Collaboration between ASU and Tongji University provides students with fresh ideas to solve water and environmental challenges

Before the start of the fall 2024 semester, six students and a faculty member from the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University traveled to Tongji University in Shanghai, China, to learn new approaches to solving environmental issues from the university’s College of Environmental Science and Engineering faculty members and graduate students.

“International exchange opportunities like this provide valuable insight into the policies and practices of other countries on critical engineering topics, such as environmental engineering,” says ASU President’s Professor Teresa Wu, associate dean of global engagement in the Fulton Schools. “Partnering with a top university like Tongji offers ASU students an excellent chance to explore diverse engineering solutions and broaden their perspectives on innovative approaches to water treatment, air quality, waste management and other challenges.”

Joined by two students from the Georgia Institute of Technology and one student from Rutgers University, the inaugural cohort learned from Tongji researchers about strategies for urban water and sewage management, edible coatings to preserve produce, renewable energy strategies, and the effects and removal of environmental contaminants.

Over the five-day program, the participants also visited sites on the university’s campus and around Shanghai that demonstrate the country’s history of environmental engineering solutions.