PhD Candidate, Azad Heidari along with his advisors – David Watkins and Alex Mayer recently published “Hydrologic impacts and trade-offs associated with forest-based bioenergy development practices in a snow-dominated watershed, Wisconsin, USA“ in the Journal of Hydrology. The journal is a peer-reviewed academic publication that is currently ranked first in Google Scholar in the Hydrology and Water Resource category.
Alan Labisch, an environmental engineering student, Eric Seagren (CEE), and David Hand (CEE) are featured in a Detroit Free Press article.
It’s a daunting task: How to break down “the forever chemical?”
But scientists across the country are researching, with urgency, ways to bust apart or capture per- and polyflouroalkyl substances, or PFAS. State officials suspect the potentially harmful compound could be contaminating more than 11,000 sites in Michigan, and hundreds more across the country.
In addition, Michigan Technological University is examining how granular-activated carbon filters, the most common solution to dealing with PFS contamination, can be optimized for peak performance at the lowest cost.
“What we’re trying to do is create ways to tell other engineers how they can treat PFAS with granular-activated carbon,” said Alan Labisch, an environmental engineering student working on the project under the supervision of Michigan Tech environmental engineering professor Eric Seagren and professor emeritus David Hand.
John Velat (CEE/MTTI) is Principal Investigator on a project that has received a $12,000 other sponsored activities contract with Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (KBIC). The three and a half month project is titled “2019 KBIC SHSP.”
IRON MOUNTAIN, Mich. (WLUC) – Researchers at Michigan Tech are working with the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy and the Dickinson County Road Commission to test a new type of asphalt.
Zhanping You, Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering at Michigan Tech helped to secure a $650,000 grant which was partially funded by the Michigan EGLE – formerly the DEQ.
It all starts at the asphalt plant, where they’re using the exact same asphalt various aggregates, petroleum and heat. However, there’s one crucial difference. They also add powdered rubber tires. They crush used tires up into a fine powder and through it in the fire.
“We prepared the lab designs for example how much gravel, how much sand, how much rubber and how much asphalt,” Professor You explained. They’ve also determined precisely how thick each layer should be for maximized performance.
Read more at TV6 FOX UP, by Shawn Householder.
Related:
How to Make Sweaty, Freezing, Versatile Bituminous Materials
Tim Colling, Director of the Center for Technology & Training, congratulates Chris Gilbertson and Scott Bershing for their leadership with the 2018 Michigan Local Agency Culvert Asset Management Pilot Project. The project was selected as the 2019 Project of the Year by the Michigan Chapter of the American Public Works Association (APWA). The team was able to complete this project on a tight, legislatively mandated timeframe.
I think this project is a great example of the work that Michigan Tech does working closely with state and local government to support public infrastructure.
Gilbertson and Bershing received the award at APWA’s Statewide Conference on May 23, 2019. The project was forwarded to the APWA National office for competition at that level.
Also winning an APWA award was Zhanping You for his project with Kalamazoo Country Road commission using recycled tire rubber for a chip seal.
Zhen Liu (CEE/MTTI) is Principal Investigator on a project that has received a $90,418 contract with Michigan Department of Transportation.
This project is titled “Improved Calculation of Scour Potential in Cohesive Soils and Scour Susceptible Rock.” Brian Barkdoll (CEE) and Stan Vitton (CEE) are co-PI’s on this 14-month project.
By Sponsored Programs.
The International Association for Great Lakes Research (IAGLR) has selected Marty Auer (CEE) for their Lifetime Achievement Award. He has been a member since 1975 and a generous donor of IAGLR scholarships. His nomination described Auer’s academic excellence in several areas of research and leadership that has had a positive impact on Great Lakes research.
By Civil and Environmental Engineering.
Pasi Lautala (CEE) the director of Michigan Tech’s Rail Transportation Program was invited to participate in a Shift2Rail project meeting in Pardubice, Czech Republic. Lautala also gave a presentation titled, “Importance of (Freight) Rail Transportation in North America.”
Shift2Rail is the first European rail initiative to seek focused research and innovation (R&I) and market-driven solutions by accelerating the integration of new and advanced technologies into innovative rail product solutions. Shift2Rail promotes the competitiveness of the European rail industry and meets changing EU transport needs to complete the Single European Railway Area (SERA).
Noel Urban (CEE), Cory McDonald (CEE), Shiliang Wu (CEE/GMES), Judith Perlinger (CEE), Valoree Gagnon (SS), Hugh Gorman (SS) and Charles Kerfoot (BioSci) with CEE/EPD2 students, Tanvir Kahn, Ashley Hendricks, Mudgha Priyadarshini, Morgan Bolstad, Huanxin Zhang, and A. Kumar published two papers on mercury deposition, both nominated for their excellence.
The papers were nominated as Best Papers 2018 – Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts by the Environmental Science Best Papers Initiative among those published in the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Environmental Science journal family.
Perlinger, J.A., Urban, N.R., Giang, A., Selin, N.E., Hendricks, A.N., Zhang, H., Kumar, A., Wu, S., Gagnon, V.S., Gorman, H.S., and Norman, E.S., Responses of deposition and bioaccumulation in the Great Lakes region to policy and other large-scale drivers of mercury emissions, Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 20, 195-209, 2018.
DOI: 10.1039/C7EM00547D
Kerfoot, W.C., Urban, N.R., McDonald, C.P., Zhang, H., Rossmann, R., Perlinger, J.A., Khan, T., Hendricks, A., Priyadarshini, M., Bolstad, M., Mining legacy across a wetland landscape: High mercury in Upper Peninsula (Michigan) rivers, lakes, and fish, Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 20, 708-733, 2018.
DOI: 10.1039/C7EM00521K
Pasi Lautala (CEE), Director of Michigan Tech’s Rail Transportation Program, lectured at the Jyväskylä University of Applied Sciences in Finland. The presentation was titled, “Railroads as Part of Transportation System (in U.S. and Elsewhere).”
Lautala also participated in International Union of Railways Workshop on Rail Suicide and Trespasser Prevention and the 21st European Level Crossing Forum in Paris, France. As part of the Level Crossing Forum, Lautala presented research conducted at Michigan Tech, “Driver Behavior at Level Crossings — In-Vehicle Auditory Alerts and Naturalistic Driving Data Research in the USA.”