International Symposium on Membrane Biofouling

Symposium Speaker Biographs...

Professor Menachem Elimelech holds a B.S. in Soil and Water Sciences and an M.S. in Environmental Science and Technology from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and a PhD in Environmental Engineering from Johns Hopkins University. As his first appointment, Elimelech served as professor and vice chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UCLA. Upon coming to Yale in 1998, he founded Yale's Environmental Engineering Program, of which he continues to serve as director. Professor Elimelech was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2006 and was awarded the Athalie Richardson Irvine Clarke Prize in 2005. His research focuses on problems involving physicochemical and biophysical processes in engineered and natural environmental systems, including: (i) membrane separations for desalination and water quality control, (ii) transport and adhesion of microbial pathogens, (iii) processes involving nanoparticles and biomacromolecules, and (iv) water, sanitation, and public health in developing countries. Professor Elimelech has authored more than 140 refereed journal publications and is a co-author of the book Particle Deposition and Aggregation (1995). He currently serves on the Editorial Advisory Boards of Colloids and Surfaces A, Desalination, Environmental Science & Technology, Environmental Engineering Science, and Separation Science and Technology.

Professor Eric Hoek is an Assistant Professor of Environmental Engineering and Henry Samueli Fellow in the School of Engineering and Applied Science at UCLA. In addition, Prof. Hoek is a co-founder of the UCLA Water Technology Research Center and a faculty member of the California NanoSystems Institute. Hoek's Ph.D. dissertation, "Colloidal Fouling Mechanisms in Reverse Osmosis and Nanofiltration," from Yale University was awarded the AEESP/CH2M Hill Doctoral Thesis Award in 2002. His other degrees include an M.S. in Chemical Engineering from Yale University (1999), an M.S. in Environmental Engineering from UCLA (1996), and a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Penn State University (1995). Professor Hoek's research program focuses on fundamental studies of aquatic colloidal and interfacial phenomena as well as application of nanoparticle and membrane technologies to water treatment, desalination, and sensing. A recurring practical theme in Hoek's research for the past 8 years is the development of methods to better understand and mitigate surface fouling at aquatic interfaces. In that time, he has published dozens of peer-reviewed papers in leading scientific journals such as Environmental Science and Technology, Langmuir, Journal of Nanoparticle Research, Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, and Journal of Membrane Science. In addition, he has published four book chapters, given over 75 conference presentations, seminars, and workshops, and mentored dozens of students. Dr. Hoek is active in many scientific and professional organizations including the American Chemical Society, the North American Membrane Society, and the American Water Works Association.

Professor Tony Fane is a Chemical Engineer with a PhD from Imperial College, London. He has been working on membranes since 1973 when he joined the University of New South Wales, in Sydney, Australia. His current interests are in membranes applied to environmental applications and the water cycle, with a focus on the sustainability aspects of membrane technology, including membrane bioreactors and reuse. He is a former Director of the UNESCO Centre for Membrane Science and Technology at UNSW and recently Temasek Professor at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore with a program in Membrane Technology for Sustainable Water. He is currently Director of the Singapore Membrane Technology Centre at NTU. He is on the Editorial Boards of the Journal of Membrane Science (a former editor) and Desalination. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, a recipient of the Centenary Medal in 2002 for services to Chemical Engineering and the Environment and an Honorary life member of the European Membrane Society.

Professor Hans-Curt Flemming studied chemistry in Stuttgart and Freiburg and did his PhD at the Max-Planck-Institute for Immunobiology in Freiburg on biosynthesis of O-antigens of Escherichia coli. For 16 years he worked as a scientist at the University of Stuttgart and established the Biofilm Research Group. In 1994 he went to the Institute for Civil Engineering at the Technical University of Munich and built up the Biotechnology Department. Since 1996, he is full professor for Aquatic Microbiology at the University of Duisburg-Essen and member of the board of directors of the IWW Centre for Water. Since 2001 he is head of the newly installed Biofilm Centre at the University of Duisburg-Essen and has established the new international and interdisciplinary bachelor-master curriculum "Water Science". He has published over 250 articles and 6 books.

