Research
Our research in environment, climate and water resources aims to address the impact of human activities on the environment and design systems.
Research Focus areas
Sustainable Environment System Design
Green or eco-friendly design is becoming increasingly
important to effectively merge new sustainable energy and
resource recovery technologies to creating built environments
that minimize negative impacts on the natural world while
enhancing the well-being of organisms and humans. We approach
this research via environmental, ecological, social, and
economic perspective to achieve a harmonious and sustainable
balance.
Green Catalysis for Sustainable Environment
Designing new stable and efficient catalysts is crucial to
ensuring innovative energy and resource recovery pathways. We
examine fundamental photocatalytic processes to integrate real
environmental waste streams with photochemical catalysts. This
work involves novel photo-catalyst, electrode, and flow cell
design to synthesize sustainable fuels and chemicals, and
achieve high rates of CO2 conversion into value-added
products.
Decarbonization via Resource Recovery and Energy Conversion
In other to support our nation’s goals towards a net-zero
economy we seek to decarbonize the water and wastewater
sectors by developing new GHG mitigation and valorization
technologies. Specifically, we endeavor to conduct research
towards the achievement of energy positive wastewater
treatment and sustainable resource recovery via the
integration of new microbial, and electrochemical processes
with mature technologies such as anaerobic digestion,
photobiological reactors, advanced nitrogen and phosphorus
management systems, membrane processes, and biogas recovery
processes.