SUNMONTUEWEDTHUFRISAT
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Events for April
-
Astani CEE Department Seminar
Tue, Apr 01, 2014 @ 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Elia Psillakis , Technical University of Crete
Talk Title: Emerging and Persistent Organic Pollutants in Aquatic Environment: Mega-sized concerns from a nano-sized world
Abstract: Water quality protection remains a major environmental and policy challenge faced by many industrial as well as developing nations. In particular, the occurrence and fate of trace amounts of a wide range of anthropogenic organic contaminants in water continues to escalate concerns over their potential for ecological and human health effects. Besides the well-known ââ¬Åpersistentââ¬Â organic pollutants, such as PCBs, a range of ââ¬Åemergingââ¬Â organic contaminants and their transformation products attract considerable attention. These pollutants result from changes in manufactured chemicals, advances in analytical techniques or perhaps because of more detailed monitoring.
I will summarize several of our investigations over the past few years, which aim at the detection, and the identification of the fate of both emerging and persistent organic pollutants in water. I will first discuss on the fundamental concepts of the analytical tools used, so as to explain the scientific basis behind this type of water-quality investigations. Through case studies, I will discuss the overarching issues and challenges we face because of the concurrent presence of different classes of contaminants, such as personal care products, perfluorinated compounds, flame retardants and nanoparticles in aquatic environments. Last, I will try to imagineer the future of this rapidly evolving interdisciplinary research field.
Biography: Dr. Elia Psillakis is an Associate Professor at the School of Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Crete, Greece. She received her degree in Chemistry from the Universitè Montpellier II Sciences et Techniques du Languedoc in France in 1994 and her PhD from the University of Bristol, U.K., in 1997. In 2007, she was awarded a Fulbright research scholarship and spent it at Caltech. Her work focuses on monitoring and studying emerging and persistent hydrophobic organic contaminants in natural and engineered aquatic environments. To date her investigations have resulted into one patent and 68 publications in ISI Journals with more than 3200 citations, an ISI h-index=32, and three ââ¬ÅTop cited article awards.ââ¬Â
Host: Astani CEE Department
Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - 209
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Cassie Cremeans
-
Astani CEE Department Seminar
Thu, Apr 03, 2014 @ 10:00 AM - 11:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Tom Hennebel , University of California, Berkeley
Talk Title: Biogenic nanoparticles: the Holy Grail in wastewater treatment?
Abstract: During the last decades there has been a considerable expansion in the use of precious metals in medicine, electronics, and catalysis. Among the precious metals, platinum group metals (PGMs) have demonstrated their ability to serve as highly efficient catalysts and are currently being widely applied in the fields aforementioned. Their limited supply, however, has caused extreme price volatility ($ 26,000 per kg Pd in January 2014). Therefore, recovery of PGMs from waste streams is highly desired and presents an interesting opportunity to convert waste into valuable products. One of the options to reclaim precious metals from wastewaters, e.g. originating from the mining or refining industries, is the application of bio-metallurgical processes. New biological inspired methods were recently developed to recover precious metals from waste streams while concomitantly producing biogenic nanoparticles. The first part of the presentation aims to give an overview of the bacterial mechanisms responsible for these bioreductive depositions. Furthermore, the applicability and efficiency of these biogenically created nanoparticles will be compared as alternatives to currently applied (physico-)chemical techniques.
The subsequent part of the presentation will focus on the application side of these nanoparticles. The effective performance of biogenic nanoparticles as catalysts in dehalogenation reactions, as well as in hydrogenation and reduction reactions, will be discussed. Dehalogenation of environmental water contaminants represents a promising market for application of biogenic Pd nanoparticles (bio-Pd), therefore, several treatment technologies based on bio-Pd are considered for various environmental disciples. Finally, the perspectives for implementation of the bio-Pd technology and innovative applications, such as C-C coupling reactions and direct hydrogen peroxide production, are set forward.
Biography: Dr. Tom Hennebel is a current postdoctoral researcher working for David Sedlak at the University of California, Berkeley. He obtained his Bachelor's degree in bio-engineering at the University of Antwerp, Belgium followed by his Master's degree and Doctorate in bio-engineering at Ghent University, Belgium under the supervision of Willy Verstraete. Subsequently, he began his postdoctoral research on bio-electrochemical systems with Korneel Rabaey before joining David Sedlak's research group at Berkeley.
His research interests include 1) removal and recovery of metals from waste streams using bio-metallurgy 2) wastewater treatment using biogenic nanoparticles as catalysts and 3) microbial electrochemical technology for metal recovery and contaminant removal.
Host: Astani CEE Department
Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - 209
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Cassie Cremeans
-
Astani CEE Ph.D. Seminar
Fri, Apr 04, 2014 @ 04:00 PM - 05:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Preetham Aghalaya Manjunatha & Miguel Hernandez Garcia, Astani CEE Ph.D. Students
Talk Title: Analytical and Experimental Studies into Robots Assisted Condition Assessment/ Development of Data-based Probabilistic Model of Nonlinear Joints
Abstract:
Location: John Stauffer Science Lecture Hall (SLH) - 102
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Evangeline Reyes
-
Astani CEE Department Seminar
Wed, Apr 09, 2014 @ 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Adam Smith, University of Michigan
Talk Title: Low-Temperature Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactor for Energy Recovery from Domestic Wastewater
Abstract: Resource recovery from used water or wastewater is a key strategy to improve the sustainability of water management. Anaerobic biotechnologies such as anaerobic membrane bioreactors (AnMBRs) are emerging as one option to recover energy during domestic wastewater treatment. In comparison to conventional treatment, AnMBR treatment generates biogas directly from wastewater, does not require energy intensive aeration, and produces a fraction of the residuals. However, AnMBR technology is still in development and widespread implementation requires improvements in treatment performance at low temperatures, low-energy membrane fouling control, and recovery of effluent dissolved methane. This presentation will show how AnMBR treatment at low temperatures can be improved through promotion of a biologically active membrane biofilm. The presentation will further demonstrate that life cycle evaluation of AnMBRs with consideration for fouling control energy demands and global warming potential associated with effluent dissolved methane can be used to set future design and operational targets for implementation of AnMBRs in domestic wastewater treatment.
