2022 Ultimate Guide for Every Executive

For a video overview of blockchain, watch “Blockchain Applications for Social Impact” here.

Written by Varsha Appaji ’21

Edited by Chris Kelley

To read more about the Hunt Institute’s work to develop future-focused solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems, please click here. For the latest news on the Hunt Institute, follow our social media accounts on LinkedIn. We invite you to listen to our Podcast called Sages & Seekers. If you are considering engaging with the Institute, you can donate, or sign-up for our newsletter by emailing huntinstitute@smu.edu.

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T3 Series: Blockchain Use Case in Land & Water Rights

At a very basic level, blockchains are shared databases that store and
verify information in a cryptographically secure way. It is monitored
and organized by a peer-to-peer blockchain network, which also serves
as a secure ledger of transactions, e.g., buying, selling, and transferring.
One can think of a blockchain as a Google spreadsheet, except that
instead of being hosted on Google’s servers, blockchains are
maintained by a network of computers all over the world. These
computers (sometimes called miners or validators) are responsible for
storing their own copies of the database, adding and verifying new
entries, and securing the database against hackers.
A cryptocurrency is an encrypted data string that denotes a unit of
currency.

Crypto, as we know it today, has a significant environmental impact,
but it’s hard to measure exactly how significant. Many frequently cited
statistics come from industry groups, and it’s hard to find trustworthy,
independent data and analysis.

In these essays, Varsha Appaji, a 2021 SMU graduate, and a Research
Associate at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco -and a former
student Research Analyst in the Hunt Institute- looks at the impact of
blockchain technology and its impact on major issues facing society
for better and for worse.

. . .

LAND RIGHTS

Land registry and management are critical tools for proving land ownership and protecting private property and land assets, which are arguably intrinsic to a functioning (and prospering) market economy. Below are a few ways that blockchain applications could be used to make the system more frictionless:

  • Blockchain land registry programs would provide traceable and immutable land right protections
  • Blockchain could make property ownership and record-keeping much easier and cheaper to maintain or update, so that the process of changing ownership would be much more efficient
  • Digitized records would be transparent, accessible, indestructible, cost-effective, and eliminate bureaucratic management for a more easily traceable and searchable system
  • Anti-corruption, especially for developing countries
  • A way for all affected parties to monitor, update, and validate property ownership records
  • Smart contracts could enable both buyers and sellers to automatically sign off on ownership once the transaction reaches its final approval stage. This may help to resolve land disputes that arise from undocumented or unregistered land

WATER RIGHTS

Water management is an urgent issue due to a number of factors, including the predicted global water crisis and present water scarcity on every continent, from Flint, Michigan, to Mali. Blockchain could revolutionize water management through:

  • Decentralized water reuse systems
  • Management and trade of water resources
  • Making water resource planning traceable, like local electricity management
  • Accessible, reliable real-time analytics from the massive data management capabilities of blockchain
  • Transparency and cost-effectiveness in cross-organization communication

Real World Applications: 

  • Bitfury’s Exonum-based land registry demo shows how blockchain technology can be used for land titling services by improving their security and usability. It also shows how to acquire sample properties, transfer properties, and explore the transaction history of any property or user. Learn more about Exonum.
  • MediciLand supports land governance, titling, and administration by leveraging blockchain
  • ​Colorado is already testing blockchain for water management
  • WaterChain is a decentralized water funding platform aimed at improving water quality around the world

POTENTIAL CONS

  • Security of the blockchain remains an issue, as well as the scalability of a project when tied to governments for land and water management
  • ​Additionally, the energy consumption of blockchain applications and their carbon footprint may not be a sustainable way to address these concerns

For a video overview of blockchain, watch “Blockchain Applications for Social Impact” here.

Written by Varsha Appaji ’21

Edited by Chris Kelley

To read more about the Hunt Institute’s work to develop future-focused solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems, please click here. For the latest news on the Hunt Institute, follow our social media accounts on LinkedIn. We invite you to listen to our Podcast called Sages & Seekers. If you are considering engaging with the Institute, you can donate, or sign-up for our newsletter by emailing huntinstitute@smu.edu.

