Team members Vivek Rao and Henry Kagey observe an experiment in progress.
Team members Vivek Rao and Henry Kagey observe an experiment in progress.

Graduate students in CEE Professor Slav Hermanowicz’s Lab and collaborators received second place in 2013 Odebrecht Award for Sustainable Development. The award, which includes cash prizes totaling $65,000, invites university students to search for innovative technologies and methods to promote sustainable and responsible development.

Berkeley graduate students Vivek Rao (Mechanical Engineering), Henry Kagey (Civil Systems, Civil and Environmental Engineering) and David Campbell (Architecture) were recognized as a top-three finalist in the Odebrecht Award for Sustainable Development competition. Their project is titled “Solar Photocatalytic Greywater Recycling in Building Facades.” Professor Slav Hermanowicz is Kagey’s advisor.

The team has been invited to Miami for the September award ceremony. The students are developing photocatalytic water treatment reactors for use in building facades. They are working in close collaboration with the research groups of Professor Maria-Paz Gutierrez (Architecture) and Professor Luke Lee (BioEngineering). The project is sponsored by the National Science Foundation.