Nivedita Arora: “Building Sustainable Computational Materials”

Nivedita Arora: Collecting real-time, granular environmental data is essential for urban health, agriculture, and disaster prevention. However, it must be done sustainably, with minimal environmental impact in terms of e-waste or disturbance to biodiversity. To achieve this, my research on “Sustainable computational materials” transforms materials like paper, wood, soil, plants, and textiles into computational devices that can harvest energy from the environment to perform useful tasks and be composted or recycled after use. My Ph.D. dissertation specifically took the first step toward this vision by creating interactive, wireless audio and vibration-sensing sticky notes that had battery-free operation.1 This required me to balance three system design parameters—battery-free operation, form factor, and cost, with functionality like sensing, communication, and feedback. I accomplished this by creating a series of projects that build on each other. SATURN is a self-powered, flexible acoustic sensor based on a triboelectric generator made from inexpensive everyday materials like paper and plastic.2,3 ZEUSSS and MARS demonstrate wireless sensing of speech, direction, identity, and touch by single and multiple interactive stickers, respectively, in an indoor environment using nanopower.4,5 VENUS adds feedback to the stickers in the form of a low-voltage display powered by the human body or ambient room light.6 I demonstrated the potential applications of sustainable stickers in interaction sensing, mobile health, and infrastructure monitoring.7 My VAK Sustainable Computing Lab at Northwestern University is currently tackling biodegradability and eco-friendliness.8