Wentworth Institute of Technology
AC-10: Support for Research

Within the Colleges of the Fenway Center for Sustainability and the Environment, Wentworth students are eligible to compete for sustainability mini-grants for research projects, and to participate in the annual Muddy River Symposium to showcase sustainability research that they have conducted through their courses.

Wentworth has an endowed professorship generously supported by alumnus David Blittersdorf, MDE ’77, which is awarded as a three year appointment to a faculty member whose scholarly work is geared toward sustainable engineering, technology, design, and management. Beyond the Blittersdorf professorship, several faculty members have also received grants for sustainability projects. These include the following - Internal grant-funded projects: - "Bio-propane" Chris Brigham and Greg Sirokman - "Smart Cities: Intelligent Transportation Systems." Memo Ergezer and Tugba Arsava -"Thomas Menino YMCA Streetscape Improvement" Robert Trumbour, Henderson Pritchard, Francis Hopcroft External / collaborative grants: -"Colleges of the Fenway Entrepreneurial Sustainability Certificate Program" Anna Aguilera, Michael Berger, Erin Decurtis, Cherie Ramirez (Simmons College); Jack Duggan, (Wentworth Institute of Technology)

Wentworth is a teaching institution rather than research-based, however the 2013 strategic plan established a new vision of becoming a national leader in externally-collaborative, project-based, interdisciplinary curricula, or “EPIC” learning for career success, by 2032. Led by the Provost, the administration is implementing EPIC learning through changes to the curriculum and funding for EPIC projects. Examples of EPIC projects funded in 2017-2018 can be found here: https://wit.edu/news/sagan-and-epic-mini-grants-aid-various-projects

Wentworth's Douglas D. Schumann Library & Learning Common offers numerous resources to support sustainability research and learning, ranging from course-specific research guides, to subject guides by major, as well as databases with information which is applicable across academic programs. Examples include the databases and research guides listed below - Databases: • Academic Search Premier • Access Engineering (Environmental & Sustainability Engineering eBooks) • Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) Digital Library • Applied Science and Technology • American Society of Civil Engineering (ASCE) Digital Library • American Society of Mechanical Engineering (ASME) Digital Library • BioMed Central • Building Green Suite • EngineeringNetBase (Taylor & Francis) • Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (IEEE) Xplor • Knovel Technical Reference (Elsevier) • Material ConneXion (Overviews of innovative and sustainable materials) • Public Library of Science (PLoS) • Proquest Central • ScienceDirect • SpringerLink Guides on Sustainability: • CONM 3800: Sustainable Development (Reuse of Brownfield Sites) • Civil Engineering Subject Guide (Sustainability in Civil Engineering; including green infrastructure; water conservation and reuse; energy auditing, efficiency, and conservation; renewable energy; sustainable materials) • Municipal Planning Subject Guide (Sustainable Development; building reuse; smart cities; sustainable transportation) • Facilities Management Subject Guide (Sustainable Development) • Transportation Engineering Subject Guide (Bicycle, pedestrian, and light rail) • Water and Wastewater Engineering Subject Guide • Architecture & Interior Design Sustainable Design Guide, including U.S. Green Building LEED v. 4 Reference Guides (Building Design & Construction; Interior Design; Building Operations & Maintenance; and LEED Associate Study Guide)