Natural rubber is used in a variety of products around the world. Rubber produced in a lab can be used in many applications, but it is insufficient for critical items such as airplane tires and specialized medical products.
Natural rubber is also a valuable resource. 90% of the plants used as raw materials are grown in a small region of Southeast Asia.
A $26 million grant from the National Science Foundation will fund an engineering research center aimed at producing natural rubber in the United States. This industry has the potential to enhance access to this valuable natural resource and create millions of jobs.
Kara McCloskey, professor of chemical and materials engineering at the University of California, Merced, is co-principal investigator of the newly awarded ERC Transforming U.S. Rubber with Domestic Innovation for Supply Security (TARDISS). The center is led by Ohio State University. In addition to the University of California, Merced, partners include the California Institute of Technology, North Carolina State University, and Texas Tech University.
“The University of California, Merced College of Engineering is pleased to receive this award and participate in this impactful interdisciplinary research that aligns with UC Merced’s mission to incorporate sustainable best practices in all areas of technology.” I look forward to doing so,” said Dean Rake Goel.
According to its summary, TARDISS will integrate engineering, biology, biotechnology, agriculture, and other fields to produce new natural rubber materials at scale. McCloskey said he is “particularly excited to explore the use of natural rubber materials to generate new biocompatible medical products.”
Researchers from participating institutions will work with students, farmers, processors, and rubber manufacturers to enable natural rubber production in parts of the United States. They envision a circular biomanufacturing economy that respects natural systems, including pollination services from new domestic crops, water recycling and reuse, CO 2 capture, and an estimated 2 million domestic jobs.
In addition to Mr. McCloskey, the UC Merced TARDISS team includes Professor Colleen Norton, Professor Jay Sexton, Professor Joshua Veers, Professor Erin Hastil, and Professor Josué Medeln-Azuara. They will work together to understand how plants naturally produce rubber, develop new crop varieties, and disseminate “smart” crop production practices to lifecycle environmental and techno-economic markets. We aim to quantify the impact of and extract and characterize new rubber and latex materials and new processes. -For products.
“The development of engineering talent translates directly into training the next generation of workers in these broad fields, with the campus’ new chemical engineering bachelor’s degree program involving hands-on experiments in the extraction of rubber and latex from new plant materials. “It will have a synergistic effect,” McCloskey said.
The ERC features initiatives that engage underrepresented minorities, including training for neurodiverse youth. The result will be a sustainable domestic natural rubber industry and a new young workforce for engineering and agriculture trained through the new American Rubber Academy.
The lab is one of four recently funded by NSF’s Engineering Research Centers program for a total of $104 million over five years, with the potential for up to $208 million over 10 years. That’s one. Other ERCs will address carbon issues, expand physical capacity, and develop technologies to make heating and cooling more sustainable. Since its founding in 1985, NSF has funded 83 such centers, with support for up to 10 years.
“These centers build partnerships with academic institutions, government agencies, and industry stakeholders to support innovation and inclusion in existing and emerging engineering research,” NSF said.
“NSF Engineering Research Centers are powerhouses of discovery and innovation, bringing America’s greatest engineering intelligence to bear on our toughest challenges,” said NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan. “By collaborating with industry and training the workforce of the future, ERC is building an innovation ecosystem that can accelerate engineering innovation, delivering significant economic and social benefits to the nation.”
“This work will advance UCM research in new and exciting ways,” said Veers, vice provost for interdisciplinary research and strategic initiatives in the UC Merced Office of Research.