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T3 Series: Blockchain Use Case in Identity & Tracking

At a very basic level, blockchains are shared databases that store and
verify information in a cryptographically secure way. It is monitored
and organized by a peer-to-peer blockchain network, which also serves
as a secure ledger of transactions, e.g., buying, selling, and transferring.
One can think of a blockchain as a Google spreadsheet, except that
instead of being hosted on Google’s servers, blockchains are
maintained by a network of computers all over the world. These
computers (sometimes called miners or validators) are responsible for
storing their own copies of the database, adding and verifying new
entries, and securing the database against hackers.
A cryptocurrency is an encrypted data string that denotes a unit of
currency.

Crypto, as we know it today, has a significant environmental impact,
but it’s hard to measure exactly how significant. Many frequently cited
statistics come from industry groups, and it’s hard to find trustworthy,
independent data and analysis.

In these essays, Varsha Appaji, a 2021 SMU graduate, and a Research
Associate at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco -and a former
student Research Analyst in the Hunt Institute- looks at the impact of
blockchain technology and its impact on major issues facing society
for better and for worse.

. . .

Self-sovereign identity refers to the direct control of your own personal information. Through blockchain’s use of cryptography, a pair of keys are created so that users can access their data on the blockchain. This pair is made of a public and a private key, making it possible to encrypt data in a way that only the individual with the private key can read it. This way, an individual can control just how much of and with whom their information is shared, while still keeping their ability to interact with others through the widely distributed public keys.

With blockchain, we can potentially enable self-sovereign identity and data integrity in a way that is immutable and verifiable, where personal data can be transparent but still individually controlled. Right now, digital personal data is so spread out through isolated data systems that it is impossible to track down every way in which our personal information is vulnerable to hacking or identity theft. Blockchain could give us control over our data again by forcing personal data security and accountability. 

Right now, in order to prove your identity, governments and businesses alike will often need, at the very least, your government-issued ID. To apply for a driver’s license in the United States, most states also require documentation of Social Security and two documents of proof of residency. Each additional hurdle makes the process more verifiable, but also more difficult and exclusive to already-vulnerable populations such as refugees or the homeless.

An example of this complicated identity process from Accenture is: 

“One perfect example of the complexities and sensitivities involved would be the birth of a child. Expectant parents have many interactions and touch points along their journey, from routine trips to the doctor to monitor the pregnancy, to hospital visits and prenatal services, all the way up to the birth itself and the subsequent creation of a brand-new identity for the baby.

In the traditional, siloed approach, there are new forms to fill out at every turn: when you register the child, when you apply for family benefits or when you sign up for daycare services. That data then vanishes into systems that are beyond your control. A solution capable of integrating all that data instantly and providing access on a case-by-case, need-to-know basis would provide benefits to parents, hospitals, government agencies, health insurance companies and daycare centers alike. And blockchain proved uniquely capable of providing such a solution.”

In order for blockchain identity management to work, governments will need to work together with businesses and individuals to ensure that users and giving informed consent to their personal, and even biometric, data being stored on the blockchain ledger. With their identity data on the blockchain, individuals would have much greater control over their personal information. We could be allowed to present the minimal documents or personal data in order for a business to identify us and verify that we are who we say we are, and this would allow for fewer direct threats to our digital identities.  

Present Barriers​ 

For now, though, this idea is still mostly out-of-reach as bureaucracies have little incentive to overhaul their technology and the public is still building their trust in the blockchain. Security issues still leave the system imperfectly defended from hackers. 

We also need to remember that blockchain is a system that allows strangers, basically, to reliably exchange real data.

According to Steve Wilson from Constellation Research, ”it’s simply illogical to think such a mechanism could have anything to offer identity… The public blockchains deliberately and proudly shirk third parties, but in most cases, your identity is nothing without a third party who vouches for you in some way. Blockchain is great for some things, but it’s not magic, and it just wasn’t designed for the IDM [identity management] problem space.”​ 

 “The trouble with this idea is that a universal ID poses risks to privacy and hence [could] encounter significant political opposition.”  -TechCrunch 

For a video overview of blockchain, watch “Blockchain Applications for Social Impact” here.

Written by Varsha Appaji ’21

Edited by Chris Kelley

To read more about the Hunt Institute’s work to develop future-focused solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems, please click here. For the latest news on the Hunt Institute, follow our social media accounts on LinkedIn. We invite you to listen to our Podcast called Sages & Seekers. If you are considering engaging with the Institute, you can donate, or sign-up for our newsletter by emailing huntinstitute@smu.edu.

