Purdue's Institute for a Sustainable Future Announces Recipient of 2024-2025 Graduate Fellowship

The Institute for a Sustainable Future (ISF) at Purdue University is excited to announce the ISF Graduate Fellowship recipient for the 2024-2025 academic year. The goal of this fellowship program is to support outstanding PhD students who are committed to conducting interdisciplinary research on sustainability topics aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Sandra Cordoba, a second-year PhD student in Mechanical Engineering under the supervision of Professor David Warsinger, has been selected as the recipient of the 2024-2025 ISF Graduate Fellowship.

Sandra’s interests lie at the intersection between the sustainable management of water and energy resources. Her research involves the development of alternative water treatment methods to utilize unconventional water sources such as salt water. She is focused on the development of novel reverse osmosis configurations to make desalination less energy-intensive and facilitate its integration with renewable energy sources such as solar or wave energy. Sandra has published her work in academic journals such as Desalination and two full patent applications have been submitted for the technology she has helped developed.

Commenting on Sandra’s work, faculty mentor and ISF affiliate David Warsinger wrote, “She has created very detailed models and deliberately made them more accurate towards real-world physics than I had even asked or expected, making her models powerful for future projects. The contributions she has developed are exceptional. The new batch reverse osmosis system she has modeled and has prototyped will be the most efficient seawater desalination technology proposed to date.”
The ISF Graduate Fellowship provides recipients with funding and tuition remission for one academic year. Additionally, each fellow receives financial assistance to support their research projects and related travel. Fellows receive mentorship from ISF-associated faculty, engage in ISF activities, and are afforded opportunities to participate in strategic initiatives related to sustainability.

Upon being selected for the fellowship, Sandra stated, “I am honored to have been selected to receive the ISF Graduate Fellowship. I have followed ISF’s impactful work and initiatives during my time at Purdue and I am excited with the opportunity of joining such a forward-thinking team. We can take the right steps together towards a more sustainable future for all.”

The ISF congratulations Sandra Cordoba on receiving the 2024-2025 ISF Graduate Fellowship and looks forward to working together to advance sustainability research at Purdue University.
For more information about ISF and its initiatives, please visit https://research.purdue.edu/isf/index.php.