2022: New $1.2M Biodegradability Laboratory at the University for Maritime Science & Know-how formally opens

2022: New .2M Biodegradability Laboratory at the University for Maritime Science & Know-how formally opens

The lab, shaped by way of a Commonwealth and private husband or wife collaboration, will discover plastics biodegradation in the atmosphere

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Pat Larkin, Deputy Director, Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito, Chancellor Mark Fuller, Jean VanderGheynst, Dean of Engineering and interim Dean of SMAST, and Mike Joyce ’85, PrimaLoft CEO posing in front of a mural outside the house the new lab

UMass Dartmouth recently opened its latest condition-of-the-artwork investigation, studying and product enhancement laboratory in the College for Marine Science & Engineering. The Biodegradability Laboratory supports the enhancement of biodegradable and ocean-safe and sound plastics and other products by accelerating their route to market with a focus on increasing sustainability. The lab was designed via a one of a kind personal-public partnership, like a $739,936 Massachusetts Technology Collaborative grant and a $450,000 investment decision from PrimaLoft, an field leader in superior material science that specializes in establishing sustainable significant-performance insulations and materials.

“The opening of the new biodegradability lab at UMass Dartmouth is a further amazing instance of Massachusetts leading the way to a extra sustainable long term,” said Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito. “The research conducted and the products and solutions developed in just the lab will supply business and academia opportunities for development.”

“UMass Dartmouth is committed to supporting the swiftly developing Blue Financial system by conducting study in important places these types of as rising ocean sustainability, monitoring ecosystems, producing renewable vitality, and developing new maritime systems,” claimed Chancellor Mark Fuller. “I am grateful to the Baker-Polito Administration and alum Mike Joyce for allowing for our learners to study together with faculty accomplishing groundbreaking analysis in the biodegradability lab.”

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Assistant Investigation Professor Micheline Labrie clarifies the intricacies of the new lab to Lt. Governor Polito

The laboratory is crucial for enterprises interested in the discipline, giving additional study potential for evaluating plastic biodegradability. The lab was built to evaluate biodegradation of goods in environmental techniques where plastic waste persists including landfills, oceans, wastewater, soil and compost. The lab elements and crucial features ended up intended in close collaboration and with vital feed-back from PrimaLoft textiles engineers, chemical engineers, and environmental experts.

In addition to PrimaLoft, partners on the job contain Radical Plastics of Beverly, Paramount Planet Solution, UMass Boston, UMass Lowell, the Maritime Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Boston-based mostly SeaAhead, and the U.S. Military Soldier Overcome Abilities Development Command Soldier Heart.

“UMass Dartmouth is a excellent location for this new facility, to establish on the university’s powerful marine science and engineering aim, coupled with the South Coast’s solid heritage of textile innovation,” stated Pat Larkin, Deputy Director, Massachusetts Technologies Collaborative. “Our thanks to the several corporate and investigation associates on this venture, like PrimaLoft, that will energy this critically important research partnership.”

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Elements of the biodegradability equipment

“This new laboratory is a genuine partnership that demonstrates the dedication of marketplace, federal government, and academia to guarding our region’s financial state and organic resources,” mentioned Jean VanderGheynst, Dean of Engineering and interim Dean of SMAST

“Ultimately, this is a great chance to provide jointly a organization with a specific have to have, and a university with the capacity to convey it to daily life,” said Mike Joyce ’85, PrimaLoft CEO. “This lab is positioned to be one of the leading biodegradation labs in the United States and our hope that this lab will be the nucleus of an expanding centre for sustainable innovation and investigation in the SouthCoast area.”

This most current project improvements UMass Dartmouth’s college- and college student-pushed investigate in highly developed supplies, the Blue Economy, and sustainability.

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Alumni, Alumni – House, Information and Community Facts, University for Maritime Science and Know-how


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