Graham Environmental Sustainability Institute

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Awards & Internships

Dow Sustainability Innovation Innovation Student ChallengeAward (SISCA)

In an effort to encourage graduate students to pursue multi-disciplinary, breakthrough ideas for environmental sustainability, the Graham Institute sponsors the "Dow Sustainability Innovation Student Challenge," through which a students or student team with the most innovative submission is awarded with $10,000 courtesy of the Dow Chemical Company. One "runner-up" will also receive $2,500. Thank you to everyone who submitted their ideas for this year's competition. We will be announcing the 2012 winners in early December.

2011 Winners:

  • Impact Everyday: A third-party credit rewards program that enables cardholders to use their reward points or airline miles to invest in clean energy. Team members include Adam Carver, Aditya Bhandari, Anya Shyrokova, Ricardo Rodriquez, Rachana Patel, and Siyang Chen.
  • ReGenerate: An on-site waste management system that uses a patent-pending combination of anaerobic digestion and aerobic composting to transform food waste and other organic material into hot water and compost. The product is called the Compact Organic Waste System (COWS). Team members include Hunt Briggs and Nolan Orfield.
  • SmartEnergy: A turnkey solution for financing and implementing energy performance retrofits in municipal facilities. Team members include Graham Brown, Mike Elchinger, Ryan Flynn, and Andy Lubershane.

2010 Winners:

  • “Hippo Water International (HWI): A Simple Design Can Change the World,” a new business model to effectively distribute water rollers – a proven collection and transport technology to alleviate problems associated with lack of access to water in the developing world. Team members: Colm Fay, Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise; Cynthia Koenig, Erb Institute; and Christopher Mueller, Ross School of Business.
  • “BioLumination: Brightening the Future with the Waste of Today,” a plan to introduce a device called the Biolight for combusting waste to produce light, thus helping to improve the quality of life for rural villages in the developing world while minimizing environmental impacts. Team members: Robert Levine, Chemical Engineering; Paul Davis, Erb Institute.
  • “Nalu Solar Software,” an idea for a software company that would encourage greater adoption of solar photovoltaic technology by lowering the cost of installed solar PV systems. Team members: Jennifer McLaughlin, Erb Institute; Prashanth Prasad, Ross School of Business; and Imogen Taylor, Erb Institute.

2009 Winners:

  • “New Technology for the Desulfurization of Transportation Fuels” by Chemistry Ph.D. Studendow winnerst Katie Cychosz.

  • “Husk Insulation, Inc” a new business model developed by U-M Business students Ian Dailey, Eric Graham, Siddharth Sinha, and Elizabeth Uhlhorn.

  • “What is a Community-Based, Sustainable Food System? Examples for Application in Detroit, Michigan” submitted by a team of graduate students affiliated with U-M’s Urban Planning and Regional Development School: Rachel Arndt; Rebecca Cheney; Jaimie Cohen; Allison Craddock; Stephanie Etkin; Caitlin Greeley; Brendan Moriarty; Nicholas Posavetz; and Catherine Gaines.

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