PureMadi, a nonprofit group of University faculty and students that combats global water scarcity and contamination, unveiled an invention Friday. The group created a water purification tablet called MadiDrop. The small ceramic disc can be placed in a container of water to quickly remove pathogens. The device lets people in developing areas treat drinking water immediately before consuming it. The MadiDrop is a cheaper alternative to the larger ceramic water filters the nonprofit introduced in South Africa last year.
PureMadi’s high-profile reveal — at a sold-out event Friday in Alumni Hall celebrating the group’s one-year anniversary — marked an exception to the manner in which the University publicizes most of its innovative scientific work. Apart from the faculty, administrators and graduate students who work closely with research efforts, the University’s science world is hermetically sealed. Some findings break out of the laboratory’s confines to appear in academic journals read by few. But the University’s scientific work rarely receives the attention it merits.
The problem is one of communication, or lack thereof. Most students might guess the University is a major research hub, but few, especially in the College, would know the extent to which our institution aims to make strides in big data, energy systems, sustainability and more. Ideas that emerge from the University’s multiple research centers are not well-publicized. Highly motivated undergraduates might probe into a professor’s research interests or undertake a project of their own. But the majority of students are left distanced from the high-stakes scholarly investigation that occurs nearly every day on Grounds. The only glimpses they get of the University’s academic efforts are what they see in the classroom. And if University students remain unaware of the strides and breakthroughs happening on Grounds, is there any chance the general public will take note?
University officials have recently taken steps to prevent the institution’s intellectual activity from languishing in laboratories or growing stale in the stacks. Most of these efforts are commendable but incomplete.
OpenGrounds, for example, which opened last March, has been useful for connecting scholars across disciplines. The Corner studio space has served as a site for supplementary learning through programs such as the ongoing “Humanities in Place” project, which takes the form of a weekly seminar. But OpenGrounds, despite its attempts to engage the public through open hours and various contests, risks becoming an airtight domain of its own.
The U.Va. Innovation initiative, which also launched last March, is even more promising. Friday it introduced streamlined intellectual property disclosure forms to make it easier for researchers to inform the University of their discoveries. The group’s goal is to commercialize University technologies by partnering with businesses. It is important for industries to recognize the benefits of scholarship beyond private in-house research and development projects, and the U.Va. Innovation initiative’s efforts — such as its recent proposal to create a Charlottesville economic development program to push student and faculty inventions into the market — help the University’s research positively influence the economy. But the ideas the University produces — from strides in health care to cutting-edge work in digital humanities — are not always immediately marketable, which is where the U.Va. Innovation initiative falls short. And the University should aim to keep not just industries but also the general public informed of its intellectual work.
University affiliates that promote and publicize the institution’s scientific achievements should search for writers and media specialists who can explain research breakthroughs simply and accurately. They should also seek opportunities for student involvement whenever possible, as PureMadi and OpenGrounds have. Reticence about research will not help the University attract investors or stake a claim for increased public funding. The University’s science world needs a popularizer.
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