From a young age, Anya Ellis displayed a keen interest in STEM.

“I remember saving money from a lemonade stand to buy my first microscope and study insects on slides,” she shared. Now a freshman at Georgia Tech, Anya is pursuing a degree in biomedical engineering. She is one of several young women awarded scholarships by the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), thanks to the efforts of 3M corporate scientist Jayshree Seth.

Jayshree, known for her groundbreaking work in product development and holding 80 patents, has also authored three books aimed at guiding aspiring scientists, engineers, and leaders in STEM. In 2020, she collaborated with SWE to establish the Jayshree Seth Scholarship for Women of Color in STEM, using all proceeds from her book sales to fund it. So far, nearly $30,000 has been awarded to five recipients.

“This scholarship is not just financial support; it’s a reminder of my belonging in STEM,” said Anya.

Jayshree attributes her success to a strong support network and advocates for mentorship to inspire more women and underrepresented minorities to pursue careers in engineering, manufacturing, and the sciences. “Diversity in these fields leads to greater impact. A diverse workforce is a stronger workforce,” she emphasized.

The 2023 scholarship recipient, Janae Gillus, is a computer engineering student at the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. Growing up in a family of engineers, Janae was exposed to STEM early, attending National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) meetings as a child and learning coding in fourth grade. Reflecting on her experiences, she noted, “It’s challenging being the only female or Black student, but finding a more diverse STEM community at college has been reassuring.”

The 2022 recipient, Olanrewaju Famakinwa, is studying chemical and biomolecular engineering at Johns Hopkins University. Inspired by her grandmother’s math lessons and her love for chemistry, she found her path in chemical engineering with encouragement from her mother. “This scholarship motivates me to give back. I want my work to positively impact others,” said Olanrewaju.

Appointed as 3M’s first Chief Science Advocate in 2018, Jayshree leverages her expertise to highlight the importance of science and diversity in STEM. She is the fourth woman and first female engineer inducted into 3M’s Carlton Society, a prestigious recognition of innovation.
Through her books, including The Heart of Science trilogy, Jayshree continues to mentor aspiring STEM professionals while supporting scholarships with all proceeds. “Education is the greatest gift we can give,” she said.

The following the recipients of the scholarship:

Last Thursday, a research team from Georgia Tech unveiled a comprehensive study titled "Energy Burdens of Black Households in Georgia," shedding light on the disproportionate impact of energy costs on Black families within the state. The report, spanning over 40 pages, is segmented into seven sections, delving into the issue of energy burden among Black households through various analytical lenses, both quantitative and qualitative. Utilizing data from approximately 1,800 households, the primary statistical analysis underscores the severity of the situation.
 
Energy burden, as defined in the report, refers to the portion of a household's monthly income allocated to covering energy expenses, including electricity and natural gas. Existing research indicates that the Southeastern region exhibits higher rates of energy burden compared to other parts of the United States.
 
The findings of this report unveil a troubling reality: Black households experience significantly higher energy burdens in comparison to their White counterparts. This disparity is attributed in part to enduring legacies of racism that persist in various facets of society today, including the geographical distribution of Black neighborhoods, access to resources, housing quality, energy efficiency, and more. The report delves into this complex issue in its segment titled "Historical and Current Impacts of Structural Racism on Energy Burden in Georgia."

The Ray C. Anderson Center at the Scheller College of Business is excited to introduce the 2023-24 Scheller College Sustainability Fellows and Ambassadors! This year, a cohort of 25 graduate and undergraduate students from various departments at Georgia Tech are engaging in a transformative journey to develop their leadership skills and contribute to shaping a sustainable and thriving world.

These passionate individuals are actively involved in projects aimed at making tangible differences, tackling issues such as social performance, reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the building sector, improving waste management practices, implementing rooftop solar initiatives, and much more.

Dailycsr.com – 30 June 2020 – No one had anticipated that hand sanitizers could become so important. If immediate steps were not taken then the country would have faced a shortage. In March, The Georgia Institute of Technology’s professor, Marder brought together all the partners and colleagues and worked to “replaced a key component of hand sanitizer” by the beginning of June. Likewise, a new “supply chain” came into existence which was initiated with their “own donation of 7,000 gallons of a newly designed sanitizer to medical facilities”.
 
They named it “Han-I-Size White & Gold” after Georgia Tech’s colours, whereby ensuring that manufacturers don’t “run out of the main active ingredient” of hand sanitizers, namely alcohol. However, it wasn’t an easy success for the team. The professor at “School of Chemistry and Biochemistry” in Georgia Tech said:
“This project was on life support so many times because people did not understand how severe this shortage was going to be. I called hospitals and institutions to assess the need and heard the same thing over and over: ‘No, we just got a delivery. We have no need. You’re wasting your time.’”
 
