The National Science Foundation will provide $1 million to continue to fund drying technology innovations at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, according to a Wednesday press release from WPI.
Drying is an energy intensive aspect of manufacturing, and the Center for Advanced Research in Drying is working to reduce the amount of energy consumed in the process.
Founded in 2016, CARD is managed by researchers from WPI and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The drying innovations coming out of CARD have reduced energy usage, carbon footprint, and water usage, and increased economic competitiveness of such systems.
NSF is granting $100,000 to each of the two schools annually for the next five years. The five-year period will mark Phase II of CARD’s work, which is expected to widen the team’s portfolio to include 15 members from a number of industry sectors such as agriculture, electronic, and pharmaceutical.Â
Along with NSF’s funding, CARD receives a bulk of its financing from those 15 corporate members, which each pay $50,000 in annual membership fees.
