{"677477":{"#nid":"677477","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Soil-Powered Fuel Cell Makes List of Best Sustainability Designs","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA newly designed soil-powered fuel cell that could provide a sustainable alternative to batteries was recognized as an honorable mention in the annual Fast Company Innovation by Design Awards.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETerracell is roughly the size of a paperback book and uses microbes found in soil to generate energy for low-power applications.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPrevious designs for soil microbial fuel cells required water submergence or saturated soil. Terracell can function in soil with a volumetric water content of 42%\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETerracell placed in Fast Company\u2019s list of the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.fastcompany.com\/91129811\/students-innovation-by-design-2024\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003Ebest sustainability-focused designs of 2024\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearchers at Northwestern University lead the multi-institution research team that designed Terracell.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EJosiah\u003C\/strong\u003E \u003Cstrong\u003EHester\u003C\/strong\u003E, an associate professor in \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ic.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech\u0027s School of Interactive Computing\u003C\/a\u003E who previously worked at Northwestern, directs the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/kamoamoa.com\/\u0022\u003EKa Moamoa Lab\u003C\/a\u003E, where the project was conceived.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe team includes researchers from Northwestern, Georgia Tech, Stanford, the University of California-San Diego, and the University of California-Santa Cruz.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETheir research was published in January in the Proceedings of the Association for Computing Machinery on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable, and Ubiquitous Technologies. The researchers will also present this work at the ACM international joint conference on Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing (Ubicomp), Oct. 5-9.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAccording to the Fast Company website, the Innovation by Design Awards recognize \u201cdesigners and businesses solving the most crucial problems of today and anticipating the pressing issues of tomorrow.\u201d Winners are published in Fast Company Magazine and are honored at the Fast Company Innovation Festival in the fall.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cTerracell could reduce e-waste and extend the useful lifetime of electronics deployed for agriculture, environmental monitoring, and smart cities,\u201d Hester said. \u201cWe were honored to be recognized for the design innovation award. It is a testament to the promise of sustainable computing and our hope for a more sustainable world.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor more information about Terracell, see the story featured on Northwestern Now, or visit the project\u2019s \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.terracell.org\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003Ewebsite\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAssociate Professor of Interactive Computing \u003Cstrong\u003EJosiah\u003C\/strong\u003E \u003Cstrong\u003EHester\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0027s lab is developing new technology that harvests energy from soil. Terracell placed in Fast Company\u2019s list of the best sustainability-focused designs of 2024.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"New technology being developed at Georgia Tech placed in Fast Company\u2019s list of the best sustainability-focused designs of 2024."}],"uid":"32045","created_gmt":"2024-10-11 14:16:38","changed_gmt":"2024-10-11 14:23:43","author":"Ben Snedeker","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2024-10-11T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2024-10-11T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"675290":{"id":"675290","type":"image","title":"Lighted bulb in the dirt illustrates new technology that draws energy from dirt.","body":"\u003Cp\u003EAn Adobe stock conceptual image of a lighted bulb in the dirt illustrating new technology that draws energy from dirt.\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1728656208","gmt_created":"2024-10-11 14:16:48","changed":"1728656208","gmt_changed":"2024-10-11 14:16:48","alt":"An Adobe stock conceptual image of a lighted bulb in the dirt illustrating new technology that draws energy from dirt.","file":{"fid":"258897","name":"AdobeStock_241936979.jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/10\/11\/AdobeStock_241936979.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/10\/11\/AdobeStock_241936979.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":105240,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2024\/10\/11\/AdobeStock_241936979.jpeg?itok=6MaZJidR"}},"671840":{"id":"671840","type":"image","title":"Georgia Tech Associate Professor of Interactive Computing Josiah Hester","body":null,"created":"1695750013","gmt_created":"2023-09-26 17:40:13","changed":"1695750013","gmt_changed":"2023-09-26 17:40:13","alt":"Georgia Tech Associate Professor of Interactive Computing Josiah Hester","file":{"fid":"254978","name":"Josiah Hester_86A0504.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/09\/26\/Josiah%20Hester_86A0504.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/09\/26\/Josiah%20Hester_86A0504.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":598031,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2023\/09\/26\/Josiah%20Hester_86A0504.jpg?itok=9adMnFyo"}}},"media_ids":["675290","671840"],"groups":[{"id":"47223","name":"College of Computing"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"50876","name":"School of Interactive Computing"}],"categories":[{"id":"144","name":"Energy"},{"id":"154","name":"Environment"}],"keywords":[{"id":"10199","name":"Daily Digest"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ENathan Deen, Communications Officer\u003Cbr\u003EGeorgia Tech School of Interactive Computing\u003Cbr\u003Enathan.deen@cc.gatech.edu\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}