FGCU and UMASS working on environmental projects

A new partnership between Florida Gulf Coast University and the University of Massachusetts Lowell is set to drive long-term improvements in Southwest Florida.

Leaders from these universities signed an agreement on Monday, focusing on projects that will enhance water quality and veteran care.

Ruairi Omahony, the senior executive director of the Rist Institute for Sustainability Energy at UMass Lowell, emphasized the importance of collaboration.

“The name of the game is sharing those resources, replicating and scaling to make a wider impact together,” said Omahony.

The partnership’s first initiative will address environmental challenges.

“The initial focus area is going to be, you know, energy sustainability. Water issues. You know, two areas that are, you know, very much at the top of the agenda, both in Massachusetts and Southwest Florida,” said Omahony.

UMass Lowell’s graduate training program, the SWIMMER program, is already underway. It concentrates on the interactions between communities, industry and water. FGCU students can participate during the summer and return equipped to address water issues in Southwest Florida.

Huzefa Kagdi, the dean of the U.A. Whitaker College of Engineering at FGCU, highlighted ongoing research in the engineering department to improve infrastructure for hurricane season.

“Right now, we are focused on flood modeling for a limited region or area, but the challenge there is how you scale it up to a city,” said Kagdi.

“How do we make materials more resilient? Resilient infrastructure is a big piece of that,” he added.

Kagdi expressed optimism about the collaboration’s potential.

“We have faculty in this college who are working on water, food and energy nexus. So we are combining the strengths of these two institutions, right, and we are immediately going to bring the impact to our community,” said Kagdi.

In addition to environmental projects, the universities are partnering with Home Base to support veterans’ mental, physical and financial recovery.

Students from both institutions will research veterans’ needs and apply their engineering skills to develop advanced technology.