Initiative Lead Projects
Ten projects have been chosen for the Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems (BBISS) Initiative Leads program. Project themes include climate adaptation and mitigation solutions, innovation and social impact, computation and design approaches to sustainability, sustainable development, and conservation. BBISS Initiative Leads receive $10,000 in discretionary funds to advance their project.
The projects chosen involve 15 faculty members hailing from all 6 of the colleges at Georgia Tech and Georgia Tech’s campus in Shenzhen, China. Several of the projects are also joint initiatives with other Georgia Tech Interdisciplinary Research Institutes (IDEAS, IPAT, and SEI) or the Ray C. Anderson Center for Sustainable Business. The Initiative Leads program has several overarching goals. BBISS aims to cultivate promising topics for future large-scale collaborative sustainability research, research translation, and/or high-impact outreach; to provide (mostly mid-career) faculty with leadership and community building opportunities; and to broaden and strengthen the BBISS sustainability community as a whole.
Nature’s Voice: Amplifying the Narrative of Biologically Inspired Sustainable Design at Georgia Tech
Michael Helms - Co-Director, Center for Biologically Inspired Design, Senior Research Scientist, George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology
Computational Sustainability
Josiah Hester - Director, Ka Moamoa – Ubiquitous and Mobile Computing Lab, Catherine M. and James E. Allchin Early Career Professorship, Associate Professor, Interactive Computing, College of Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology
Microclimate Monitoring and Predication at Georgia Tech's Shenzhen Campus
Co-Leads:
Xiaoming Huo - Associate Director for Research, Institute for Data Science and Engineering, A. Russell Chandler III Professor, H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology
Yi Deng – Professor, School of Earth & Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology
Coastal Urban Flooding in a Changing Climate
Jian Luo - Professor, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology
Energy Today, Tomorrow: Illuminating the Effect of Energy Power Dynamics on the Environment
Brigitte Stepanov - Assistant Professor, School of Modern Languages, Georgia Institute of Technology
SEEDS (Southeast Exchange of Development Studies) 2023 Conference at Georgia Tech
Co-Leads:
Anjali Thomas - Director, Nunn School Program in Global Development, Associate Professor, Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, Georgia Institute of Technology
Shatakshee Dhongde - Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Associate Professor, School of Economics, Georgia Institute of Technology
Sustainable Tourism, Petra
Co-Leads:
Danielle Willkens - Assistant Professor, School of Architecture, Georgia Institute of Technology
Junshan Liu – Ph,D. Student, School of Architecture, Georgia Institute of Technology
Sustainable Resources for Clean Energy
Co-Leads:
Yuanzhi Tang - Associate Professor, School of Earth & Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology
Hailong Chen – Associate Professor, George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology
Collaborative Social Impact
Co-Leads:
Dori Pap - Assistant Director, Institute for Leadership and Social Impact, Scheller College of Business, Georgia Institute of Technology
Neha Kumar – Associate Professor, College of Computing, joint appointment, Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, Georgia Institute of Technology
A Sustainability-Focused Stream of the Creative Destruction Lab
Alex Oettl - Associate Professor, PhD Coordinator for Strategy & Innovation, Co-Site Lead for Creative Destruction Lab, Scheller College of Business, Georgia Institute of Technology