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T3 Series: Blockchain Use Case in Sustainable Energy

At a very basic level, blockchains are shared databases that store and
verify information in a cryptographically secure way. It is monitored
and organized by a peer-to-peer blockchain network, which also serves
as a secure ledger of transactions, e.g., buying, selling, and transferring.
One can think of a blockchain as a Google spreadsheet, except that
instead of being hosted on Google’s servers, blockchains are
maintained by a network of computers all over the world. These
computers (sometimes called miners or validators) are responsible for
storing their own copies of the database, adding and verifying new
entries, and securing the database against hackers.
A cryptocurrency is an encrypted data string that denotes a unit of
currency.

Crypto, as we know it today, has a significant environmental impact,
but it’s hard to measure exactly how significant. Many frequently cited
statistics come from industry groups, and it’s hard to find trustworthy,
independent data and analysis.

In these essays, Varsha Appaji, a 2021 SMU graduate, and a Research
Associate at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco -and a former
student Research Analyst in the Hunt Institute- looks at the impact of
blockchain technology and its impact on major issues facing society
for better and for worse.

. . .

Blockchain has many potential use cases in the sustainable energy sector, particularly in electricity. With smart energy meters, blockchain and other emerging smart technologies could ensure real-time electricity tracking and avoid double counting. Electricity tracking via blockchain could mean rewards for generating renewable energy (ie. SolarCoin) and renewable energy certificates or carbon credits.

Peer-to-peer electricity trading is a major potential use case for blockchain in energy. The “Interbit” blockchain platform developed by Canadian BTL is the first intrinsically safe and self-guaranteed electronic energy trading system, allowing for a variety of transactions from small, community trading to large business interactions. Interbit is also accessible to developers since all of its applications can be written in JavaScript.

Energy microgrids are another major use case for blockchain, making up 23% of blockchain electricity initiatives in 2018. The Brooklyn Microgrid is an example of a community energy network of sustainable clean energy that generates, stores, and trades energy in the local community.

Cons 

  • The energy consumed by blockchain’s computational work is unsustainable
  • The energy consumption and carbon footprint of blockchain may outweigh its potential energy upsides

For a video overview of blockchain, watch “Blockchain Applications for Social Impact” here.

Written by Varsha Appaji ’21

Edited by Chris Kelley

To read more about the Hunt Institute’s work to develop future-focused solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems, please click here. For the latest news on the Hunt Institute, follow our social media accounts on LinkedIn. We invite you to listen to our Podcast called Sages & Seekers. If you are considering engaging with the Institute, you can donate, or sign-up for our newsletter by emailing huntinstitute@smu.edu.

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T3 Series: Blockchain Use Case in Supply Chain

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At a very basic level, blockchains are shared databases that store and
verify information in a cryptographically secure way. It is monitored
and organized by a peer-to-peer blockchain network, which also serves
as a secure ledger of transactions, e.g., buying, selling, and transferring.
One can think of a blockchain as a Google spreadsheet, except that
instead of being hosted on Google’s servers, blockchains are
maintained by a network of computers all over the world. These
computers (sometimes called miners or validators) are responsible for
storing their own copies of the database, adding and verifying new
entries, and securing the database against hackers.
A cryptocurrency is an encrypted data string that denotes a unit of
currency.

Crypto, as we know it today, has a significant environmental impact,
but it’s hard to measure exactly how significant. Many frequently cited
statistics come from industry groups, and it’s hard to find trustworthy,
independent data and analysis.

In these essays, Varsha Appaji, a 2021 SMU graduate, and a Research
Associate at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco -and a former
student Research Analyst in the Hunt Institute- looks at the impact of
blockchain technology and its impact on major issues facing society
for better and for worse.

. . .

Blockchain is already revolutionizing supply chain management with its characteristic ability to track huge amounts of data in real-time in a way that is transparent, verifiable, and immutable. Ultimately, this leads to a supply chain environment that is less vulnerable to corruption and cuts out many additional procurement, transportation, inventory, and quality costs.

With a more traceable and efficient network, blockchain could make data-informed logistics much more powerful since goods can be tracked from the source through the global distribution system. Logistics data could be maintained and updated between organizations with lower transaction costs. This could make ethical and environmentally responsible labor practices easier to enforce since even large businesses could be held accountable through the public blockchain. Additionally, insurance companies, banks and credit providers already have their eye on blockchain for financial capital flow management. To learn more about use cases for blockchain in supply chains, read IBM’s brief write-up here.

Blockchain is even being used to fight the blood diamond trade. 

