Challa Kumar

Professor of Chemistry, University of Connecticut - Ashford, CT - USA
Ashford, CT - USA
Challa Kumar

I do not fly often because of the pollution it creates. I cut back my trips to India and I connect more on WhatsApp to be in touch with my friends, family, collaborators, and others.

I have been teaching for 31 years as to how carbon dioxide has higher heat capacity than nitrogen or oxygen, thus contributes to global warming. Producing more carbon dioxide is the wrong way to go.

I also watched a recent video on why the US has no high speed rail service, while many other countries have built extensive networks of high speed rail. High speed rail will reduce carbon emissions dramatically even though electricity is generated partly by burning fossil fuels.

My research group is working on developing protein-based plastics to replace conventional plastics. We are also using protein-based materials to make high tech materials for super capacitors, batteries, LEDs and solar cells. Making a bioSolar cell is one of our high priorities.