How can a Global Center's Innovation Hub encourage partnership?

The Innovation Hub, based in Rio de Janeiro, engages with Columbia’s schools and partners to spur technological growth and research advances for urban areas on critical issues such as sustainability, sanitation, data science, smart cities, and precision medicine.

Recently, the Hub launched a design challenge focused on bringing innovative engineering, planning, and policy solutions to the challenge of urban water in Brazil. In addition to providing clean drinking water to homes, Rio also struggles to handle and treat a tremendous volume of wastewater in waterways with hundreds of tons of solid waste discharged daily into the city’s Guanabara Bay. Standing water contributes as well to serious health issues from mosquitos and mold.

Groups of students and researchers from across campus and in Rio teamed up to develop interdisciplinary solutions for multifaceted issues, including providing clean water to dense slum areas, treating wastewater, and mitigating the impacts of extreme weather events.

The Innovation Hub will continue pursuing other innovative solutions to emerging urban problems. This initiative is led by the Fu Foundation School of Engineering, in partnership with Columbia Global Centers | Rio de Janeiro, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro's Institute for Graduate Studies and Research in Engineering, and the city of Rio de Janeiro.