Dr. Dele Ogunseitan, a professor of population health and disease prevention at UCI Public Health and a University of California Presidential Chair, has been awarded a $200,000 research grant from Microsoft, Inc. to fund a new project, entitled: “Sustainable Development of Materials in Printed Circuit Boards for the Next Generation Electronic Products.”
Dr. Ogunseitan will act as a co-Principal Investigator on the project, along with Dr. Julie Schoenung, a chair and professor of materials science and engineering from the UCI Samueli School of Engineering. The pair are also co-directors of UCI’s World Institute for Sustainable Development of Materials (WISDOM).
The award recognizes that during the past three decades, international concern has increased steadily about the quantity of toxic electronic waste (e-waste) generated worldwide. Strategies for reducing the toxic hazards associated with e-waste have been sporadic, driven largely by regulatory policies such as the phasing out of tin-lead solders that have added to the burden of lead poisoning. By the end of 2021, over 50 million tons of e-waste will be created with only a fraction ending up in recycling streams. The tendency toward sustainable manufacturing of electronic products is thus driven in part by regulation to reduce toxic hazards and to conserve resources, and in part by technological innovation. An urgent need exists for new research to integrate the drivers of technical innovation and environmental sustainability as mutually reinforcing targets for the electronics industry.
Dr. Ogunseitan’s research interests include global health and development; toxic environmental pollution; and microbial diversity, ecology and health. He also is a co-chair of Apple, Inc.’s Green Chemistry Advisory board.
