Science & Technology

From reducing waste to cooking with local produce, Dining Services at Washington University in St. Louis is striving to make its offerings and operations more sustainable. This Earth Day, Andrew Watling, associate director of dining operations, shares five ways campus kitchens are making a difference. 

The Sustainability, Parking & Transportation and Operations & Facilities Management offices will host a universitywide commuter challenge from Monday, April 18, through Friday, April 29. Those who use sustainable transportation methods during that time can enter raffles to win prizes.

A new computer memory prototype developed by Shantanu Chakrabartty at the McKelvey School of Engineering may significantly reduce the energy needed to train artificial intelligence.

The Office of Sustainability offers this guide to events during the month of April — including activities at the Burning Kumquat garden, free lectures and film screenings, recycling and clean-up events and more.

WashU Information Technology is offering a tool, DocuSign, that provides a secure method for collecting electronic signatures on documents shared between colleagues within or outside the university. The method can save time and resources.

Cotton fabric is natural, renewable, biodegradable and at least theoretically sustainable. With her patented RECLEM process, WashU fashion associate professor Mary Ruppert-Stroescu hopes to revolutionize how recycled fabrics are processed and used to create new garments.

Washington University in St. Louis is a founding member of the Midwest Climate Collaborative, which will be officially introduced during an online summit Jan. 28.

Zhen (Jason) He, professor at the McKelvey School of Engineering, has cleaned up the process for using wastewater to grow algae.

Research from the lab of Kimberly Parker at the McKelvey School of Engineering looks at the interactions of different herbicides and what they mean for herbicide drift.

The annual holiday lights recycling drive is again taking place this winter, with various collection bins on the Medical and Danforth campuses. The drive runs through Jan. 31.