As part of a $1.45 million gift from the Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) Foundation, Stevens will be further investing in sustainability programs and research activity. The centerpiece of this initiative is the new Stevens Center for Sustainability, which has opened its primary office space in the Babbio Center. To learn more about the gift and the new Center, The Stute spoke with Director Dibyendu “Dibs” Sarkar and Program Manager Rosita Nunez.
Dr. Sarkar and Dr. Nunez noted the long history of collaboration between Stevens and PSEG, the parent company of PSE&G, which began over 20 years ago when the foundation made a gift to the university to open the Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education (CIESE). Although now defunct, that organization aimed to improve technical education at the K-12 levels and preceded other efforts from PSEG to advance responsible activity in its home state.
“[PSEG] gave some funding to promote green energy research to some of the faculty members,” said Sarkar. “We decided to actually ask them for a larger chunk of money to build this Center. The University Office of Development did this; [Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations] Jenna Nimar is really responsible for getting this initiative on the road. Jenna and I worked on this together to ask PSEG for quite a large amount of money, and came up with some ideas for the programs for the Center. So, they funded three programs for us to develop, all three of which are geared towards environmental justice initiatives.”
The first of these three initiatives, he said, is to conduct research into so-called “environmental justice communities,” which are areas that have been adversely affected by necessary but unpleasant infrastructure buildups, such as landfills and industrial sites. “They have a huge need for technological innovations there that can ultimately result in increasing their quality of life,” Sarkar explained. As a New Jersey-based energy corporation, PSEG has focused its environmental, social, and governance (ESG) efforts on environmental justice communities in Newark and other North Jersey cities. “As a company based in New Jersey, PSEG has a great deal of responsibility in this area.”
The second initiative is an augmentation to the Accessing Careers in Engineering and Science (ACES) Pre-College Program that adds a new module centered around sustainability. Developed and headed by Dr. Nunez, the new module aligns with the goals of the Center more broadly by focusing on environmental justice, tying in with the previous initiative’s work on mitigating historical environmental disparities. “It’s going to be one module in the pre-college program,” said Dr. Nunez. “They have six groups of about 50 students who will be on campus learning about a variety of things, and this will be one of them.”
Additionally, as detailed on the Center’s site, scholarships will be offered to ACES Pre-College Program participants.
The final of the three funded initiatives is a prestigious new summer research program for undergraduates. Focusing on highly driven students with a passion for sustainable engineering and innovative environmental research, stipends of $7,500 will be offered to each of the seven selected students. “It is an intense summer research program of 40 hours a week for 10 weeks,” explained Sarkar. “It is a very good opportunity to get more students involved in sustainability research. And it’s a good chunk of change for an undergraduate student. It will run for three years, for the summers of 2024 through 2026. Those spots are open now!” Interested students may apply via the posted online form.
He encouraged applicants to be open about their interests and guided by their curiosities. “We want to hear what you want to work on. We’re not going to spoon feed you, tell you ‘This is my project, come and work on it.'” He noted that mentors would be matched with students based on their indicated interests and that selections would be based largely on project proposal diversity. “We want somebody to work on social injustice, others on energy sustainability, and others on environmental sustainability, like pollution cleanups, and others on business sustainability. Everything has to be geared towards the development of environmental justice. Then, Dr. Nunez and I will do the matchmaking [between student proposals and faculty mentors].”
When asked about the ultimate purpose of the new Center, Sarkar envisioned its location in Babbio 317A, the newly remodeled room on the third floor of that building, as a nexus of interdisciplinary interaction open to students, student organizations, and faculty. “We want this center to become a catalyst for this kind of research. Stevens is not a huge place. Almost everybody knows everybody. […] What we want is people to think of this as the place where ideas are going to be born. This is a place where people who are doing AI can work with someone like me, who are doing experimental research on sustainability, who can work together and come up with a proposal idea. It’s going to be the birthing ground of these new, interdisciplinary ideas.”
Even if you’re new to sustainability, don’t have any concrete ideas, or just want to learn what’s going on, Sarkar said, he still wants you to come. “This is going to be a good lounge for students! When you don’t have a class, come here, have a conversation with like-minded folks! […] I know many students here are interested, and want to do something. But there has been no real playbook for them. And that is something we are trying to create.”
