Dr Paolo Bombelli presented his work on plant-microbial fuel cells to the Davos Codes showcase during the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting.
The World Economic Forum (WEF) brings together the foremost leaders of business, politics, academia, culture and society to address the most pressing issues on the global agenda. In the context of the WEF Annual Meeting, held in Davos, Switzerland, Salesforce.org run several events, including the coding club 'Davos Codes', which aims to excite young people in the local community with technology, computing and coding.
This year, Davos Codes put together a showcase for influencing innovation and sustainability, attended by students from local schools in Davos, philanthropists, and delegates from the WEF. Here Dr Paolo Bombelli presented his research on the principle and application of plant-microbial fuel cell (MFC) systems that generate green electricity from plants.
"Being able to deliver a talk to students during the Davos Codes event at the World Economic Forum was a great opportunity to promote our work on the generation of electricity from plants and algae", said Paolo.
With the intent of promoting a sustainable model of science communication and dissemination, Paolo actually delivered his presentation via videolink from ZSL London Zoo were one of his plant-MFC devices is currently being tested under tropical conditions.
Salesforce.org is the social impact centre of the $1.3B cloud-based software company Salesforce. They are dedicated to creating solutions for non-profit, educational, and philanthropic organisations to achieve greater impact.
Davos Codes was launched at the World Economic Forum in 2016 with 50 students from Davos Volksschule attending their first coding workshop organised by Salesforce and Salesforce.org. Following this, a regular programme was created so that students could continue to develop coding and technology skills with support from local mentors and Salesforce volunteers.