Dr. Gavin Towler; Seminars on Technology Challenges in Sustainability
The Trienens Institute will host a seminar series to review global challenges in sustainable development and the creation of a sustainable global economy and ecosystem. Each seminar will focus on a sector of the economy and will begin with a short presentation to review key challenges and pose questions for consideration.
The seminar discussion will then be on identifying technical (as opposed to behavioral, economic or political) breakthroughs that would accelerate the transition to a more sustainable future mode, with particular emphasis on technologies with global impact.
The inaugural series of seminars will be led by Dr. Gavin Towler, who is slated to join Northwestern as the Professor of Engineering Practice. Dr. Towler previously worked as Chief Technology Officer of Honeywell UOP and Honeywell Performance Materials from 2012 to 2023 and as Chief Sustainability Officer of Honeywell from 2023 to 2025. A key goal is to stretch our thinking in new directions, and to stimulate discussion of broader sustainability challenges with one another, with particular emphasis on understanding areas where technology breakthroughs would accelerate progress towards a more sustainable economy.
The seminars will address:
- People & Food
- Cities, Towns, & Buildings
- Transport
- Green Grids
- Pathways to Sustainable Development
The seminar series will begin in November and continue through June. Background pre-reading will be suggested for each seminar and participants are encouraged to bring electronic devices and make active use of online resources to contribute to the seminar discussion.