Professor Greg Leslie received his PhD from the University of New South Wales in 1994. He is currently an Associate Professor in the School of Chemical Sciences and Engineering. Prior to joining UNSW, he was CH2M Hill's Technology Leader for membrane systems and water reuse in the Asia Pacific Region. In this capacity he was involved in a variety of water treatment and reuse projects in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and the United States, including the role of lead process designer for CH2M Hill on the Singapore NEWater projects at Bedok, Kranji and Seletar. Prior to joining CH2M Hill in May of 2000, Dr. Leslie was employed with the Orange County Water District in Fountain Valley, California as Deputy Program Manager for the Groundwater Replenishment System - a $US350M indirect potable water reuse project. His involvement in this water reuse project included work on the project conceptualization, pilot and demonstration plant studies, environmental review process, water quality evaluation and health risk assessment studies, regulatory approval and preliminary design studies. He was also involved in efforts to gain acceptance of indirect potable water reuse with the community, the Department of Health and elected officials. He was a contributing author on the Orange County Water District 2020 Master Plan and was involved in the development of the wastewater treatment and water reuse options for the Orange County Sanitation District Strategic Plan.

Professor Martin Reinhard received a Dr. Tech. Sc. in 1977 from Eidgenossische Technische Hochschule, Zürich, Switzerland. In 1978 he took a postdoctoral research fellowship at Stanford University where he subsequently joined the faculty. His research interests include the environmental fate of organic substances and technology development for hazardous site remediation, instrumental analysis of organic trace contaminants in environmental matrices using chromatography and mass spectrometry, transformation and sorption processes of organic chemicals in natural waters, at hazardous waste sites, and in treatment systems, and the sorption of organic macromolecules onto membrane surfaces. Professor Reinhard has received numerous awards for his achievements, including the 1994 Faculty Advisor Award, co-sponsored by CH2M-Hill and the Association of Environmental Engineering Professors for serving as advisor to James Farrell for his thesis titled "Desorption Equilibrium and Kinetics of Chlorinated Solvents on Model Solids, Aquifer Sediments, and Soil," Stanford University; the 1997 Jack Edward McKee Medal, sponsored by the Water Environment Federation for professional achievement in groundwater protection, restoration, and sustainable use; and in 2002 he was recognized by ISI as a Highly Cited Researcher in Ecology and the Environment.

Professor Phil Stewart is the Director of the Center for Biofilm Engineering at Montana State University. He is a Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering on the same campus. He received his B.S. (1982) from Rice University, and M.S. (1985) and Ph.D (1988) degrees from Stanford University, all in chemical engineering. After finishing his doctoral studies, he was a NATO postdoctoral fellow at the Institut Jacques Monod in Paris, France and a senior chemical engineer at Bechtel Environmental in San Francisco, California. He joined the faculty of Chemical Engineering at Montana State in 1991. Dr. Stewart’s research focuses on the control of detrimental microbial biofilms. He has authored or co-authored more than 125 technical publications and has directed projects for eighteen industrial sponsors. He is the recipient of an NSF Career Award and has been honored at Montana State University with both of that institution’s top faculty awards for excellence in research and scholarship.

Dr. Hans Vrouwenvelder received a doctorate in 2009 from the Wetsus Center of Excellence for Sustainable Water Technology in Leeuwarden, the Netherlands. His research is focused on providing a multilevel approach for the monitoring and control of biofouling in RO membrane systems. Dr. Vrouwenvelder has pioneered new computational approaches for three-dimensional simulation of coupled hydrodynamic flow and biofilm growth processes in spiral-wound RO membrane modules. He has also made significant contributions in the application of non-invasive nuclear magnetic resonance techniques for exploring the flow dynamics of biofouled membrane elements. Dr. Vrouwenvelder has also recently designed and evaluated a membrane fouling simulator device to provide facility operators and management personnel real-time information on the stse of biofouling in their membrane systems.

Dr. Harry Ridgway received a PhD in Microbiology from Scripps Institute of Oceanography in 1976 and for more than 25 years has pioneered studies on the microbiological fouling of RO membrane materials. From 1981 to 2002, Dr. Ridgway served as Director of R&D at Orange County Water District (OCWD) in southern California. In 2002 he formed AquaMem Scientific Consultants. During the past decade he has applied molecular modeling theory and tools to issues in water treatment and purification. More recently he has developed computer algorithms that enable modeling of novel crosslinked polymer membrane materials. Such models facilitate exploration of theoretical aspects of water and solute transport through RO membranes. They also provide fresh insight into potential mechanisms of foulant adsorption to membrane surfaces. In 2002 Dr. Ridgway received the Athalie Richardson Irvine Clarke Prize for his pioneering work in the area of membrane biofouling.