How ASU’ s Zimin Institute for Smart and Sustainable Cities collaborates with tech startups and local municipalities to drive smart, citizen-centric solutions
ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY
How ASU’ s Zimin Institute for Smart and Sustainable Cities collaborates with tech startups and local municipalities to drive smart, citizen-centric solutions
Despite their individuality and uniqueness, cities also naturally share challenges and aspirations. Urban areas, while often not developed with sustainability in mind, present ample opportunities for sustainable development and innovation.
Smart and sustainable urban development is at the heart of Arizona State University’ s( ASU) Zimin Institute for Smart and Sustainable Cities.
Zimin Institute’ s sustainability leadership Gregory Raupp, Foundation Professor and Director of the Zimin Institute, has an academic and leadership journey at ASU that spans over four decades, during which time he has witnessed and contributed to transformational changes across technology and urban development disciplines.
He originally trained in classical chemical engineering and entered ASU focusing on synthetic fuels in the 1980s – an era when this was a hot topic globally. However, ASU ' s location in Phoenix, a region lacking traditional chemical industries but rich in hightech and defense sectors, shifted his focus to microelectronics and emerging materials.
50 December 2025