Travel Support for Broadening Participation of Researchers in the REMADE Institute Circular Economy Tech Summit and Conference; Washington, DC; 20-21 March 2023

This award provides students and young faculty from underrepresented or underserved groups in STEM education with travel support to attend and participate in the REMADE Institute Circular Economy Tech Summit and Conference. REMADE’s mission is to foster manufacturing technologies that reduce embodied energy and decrease emissions. The conference aims to provide a forum to share leading-edge research on technologies that accelerate the US's transition to a Circular Economy. In addition, the conference offers participants an opportunity to showcase their scientific accomplishments, interact with peers and colleagues from academia, government labs, and industry, extend their network, and foster new collaborations within the broader advanced manufacturing community. Consistent with NSF's goal to broaden the participation of groups underrepresented in science and engineering, the REMADE Institute preferentially allocates travel funds to underrepresented minorities, women, and persons with disabilities. This approach promotes greater diversity in STEM fields and benefits the nation by educating and training a skilled workforce better prepared to provide transformative solutions to overcome challenges in their chosen fields. The conference meets the national priorities of advancing environmental quality and achieving diversity, equity and inclusion. The REMADE Institute anticipates conference attendance benefits the students and young faculty's professional, scientific and technical development. The conference provides attendees with a broader view of the material lifecycle and discusses the different product lifecycle stages - design, manufacturing, remanufacturing, recycling and upcycling - that are critical to understanding the achievement of a circular economy. Attendees also gain a system-level perspective necessary to identify cross-cutting research opportunities. The conference, organized into different technology tracks, includes talks by leading domestic and international speakers discussing their latest research on topics such as building a sustainable circular economy, systems analysis, design for circularity, pathways to achieve net-zero emissions in manufacturing and materials production, remanufacturing, and recycling. In addition, students and young faculty are able to enhance their communication skills through oral and poster presentations and in-depth discussions of their work with their peers. This interactive experience significantly broadens the education and training of students and young faculty from underrepresented groups, increase their enthusiasm for the research topic, acquaint them with expectations for scientific careers, and expose them to new approaches and opportunities for innovative research. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.