The Foundation has awarded support to new research projects that could have potential benefits for the environment, health, and molecular imaging. Eric and Wendy Schmidt Transformative Technology Fund.
The fund encourages bold new ideas to accelerate progress on major engineering and science challenges, make new discoveries, and transform entire areas of inquiry. The selection criteria was their potential to lead to significant advancements in the discovery and implementation of transformative technology.
The Schmidt Transformative Technology Fund supports projects with the potential to lead to scientific discoveries and technological innovation, said Professor Pablo Debenedetti (Class of 1950) and Dean for Research.”This year’s projects address scientific, technological, and societal problems by developing key capabilities in genomic editing and sustainable construction materials, molecular imaging, and other areas that have significant potential to impact society at large.”
Eric Schmidt, who was the former chief executive of Google and also served as chairman of Alphabet Inc. (Google’s parent company), and Wendy Schmidt, a businesswoman, supported the creation of the fund. Eric Schmidt graduated from Princeton with a bachelor’s degree and was a Princeton trustee from 2004 through 2008.
Sujit Datta is assistant professor in chemical and biological Engineering. Emily Davidson is assistant professor in chemical and biological Engineering. Reza Moini is assistant professor in civil and environmental engineering.
The funding is used to support the development of postdoctoral researchers and graduate students. It also provides equipment, materials, supplies, as well as prototypes. The fund was established in 2009 and has supported 30 research projects at Princeton.
You can control flooding by allowing the water soak in
Three faculty members are working together to reduce flooding in urban areas by creating a concrete-like material that absorbs rainwater, then slowly releases it back into the environment. The new material, which is co-led by Reza Mobi, assistant professor in civil and environmental engineering, Emily Davidson and Sujit Datta, assistant professor in chemical and biological, could be used to build sidewalks and roads.
The new materials architecture will include large and small pores, which are designed to maximize water uptake and mechanical strength. The end result will be a concrete-like material that is easily scalable and can help to improve groundwater recharge, reduce flooding, or transform the way urban landscapes are built.
Britt Adamson is assistant professor of molecular biological sciences and the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics. Eszter Pofai is assistant professor of molecular biology.
Editing genomes without errors for modeling diseases
Two faculty members will be leading a project to improve the efficiency and accuracy of genome engineering in mice with the goal to understand the genetic basis for human diseases.
Britt Adamson, assistant professor molecular and integrative biology, and Eszter Pofai, assistant profesor of molecular biology, will co-lead the team. The CRISPR-Cas system allows researchers to insert or delete segments of a gene, or combination of genes. The team will use recent technological advances to create new mouse models of human disease. This will help accelerate biomedical research in many areas.
Herschel Rabitz, the Charles Phelps Smyth ’16 *17 Professor of Chemistry; Martin Jonikas, associate professor of molecular biology; and Alexei Goun, professional specialist in chemistry.
Breaking through the barriers of molecular imaging
This project brings together molecular biology and chemical researchers to create an imaging method that can identify the exact location of molecules in living cells.
The team consisting of Martin Jonikas, associate professor of molecular biology, Alexei Goun, professional specialist in chemistry, and Herschel Rabitz, the Charles Phelps Smyth ’16 *17 Professor of Chemistry intends to build a multi-step imaging system that maps the locations of individual molecules.
The system will be used to study carbon dioxide, which is one of society’s most important molecules. It will also focus on how carbon dioxide is absorbed by plant cells and removed from the atmosphere. The technology will allow researchers to track molecules in their natural environments. This will aid in research in everything from medicine to geosciences.