Supply Chain for Nonprofits 

  • Blockchain could provide transparency and accountability in things like tracking donations
  • Blockchain’s token market could be used to fundraise. Organizations like SupPorter, Inc. are making “Blockchain Enabled Donation Processing Systems” for faster and more transparent donating
  • NGOs can implement blockchain in several ways, like making digital payments via tokens or making exchanges between service users and providers more frictionless ​

Cons 

  • Moving to a blockchain system would require a tech overhaul: to implement blockchain into their supply chain, organizations need to heavily invest in a brand new technology system so that every part of the system can support the software and computing capabilities necessary to communicate with the rest of the system
  • Just like the issues with storing identity data on the blockchain, any sensitive information remains susceptible to security breaches and hackers at this stage of blockchain’s evolution

For a video overview of blockchain, watch “Blockchain Applications for Social Impact” here.

Written by Varsha Appaji ’21

Edited by Chris Kelley

To read more about the Hunt Institute’s work to develop future-focused solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems, please click here. For the latest news on the Hunt Institute, follow our social media accounts on LinkedIn. We invite you to listen to our Podcast called Sages & Seekers. If you are considering engaging with the Institute, you can donate, or sign-up for our newsletter by emailing huntinstitute@smu.edu.

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Jacquelyn Wong

Jacquelyn Wong

Jacquelyn Wong joins the Hunt Institute as a Graduate Program Manager in the spring of 2022. She is pursuing an M.A. in Sustainability and Development at SMU in the Lyle School of Engineering and is intending to graduate in May of 2023. Her role at the Hunt Institute will be managing the Evie project. Evie is a refurbished trailer that has captured the hearts of many watching her journey as researchers explore creative and alternative ways to produce food in an urban environment combat food deserts. Now, Evie goes into the community partnering with local community leaders. She will serve as a storefront for a community garden providing fresh produce in South Dallas. Jacquelyn will help manage this transition and the evolution of Evie from a mobile greenhouse into a stationary storefront.

Jacquelyn was first introduced to the Evie project while attending a class in the master’s program taught by Dr. Eva Csaky, Executive Director of the Hunt Institute.

In May of 2021, she obtained her B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas at Dallas. During her undergraduate years, Jacquelyn was involved with FOCUS at UTD (Fellowship of Christian University Students) and is continuing her involvement on campus as a core facilitator with FOCUS at SMU.

In her spare time, she enjoys photography, exploring the city, and spending time with friends. Upon completing her master’s degree, it is her goal to pursue a career as a sustainability specialist or planner within the built environment.

To read more about the Hunt Institute’s work to develop future-focused solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems, please click here. For the latest news on the Hunt Institute, follow our social media accounts on LinkedIn. We invite you to listen to our Podcast called Sages & Seekers. If you are considering engaging with the Institute, you can donate, or sign-up for our newsletter by emailing huntinstitute@smu.edu.

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Dr. Sukumaran Nair, Hunt Institute Fellow

Dr. Suku Nair joins the Hunt Institute as a Fellow bringing his expertise to the transformational technology work being done in the Institute. He is a Southern Methodist University Distinguished Professor and the founding director of the AT&T Center for Virtualization at SMU

Dr. Sukumaran Nair is a Southern Methodist University Distinguished Professor and the founding director of the AT&T Center for Virtualization at SMU. Along with these roles, he has a history of involvement across departments and programs. Namely, he is the founder of the Cyber Security program at SMU, and he was the Chair of the Computer Science and Engineering Department from 2008 until 2016.

Dr. Nair has joined the Hunt Institute as a Fellow, accompanied by his prowess in computer engineering and cyber security. At the SMU AT&T Center for Virtualization, researchers from across the University conduct interdisciplinary research to address technical, economic and social issues related to virtualization of all elements of the pervasive digital infrastructure.

When asked about his motivation to do impactful work, Dr. Nair responded, “We are excited to join hands with the Hunt Institute in empowering rural development through technology.”

His research interests include software-centric telecommunication networks, software-defined networks, virtualization technologies, trustworthy AI, and cyber security. He has published extensively in the area of high assurance computing and networking. His research has been supported through funds from the National Science Foundation (NSF), National Security Agency (NSA), National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST), Office of Naval Research (ONR), and various industry leaders including Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, CAE, IBM, AT&T, and Google. Some of his recent awards include the Dallas 500 award and CIO/CTO award for Outstanding Tech Advocate from the D CEO magazine, SMU Ford Research Fellowship, IBM faculty award, and the Distinguished University Citizen award.

