A Dialogue Between Community Leaders, Civil & Environmental Engineers, and Scientists
EES Symposium 30th Anniversary Special Event

Every year the Environmental Engineering group organizes a Symposium where our students present their research. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Symposium and we wish to celebrate it in a meaningful way. This special anniversary event will bring local community leaders and environmental and civil engineering students and faculty together for an introductory conversation about how we can better cooperate to prepare for, respond to, and recover from natural extreme events, such as floods, tornadoes, and wildfires. 

Depending on our duties or expertise, all community members have something to contribute when a crisis strikes the community. However, we do not always know how we can contribute or with whom we can cooperate.  We hope the meeting will help bridge that knowledge gap. Our goal is to get to meet one another and start a conversation about practical ways each can contribute to help protect our community when unexpected events occur. 

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Engineering for a Sustainable Future: 30 Years of Innovation, Impact, and Community

The Annual Symposium is an EE&S graduate student driven event, for students to communicate research results and network with other students, faculty and alumni!

 The Symposium includes:

• Two keynote speaker presentations:
  • Professor Yang Liu, Emory University  
  • Saskia Versteeg, Graphyte
• Podium presentations by graduate students and postdocs
• Poster presentations by graduate students and postdocs
• Continental breakfast and lunch

The broader thematic tracks for the podium presentations and posters are:

• Emerging Technologies for Water Quality and Processes
• Sustainability and Resource Recovery
• Air Quality, Indoor Air Quality, Climate Change

Artificial Intelligence and Data Science in Environmental Engineering

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Phosphorus (P) recovery through struvite crystallization in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) is essential for sustainable nutrient management. However, facilities like the Nine Springs Wastewater Treatment Plant (NS WWTP) face inefficiencies in P removal, excessive chemical usage, and inconsistent nutrient recovery, leading to higher costs and operational challenges. Full Flyer

Speaker: Rishabh Puri, PhD Candidate (advisor Ro Cusick)

The use of struvite precipitation systems in water resource recovery facilities is on the rise, yet challenges like inefficient phosphorus recovery and inconsistent performance persist, partly due to empirical models that ignore the effects of impurities and particle size. Our research investigates the impacts of competing cations (calcium) on the kinetics and dynamics of struvite precipitation. Experimental results indicate that calcium addition transforms struvite morphology and inhibits aggregate formation, with amorphous calcium phosphate beginning to redissolve after 15 minutes.

Speaker Bio: Don Sim is in the second year of his master's degree program. He graduated from Animal Science at Konkuk University, Seoul, Korea(2023). He likes to go on a hike and play basketball from time to time. His research interest lies in the precipitation process to recover nutrients from wastewater.

Don't miss this opportunity to engage with the Ecuadorian inspiring leaders and learn about their vital work in the Amazon region.

Panelists include: 

• Salome Aranda: Indigenous Kichwa woman and a human rights defender. 
• Zoila Castillo: Amazonian Indigenous Parliament of Ecuador and Kichwa member.

Hello friends,

I am working on a presentation for Texas Water 2025 on building the Future Workforce in the Water/Wastewater industry. As part of this effort, we are conducting a brief survey to gather insights from both current and future professionals in our industry.

We would greatly appreciate it if you could take 2 minutes to complete the survey. Please feel free to share it with your contacts to help us gather diverse perspectives.

Thank you for your time and support! Please feel free to share any comments/feedback you have.

https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=2gFTDkuTB0GWSwxd1psKQVhAWywXMF1Mt0MvurOjEoJURTIwVE44NUxVUzRNQjFRRTRSRVBCR0xDVy4u   

Best Regards,
Varenya Mehta (UIUC Alumni)
Civitas Engineering Group, Inc.

About SBS-MSI: SBS-MSI engineers and manufacturers complete Continuous Emissions Monitoring Systems (CEMS) to monitor stack gases, process gases, flow, and opacity for EPA regulatory compliance and process control. 

Job Title: Project Engineer

Summary: We are looking for a Project Engineer to design and manage projects for timely completion of project deliverables that meet or exceed customer specifications.

Email resumes to Brian Bagley (brianb@msicems.com)

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