Purdue to help fight ‘forever chemicals’ in economy-boosting, NSF-funded Great Lakes project

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue University will play a significant role in the Great Lakes Water Innovation Engine (or ReNEW), a new National Science Foundation Regional Innovation Engine that aims to discover, develop and deploy novel technologies to clean the Great Lakes while also attracting water-intensive manufacturers, and new jobs, to the Midwestern region.

Purdue will contribute to the project at every stage, helping define and advance strategies that eliminate toxic so-called “forever chemicals,” while also extracting valuable, reusable minerals from wastewater. Linda Lee, Distinguished Professor of Agronomy and professor of environmental and ecological engineering, is Purdue’s principal investigator and part of the ReNew leadership team. She will co-lead work to develop and commercialize improved selective-separation technologies — the materials and processes for extruding forever chemicals and other contaminants that are harmful to people and the environment.

Read more on the Purdue Office of Research website.

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Media contact: Amy Raley, araley@purdue.edu

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Purdue University is a public research institution demonstrating excellence at scale. Ranked among top 10 public universities and with two colleges in the top four in the United States, Purdue discovers and disseminates knowledge with a quality and at a scale second to none. More than 105,000 students study at Purdue across modalities and locations, including nearly 50,000 in person on the West Lafayette campus. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue’s main campus has frozen tuition 13 years in a row. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap — including its first comprehensive urban campus in Indianapolis, the new Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. School of Business, and Purdue Computes — at https://www.purdue.edu/president/strategic-initiatives.