Montana State awarded $3 million to study use of microorganisms in building materials

A multi-disciplinary team of Montana State University experts searching for a way to use living materials to reduce the building industry’s reliance on cement and concrete has been awarded a $3 million Future Research Manufacturing Research grant from the National Science Foundation.

Chelsea Heveran, assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering in the Norm Asbjornson College of Engineering, is the principal investigator for the four-year project. Its specific goal is to advance the ability to make complex, load-bearing structures by using mineral-producing microorganisms. It includes funding for three graduate student researchers and the establishment of an eco-manufacturing undergraduate student research and training program called Eco-start, which is currently recruiting its inaugural cohort. Eco-start students will have the opportunity to work in campus labs and in related industries during the summers, Heveran said.