Biography: Adam Smith is a Ph.D. candidate co-advised by Lutgarde Raskin and Steven Skerlos in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Michigan. He received his M.S.E. from the University of Michigan and B.S. from Marquette University. His research interests include resource recovery during wastewater treatment, microbial syntrophy in anaerobic systems, and implications of low-temperatures on anaerobic microbial communities. Adamââ¬â¢s research efforts at the University of Michigan have incorporated process engineering, microbial ecology, and sustainability assessment to study the performance of anaerobic membrane bioreactors for domestic wastewater treatment at psychrophilic temperatures.
Host: Astani CEE Department
Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - 209
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Cassie Cremeans
-
Astani CEE Ph.D. Seminar
Fri, Apr 11, 2014 @ 04:00 PM - 05:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Prasanth Babu Koganti & Mehran Rahmani, Astani CEE Ph.D. Students
Talk Title: A methodology for stable control of nonlinear mechanical systems
Abstract:
In this talk, a general methodology to stably control nonlinear mechanical systems using the fundamental equation of motion and Lyapunov’s theorem will be presented. Lyapunov’s stability theorem is used to generate appropriate constraints on the system. The fundamental equation of motion then provides the exact closed-form control force required to enforce these constraints. A few numerical examples illustrating the methodology are considered. The examples demonstrate the simplicity of the proposed control methodology and its ease of implementation.
Second Presenter: Mehran Rahmani
Location: John Stauffer Science Lecture Hall (SLH) - 102
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Evangeline Reyes
-
Astani CEE Ph.D. Seminar
Fri, Apr 18, 2014 @ 04:00 PM - 05:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Constantinos Sioutas, Professor, Astani CEE Department
Talk Title: Physical, Chemical, And Toxicological Characteristics Of Particulate Matater (Pm) From Primary Sources And Secondary Formation Processes In The Megacity Of Los Angeles
Abstract: Increasing epidemiological and toxicological evidence links cardio-respiratory health effects with exposures to ambient particulate matter (PM), and in particular to ultrafine nanoparticles (diameter < 0.15 õm). Emission inventories suggest that mobile sources may be primary direct contributors of these particles to urban atmospheres. Given the amount of traffic in the Los Angeles Basin, it is important to understand how particles from these sources behave after emission as they are transported away from busy roadways and other major sources, which are also abundant in all other urban areas in which over 50% of the earthââ¬â¢s population resides.
This seminar will present a comprehensive summary of the research undertaken over the past almost decade by the Southern California Particle Center (SCPC) to investigate the sources, formation mechanisms, physical and chemical characteristics, population exposure patterns, and health effects of atmospheric particles with a particular emphasis on PM from mobile sources. This will be an overview of research described in greater detail in over 260 refereed publications, and used by federal (US EPA) and state (CARB) agencies to revise and promulgate new air quality PM standards.
Utilizing mobile particle concentrators and other state-of-the-art technologies developed by the USC Aerosol lab, SCPC researchers set about characterizing the physical and chemical PM characteristics on/near freeways, in source and receptor areas of the Los Angeles Basin, the impact of mobile sources on indoor environments as well as ultrafine PM characteristics and emission factors of light-duty or heavy-duty vehicles. The seminar will present the most extensive physical and chemical characterization of air pollutants in the Los Angeles Basin (LAB) to have ever been conducted. Results from prospective human panel studies as well as mechanistic animal in vivo studies linking these atmospheric particles to a host of inflammatory airway responses, cardiovascular and neurological effects will be presented and discussed. In vitro toxicity evaluations of the relatively potency of these particles compared to manufactured nanoparticles in terms of their ability to induce oxidative stress effects, which lead to cardiovascular health effects, will also be presented.
Location: John Stauffer Science Lecture Hall (SLH) - 102
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Evangeline Reyes
-
Astani CEE Ph.D. Seminar
Fri, Apr 25, 2014 @ 04:00 PM - 05:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Judy Zhu , Ph.D. Candidate
Talk Title: Soil Structure Interaction with Vertically Incident Plane P-waves: Rigid Foundation
Abstract: An analytic solution of the interaction of building with the soil for vertical incident plane p-waves is presented. The soil half-space is assumed to be homogeneous, isotropic and elastic; foundation is hemispherical and rigid; and the building is cylindrical with the same radius and center-to-center to the foundation. It is shown that the result is dependent on densities of building, foundation and soil, the ratio of building radius and height, and wave numbers of building and the soil.
Host: Astani CEE Department
Location: John Stauffer Science Lecture Hall (SLH) - 102
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Evangeline Reyes
