URS Washington Division Provides $150,000 Grant
Groundbreaking, interdisciplinary research on environmental sensing technologies was recognized Wednesday with an informal ceremony hosted by the College of Engineering.
Professor Dale Russell in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and professor Molly Gribb in the Department of Civil Engineering spoke about the potential applications of their complementary projects.
Russell is focusing on the invention and commercialization of compact electrochemical sensors that can detect trace amounts of uranium, plutonium, mercury, arsenic and other strategic contaminants in environmental samples.
Gribb’s team, comprised of individuals from the civil, electrical, computer and mechanical engineering departments, designed and fabricated a subsurface Ion Mobility Spectrometer (IMS) that detects and quantifies volatile organic compounds with high sensitivity and real-time results.
Together, these systems are capable of detecting a wide spectrum of contaminants that can pose serious risks to human health, which is why URS Washington Division is providing a $150,000 contract to fund further research. The Boise-based company is a division of the international engineering, construction and technical services firm, URS Corporation, which offers a range of environmental services from monitoring to remediation. Several representatives attended the ceremony at Boise State, including Tom Zarges, president of URS Washington Division, and Courtney Apperson, senior principal with Washington Safety Management Solutions, a subsidiary of Washington Division’s Energy and Environment business unit.
“As regulatory agencies continue to lower their acceptable standards for chemical impurities in the ground, groundwater and air, we have a vested interest in identifying sensors that can be mated to our remote monitoring system, called the Smart Sentinel™. It can be installed in remote locations and operate over extended periods, communicating environmental parameters back to a web-based system,” said Apperson, who presented a symbolic check to Boise State’s Vice President for Research, Mark Rudin.
Apperson explained that such a low-maintenance, high-output system allows for consistent, cost-effective environmental monitoring. URS Washington Division hopes the technologies being developed by Russell and Gribb will integrate with this system and environmental service projects all over the world.
“We’ve identified quality work at Boise State that we want to take advantage of, and by doing that, we can help educate students who have an ambition to be part of the national environmental solution,” Apperson said. “We’re satisfying our needs by working with the university, and the university is fostering students as they work toward advanced degrees and enter the environmental market.”