When major chemical suppliers who provide “isopropanol”, one essential ingredients of hand sanitizer, were contacted, Marder learned that isopropanol shortage was waiting round the corner. As Marder added:
“Isopropanol plants in the U.S. were running at full capacity and still didn’t have enough. People were using pharmaceutical-grade ethanol now, too, but it was also in short supply. We weren’t going to have enough of either; I mean the whole United States was running low”.
 
Here is the list of the people Marder contacted at this juncture:
“Marder hastily drafted Chris Luettgen, a professor of practice in Georgia Tech’s School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, George White, interim vice president of Georgia Tech’s Office of Industry Collaboration, and Atif Dabdoub, a Georgia Tech alumnus and owner of a local chemical company, Unichem Technologies, Inc.”
 
Initially, the three “chemists and the business professional” though of simply mixing “alcohol with water, peroxide, and the moisturizer glycerin” before packing it into bottles. However, it wasn’t as simple. Luettgen used his 25 years’ of business experience to push his way against “unexpected supply chain barriers and bureaucracy” while White had to establish “connections between companies”. In this manner, working through the night and day, the team forged the supply chain and the business connection from the scratch. As Luettgen recounted:
“When I worked for Kimberly-Clark, getting a new product out would take the company nine to 18 months, and the three of us had to get this done in weeks. The demand was there, and people were getting sick in some cases from lack of sanitizing. We felt speed was necessary to meet the growing demand. Seth told me to push this across the goal line, and I put everything into it”.
 
While, White added:
“Georgia Tech is about the power to convene. Companies and stakeholders are eager to come to the table here to make things happen. Not everyone has that incredible recognition as a problem solver with the brainpower amassed here.”
 
Talking about the amount of isopropanol needed in comparison to what was being manufactured, Marder added:
“The amount of ethanol that’s made for fuel in the U.S. is 1,500 times the amount of the isopropanol made. They could drain off about 1 percent of what is used for fuel and double or triple the amount of alcohol available for hand sanitizer in this country. And the fuel companies wouldn’t even notice it was gone, especially since hardly anyone was driving anymore”.
 
However, the smell of the hand sanitizer wasn’t welcoming to the distributor and White recounted:
“I thought, ‘This has the makings of a screenplay.’ I asked the distributor if we could come over to smell a sample for ourselves. It needed a little love.”
 
Aflac Incorporated donated “$2 million” through “the Global Center for Medical Innovation”, in short GCMI which went into fast forwarding the “development, production, and purchase of other PPE to donate to health care workers”. Moreover, GCMI also collaborated in “regulatory processes” and marketing of the hand sanitizer. On the other hand, Arkema, Inc. made a donation in kind of hydrogen peroxide and the company of Coca Cola donated a tanker truck of purified water.
 
And Ben Brumfield informed:
“Finally, the first few hundred gallons of donated Han-I-Size White & Gold rolled into Piedmont Healthcare in Atlanta and Brightmoor Nursing Center in Griffin, Georgia, in the second week of June 2020”.
 
 
 
References:
gatech.edu

Dailycsr.com – 02 January 2018 – Ray C. Anderson Foundation brings the story of an individual who has undertaken an awareness journey and come close to the environment and has learnt its importance.
 
Elizabeth Jang is a student at Georgia Tech who writes about her experience with “various programs” like “Carbon Reduction Challenge” that has contributed towards increasing her environmental love, whereby she recounts that several “experiences” have “deepened” her capacity of environmental appreciation and she has also become “more aware” towards the importance of environmental stewardship.
 
She said:
“For instance, I had the opportunity to study abroad at Georgia Tech’s Lorraine campus for my Spring 2016 semester. As I travelled on my own, I quickly discovered that I preferred exploring mountains to the city. Climbing high and seeing a new location from above, I gained a greater appreciation of a place”.
 
During these hikes, Jang felt responsible on performing her parts to preserve the “environment so that in the future” she could visit the “same places to rediscover their natural beauty”. Likewise, on a trip to Asia, Jang “felt the duty to live in a more environmentally-friendly way” as she had to put on a mask on her face to protect her lungs from air pollution thickened with smog.
 
She also added:
“Even after I went home and was able to live mask-free, I felt sad for the people who lived there since they weren’t able to breathe fresh air. I also hoped that America would never become so polluted that its citizens would need to wear masks”.
 
Furthermore, talking about a “recent inspiration” of her in her journey towards becoming more environmental friendly, Jang said:
“A final recent inspiration for my commitment to the environment has come from my sister who has decided to live a zero-waste life. I have been learning a great deal from her about how much trash one person generates in his or her lifetime, and how even a small act (such as not using straws) can impact the environment for the better”.
 
 
References:
3blmedia.com