Federal Funding Aids Projects at Illinois State

Illinois State University has received more than half a million dollars in federal funding for projects that will enable rural communities to reduce water pollution and generate renewable energy, help Illinois businesses expand into overseas markets, and create a business incubator to promote local economic development.

Illinois State University's Livestock and Urban Waste (LUW) research team has received $475,000 in federal funding for a project to improve the water quality for the Village of Lexington, while exploring ways to generate alternative energy on a local level.  LUW Team members are working with the Village of Lexington to develop a test plot for growing a variety of grasses and plants, collectively referred to as biomass.  The biomass will be irrigated by municipal wastewater in a three-stage settling lagoon.  The plants will absorb nutrients from the effluent and act as a filter, thus improving the overall water quality for the area. 

LUW Team researchers are also investigating ways to produce energy by converting biomass into ethanol and combining it with local livestock manure in a methane digester.  A later stage of the project will involve working with a dairy farm near Lexington to install a methane digester to dispose of livestock manure.  The addition of biomass in the right proportions will greatly increase the production of methane that can be burned to generate electricity.

Illinois State faculty members involved with the project are Paul Walker and Rob Rhykerd, Agriculture, and Tom Bierma and Guang Jin, Health Sciences.

Illinois State University's Export Project has received $100,000 in federal funding to expand its operations.  The Export Project is a collaborative effort by the College of Business and the College of Applied Science and Technology to help small and mid-sized companies in Illinois expand their operations into overseas markets. 

The Export Project pairs teams of students and faculty members with companies to identify, evaluate, and actively develop international business opportunities and prepare realistic export plans.  The students and faculty act as consultants and prepare targeted marketing studies for specific countries. 

Export Project teams began their work in the summer of 2006 by helping an Illinois-based company explore markets in New Zealand.  The project has expanded greatly since then. This summer, 18 students and five faculty members will represent five Illinois-based companies in Poland, China, and India.

Faculty members in the Export Project include Iris Varner, International Business Program; Peter Kaufman, Marketing; Mark Hoelscher, Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies; Aslihan Spaulding, Agriculture; and Klaus Schmidt, Technology.

Illinois State University has also received $95,000 for the creation of a business incubator facility to help with local economic development efforts.  The business incubator project brings together resources from the City of Bloomington, Town of Normal and the Economic Development Council of the Bloomington-Normal Area. 

The proposed business incubator would provide business development resources and assistance to area entrepreneurs.  Renewable energy, advanced manufacturing, nanotechnology, and biomass production have all been identified as potentially new businesses that can be created in Illinois in the next decade.  Products derived from corn and soybeans, such as ethanol, biodiesel and cleaning agents also show great potential.  Numerous faculty members at Illinois State are conducting research in those areas and can provide valuable input into the business development process.

"Funding for these projects represents a validation of Illinois State's growing and positive reputation in Washington, DC," said Rodney Custer, associate vice president for research, graduate and international studies.   "Our Congressional delegation has been extremely helpful and supportive of our faculty's research and outreach efforts. Support for these kinds of projects is vital to the growth and reputation of Illinois State University."