Georgia Tech and Agilent Technologies have launched a new Center of Excellence (CoE) for Environmental Health and Engineering to advance research in water recycling, environmental sustainability, and biologics. The facility will be led by Shane Snyder, professor in Georgia Tech’s School of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the José Domingo Pérez Foundation Chair.
The CoE will integrate Agilent’s advanced cell analysis instruments and mass spectrometers to support projects that rapidly evaluate water and environmental safety. Research priorities include:
- Developing technologies for municipal and industrial water recycling
- Advancing waste material upcycling and resource recovery
- Using cell-based analysis to assess complex environmental mixtures
- Training early-career scientists in sustainable environmental solutions
“Agilent is excited to collaborate with Professor Snyder and Georgia Tech on this Center of Excellence,” said Agilent CEO Padraig McDonnell. “This partnership illustrates Agilent’s objective to empower academic researchers with the tools and support they need to drive meaningful scientific progress—especially in the critical area of environmental health and safety.”
Snyder brings international experience in water technologies, having previously served as president’s chair professor at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore and executive director of the Nanyang Environment and Water Research Institute. His research focuses on sustainable water treatment innovations, waste materials upcycling, and resource recovery.
“This partnership with Agilent enables us to push the boundaries of environmental research,” said Snyder. “With access to state-of-the-art instrumentation and Agilent’s scientific expertise, we will accelerate discoveries that address some of the world’s most pressing sustainability challenges.”
The Georgia Tech CoE is Agilent’s third in the US and its only facility dedicated to environmental contaminant measurement and toxicity evaluation. It will be the first to apply cell-based environmental analysis to study the health impacts of complex chemical mixtures in environmental systems.
The collaboration builds on a longstanding relationship between Agilent and Snyder, which began when Snyder received an Agilent Research Catalyst Award in 2017 for his water-quality research. The new CoE is intended to serve as a model for how industry–academic partnerships can address global environmental challenges.