He received his B.S. from the University of Kerala, India in 1984, his M.S. and Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana in 1988 and 1990, respectively.

To read more about the Hunt Institute’s work to develop future-focused solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems, please click here. For the latest news on the Hunt Institute, follow our social media accounts on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. We invite you to listen to our Podcast called Sages & Seekers. If you are considering engaging with the institute, you can donate, or sign-up for our newsletter by emailing huntinstitute@smu.edu.

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Biodegradable Plastics Research – Where Engineering & Chemistry Intersect for Broader Impact

Where Engineering & Chemistry Intersect for Broader Impact

In the Hunter and Stephanie Hunt Institute for Engineering and Humanity’s Global Development Lab, our interdisciplinary teams made up of students, fellows, faculty, and industry professionals are working to create meaningful solutions to promote resilient humanity, all of which address the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Where Engineering & Chemistry Intersect for Broader Impact report addresses biodegradable plastics where engineering and chemistry intersect.

Currently, many biodegradable products in the market are bio-based, such as polysaccharides, proteins, and lipids, and are focused on conventional plastic applications. This approach to the production of biodegradable plastics, however, is facing mounting challenges due to high cost, weaker performance, and environmental issues. Additionally, several biodegradable plastics have proven to break down quickly under specific, simulated environmental conditions, but they may not be effectively degradable under natural conditions. As a result of these challenges and many alike, there is a gap in the market.

As our Project Affiliates, Dr. David Son and Dr. Paul Krueger are investigating a prototype plastic that has predictable degradation and mechanical properties, in order to bridge this gap. In the spirit of interdisciplinary innovation, they seek to develop a joint chemical and engineering approach to biodegradable plastics for broader impact.

Dr. Son says, “As a chemist, I have the capability and knowledge to design a material from the molecular level up.  It’s a challenge to synthesize a material with the ‘right’ properties.  You can prepare a material cheaply, but it may not degrade.  Or you can make a material that degrades too quickly  or is not 3D-printable.  In today’s world, the plastics disposal problem is not going away anytime soon, and it is exciting that Professor Krueger and our labs can help make a difference.”

Dr. Krueger says, “Material properties are important for durability and functionality of engineered systems. But they are also important for what happens when you are finished using the system. Having materials that can fulfill their design role as well as existing materials and can also easily degrade to facilitate future disposal is extremely valuable, but difficult to achieve. It’s a pleasure working with Prof. Son to achieve this dream and help to reduce plastic waste.”

There are many uses for biodegradable plastics to address our current state of plastics pollution. One potential future application could be biodegradable plastic used in combination with 3-D printing technology specifically designed for use with the unique geometric properties of the biodegradable prototype plastic. Compatibility with 3D printing methods would help to facilitate biodegradable plastic’s replacement of other less desirable materials, especially given its rapidly growing adoption and application for manufacturing both prototype and production components. The lab is developing a 3D printing technology (extrude and cure additive manufacturing, or ECAM) that can simultaneously print and cure thermoset polymers such as those considered in this project.

Another significant opportunity for the biodegradable plastic industry is an application towards alleviating medical waste. Focusing on producing better-quality medical supplies and reducing the end-of-life waste associated with such products, this application works towards the third UN SDG “to ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages,” as well as the fourteenth UN SDG, which aims “to conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas, and marine resources”[1].

In order to address this challenge, our team of multidisciplinary students and subject matter experts has been working diligently to develop biodegradable plastic with more desirable characteristics and predictable degradation properties. Through this research, they hope to address medical waste and produce a product that could potentially be used in 3D printing. A portion of the report provides a market analysis of biodegradable plastics, a discussion of their applications, and updates from the lab’s progress in their research.

Both the Son and Krueger labs continue to research a biodegradable plastic that is comparable in function and cost to the industry standard while achieving alternatives to traditional disposal and decomposition. Continue to read the Hunt Institute Digest for more information about this project and others like it.

Undergraduate Project Managers: Sydney Lobato and Taylor Grace

Undergraduate Research Analyst: Katherine Nguyen

Undergraduate Lab Researchers: Son Lab: Anderson Wey and Jamie Hall; Krueger Lab: Sami Streb

Global Development Lab Portfolio Manager: Corrie A. Harris, M.A., MBA

Hunt Institute Affiliates: Dr. David Son and Dr. Paul Krueger

[1] Oceans – United Nations Sustainable Development. (n.d.). Retrieved 2020, from https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/oceans/

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