The Tech 4 Earth call for projects: the six winning projects

This call for projects, jointly supported by PULSALYS and the Université de Lyon via the IDEXLYON, aims to identify, support and finance the development of laboratory research findings which could be used to help protect the environment.

The selection committee, presided by Dany Escudié, Director of the Centre d’Énergétique et de Thermique de Lyon (CETHIL), is composed of laboratory representatives, local authorities, organizations and local economic players.

They awarded six projects. Three projects in the pre-maturation stage will receive €150,000 in funding from IDEXLYON, in order to reach the level of technical maturity to begin a maturation program. And three projects in the maturation stage will receive investment funds from PULSALYS and begin a customized development program in order to transfer to an existing company or launch a start-up company.

By supporting these innovative projects, IDEXLYON and PULSALYS are widening the virtuous circle of their complementary actions for local economic development that extends from academic research to the socio-economic world.

The three projects in the pre-maturation stage, supported by the IDEXLYON:

• CHRONO TERR – A web application designed to analyze and provide information on the socio-economic trajectory of local areas, led by Fanny Arnaud - Environnement Ville Société – EVS (Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3, CNRS, Université Lumière Lyon 2, Université Jean Monnet, Mines de Saint-Étienne, ENSAL, ENS de Lyon, ENTPE, INSA Lyon);
• DASARA –– Distributed Acoustic Sensing Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, led by Benoit Tauzin – Laboratoire de Géologie de Lyon, Terre, Planètes, Environnement [Geology Laboratory of Lyon, Earth, Planets and the Environment] (ENS de Lyon, CNRS, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1);
• DPPA – Airborne Particulate Sampling Device for sampling airborne particles directly on biomimetic surfactants. For air quality control, led by Ana-Maria Trunfio-Sfarghiu – Laboratoire de Mécanique des Contacts et des Structures LaMCoS (CNRS, INSA Lyon, Institut Carnot).

The three projects in the maturation stage, supported by PULSALYS:

• LEARTHER – A project that aims to produce a 100% plant-based “leather”, led by Yvan Chalamet, Laboratoire Ingénierie des Matériaux Polymères [Polymer Materials Engineering Laboratory] - IMP - (CNRS, Université Jean Monnet, INSA Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1);
• SPONGE – “Natural hierarchical mesoporosity solids” with the aim of improving irrigation in urban and peri-urban agriculture, led by Melaz Tayakout from the Laboratoire d’Automatique, de Génie des Procédés et de Génie Pharmaceutique [Laboratory of Automation, Process Engineering and Pharmaceutical Engineering] – LAGEPP – (CNRS, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1)”;
• WOOD4HEAT– A new continuous production process for wood pellets with a high calorific value and lower energy impact, led by Frédéric Becquart, Laboratoire Ingénierie des Matériaux Polymères [Polymer Materials Engineering Laboratory] – IMP – (CNRS, Université Jean Monnet, INSA Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1);

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