Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology blog

We are delighted to introduce out latest Envrionmental Science: Water Research & Technology Emerging Investigator, Manish Kumar! 

Manish Kumar is an associate professor of Chemical Engineering, Environmental Engineering, and Biomedical Engineering at Penn State University. He received his bachelors degree from the National Institute of Technology in Trichy, India in Chemical Engineering. He completed an MS in Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois, and then worked for approximately seven years in the consulting industry on applied research projects (lab, pilot, and full scale) on various technologies for water and wastewater treatment. Manish returned to Illinois to complete a PhD in the area of biomimetic membranes and then conducted postdoctoral research at the Harvard Medical School on the structure of water channel proteins, aquaporins, using cryo-electron microscopy. His current work focuses on adapting molecular scale ideas from biology and materials science for use in sustainable water and wastewater treatment. He has received the US National Science Foundation CAREER award and the Della and Rustom Roy award for outstanding materials research. His independent academic career has resulted in approximately 50 publications so far.

Read Manish’s Emerging Investigators article ‘Prospects and challenges for high-pressure reverse osmosis in minimizing concentrated waste streams’ and find out more about him in the interview below:

Your recent Emerging Investigator Series paper focuses on high-pressure reverse osmosis. How has your research evolved from your first article to this most recent article?

My first paper was on pre-treatment strategies for seawater reverse osmosis utilizing a combination of bench scale and pilot scale studies back when I worked in industry. I have since worked on various aspects of reverse osmosis membrane fouling and new materials development using biomimetic strategies. The current paper has evolved out of our interest in treating high salinity brines, something that I also worked on during my industrial career and have not really focused on much since.

What aspect of your work are you most excited about at the moment?

I am most excited about developing channel-based alternatives (both based on artificial and biological channels) to current reverse osmosis and nanofiltration membranes.

In your opinion, what is the biggest advantage of using reverse osmosis for concentrated waste streams over traditional methods?

The biggest advantage is perhaps the high energy efficiency followed by the ease of implementation for reverse osmosis compared to current thermal processes.  Even though thermal processes in some form may be required to achieve zero liquid discharge but, hopefully, by combining high pressure reverse osmosis with these traditional methods the overall energy efficiency can be greatly improved

What do you find most challenging about your research?

The multidisciplinary aspect of it and the constant feeling that there is so much more to learn – this is perhaps also the most exciting part of it.

In which upcoming conferences or events may our readers meet you?

I am chairing the Gordon Research Conference on Membranes this year (New London, NH, USA 12^th to 17^thAugust, 2018) and am the deputy chair for a Faraday Discussions meeting on Artificial Water Channels (Glasgow, UK, 25^th -27^th June, 2018). I will also be attending the American Institute of Chemical Engineers meeting in Pittsburgh in November. My favorite conference to attend is the AEESP conference, which is organized every two years. I am looking forward to the AEESP conference in Phoenix in 2019.

How do you spend your spare time?

I enjoy spending my spare time with my family. We enjoy exercising, traveling, and reading as a family.

Which profession would you choose if you were not a scientist?

I would have loved to be a writer (even though I struggle with writing papers on a day to day basis).

Can you share one piece of career-related advice or wisdom with other early career scientists?

I would recommend collaborating strategically with people from different fields and developing your own unique “research brand”.

We are delighted to introduce out latest Envrionmental Science: Water Research & Technology Emerging Investigator Jingyun Fang! 

Jingyun Fang is now an associate professor at the School of Environmental Science and Engineering at Sun Yat-sen University. She received B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. in Municipal Engineering from Harbin Institute University. She was a postdoctoral fellow, working with Prof. Chii Shang at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology from 2010 to 2012. Her research focuses on advanced oxidation processes in water treatment: kinetics and mechanisms of degradation of micropollutants and formation of disinfection by-products.

Read Jingyun’s Emerging Investigators article ‘Comparative study of naproxen degradation by the UV/chlorine and UV/H₂O₂ advanced oxidation processes’ and find out more about her in the interview below:

Your recent Emerging Investigator Series paper focuses on naproxen degradation by UV/chlorine and UV/H₂O₂ advanced oxidation processes. How has your research evolved from your first article to this most recent article? 

My first research article was on the formation of disinfection byproducts from algae containing water during my PhD study. My current paper is on the control of emerging contaminants by advanced oxidation processes. So, over the years, the focus of my research has shifted from disinfection byproducts to advanced oxidation processes in water treatment. I am fascinated by the performance of some free radicals in water treatment, particularly for some newly identified radicals such as halogen radicals, sulfate radicals and carbonate radicals.

What aspect of your work are you most excited about at the moment? 

I am most excited about exploring new radicals formed in engineering and natural aquatic systems with the ultimate goal of discovering their potential in promoting water sustainability.

In your opinion, which of the two advanced oxidation processes studied was the most effective at degrading naproxen? 

For kinetics, the UV/chlorine process is much more effective at degrading naproxen than the UV/H₂O₂ process, due to the good reactivity of naproxen with reactive chlorine species (RCS) produced in UV/chlorine. RCS are more selective than hydroxyl radicals (HO•), thus the efficiency UV/chlorine process to the degradation of different pollutants are compound specific. Meanwhile, the formation of toxic halogenated byproducts and toxicity alternation induced by RCS during UV/chlorine should be further assessed.

What do you find most challenging about your research? 

The most challenging aspect of my research is the combination of laboratory experiments and computer-based modeling to identify the roles of primary and secondary radicals in different advanced oxidation processes, as the databases for the reactivity of some newly identified radicals with emerging contaminants or water matrix components are not available.

In which upcoming conferences or events may our readers meet you? 

I will be at the upcoming American Chemical Society National Meeting held in Boston, MA on August 17-18, 2018. Also, I usually attend IWA events.

How do you spend your spare time?

I enjoy spending time with my spouse and our one-year-old boy and twin girls. If there is still time, I enjoy reading, playing yoga and walking.

Which profession would you choose if you were not a scientist? 

If I am not a scientist, I think I might enjoy being a chef. I love cooking and sharing food with friends. Nevertheless, being a scientist is much better as there are a lot of unknowns and it is fun.

Can you share one piece of career-related advice or wisdom with other early career scientists? 

Being able to enjoy the research that you are doing, working hard and being persistent will eventually bring you what you dream.