This Engineering and Computing Week is extra special as COEIT is celebrating their 30th Anniversary!

Come checkout the events that are lined up this year!

Monday (2/20)

Jahir Antonio Batista Andrade, environmental engineering doctoral candidate,is the 2023 American Chemical Society (ACS) Graduate Student Awardee for the Division of Environmental Chemistry (ENVR). 

Batista Andrade is pursuing his PhD under the supervision of Dr. Lee Blaney.Recently, his first publication related to his Ph.D. research was relased in the journal 'Water Research'. 

Congratulations on your successes in the early stage of your career in environmental chemistry and engineering.

Oindrila Ghosh, environmental engineering doctoral candidate, is the winner of the Student Paper Competition for the Eleventh International Conference on the Remediation and Management of Contaminated Sediments for her paper, “Design Optimization of Passive Sampling Prototypes with Periodic Vibration for Porewater Measurements of Polychlorinated Biphenyls.” The 2023 Sediments Conference will take place in Austin, Texas from January 9-12, 2023. Oindrila will present her work during the poster presentations. 

Oindrila is in her fourth year of her doctoral program under the supervision of Dr. Upal Ghosh. Her research focuses on the fate and transport of persistent organic contaminants in the environment that tend to bioaccumulate in aquatic organisms like fish. 

Student paper title: Design Optimization of Passive Sampling Prototypes with Periodic Vibration, for Porewater Measurements of Polychlorinated Biphenyls.

Authors: Oindrila Ghosh, Louis Cheung, Upal Ghosh (University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD), Mehregan Jalalizadeh (Exponent, Los Angeles, California)

ABSTRACT: Polymeric passive sampling has emerged as a promising approach for accurate measurements of bioavailability of hydrophobic organic contaminants. However, in-situ measurements of sediment porewater concentrations are challenged by slower mass transfer through the water boundary layer (WBL) outside the polymer compared to well-stirred laboratory measurements. Using performance reference compounds (PRC) to correct for non-equilibrium conditions is prone to error, especially for more hydrophobic compounds like higher homolog group Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) and dioxins/furans. Previous research has shown that the mechanical disruption of the WBL outside the polymer surface by introducing periodic vibration on the sampling platform greatly enhances the approach to equilibrium for more hydrophobic contaminants. In this study we aim to optimize the design of these prototypes and vibration frequency for sediment porewater measurements through laboratory experiments and mathematical modeling. The key motivations were to make the sampling devices versatile for more hydrophobic organics and increase the size of the prototypes from the initial proof-of-concept design by increasing the size of the motor and making them more reliable for deployment in the field, all the while keeping them low-cost.

IMAGE CREDIT: Dr. Upal Ghosh

Learn more about Oindrila’s research and art at https://www.oinghosh.com/ and on Linkedin

The latest publication from the Blaney Lab is titled, "Recent advances in Donnan dialysis processes for water/wastewater treatment and resource recovery: A critical review". This review is a collaborative effort by CBEE authors Hui Chen, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Michael Rose, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Michael Fleming, Environmental Engineering PhD student, Sahar Souizi, Environmental Engineering PhD student, Utsav Shashvatt Ph.D. ‘21, Environmental Engineering , and Lee Blaney, Professor. The paper describes the use of Donnan dialysis as a sustainable method for removing contaminants and recovering resources from water and wastewater.

Donnan dialysis involves the use of an ion-exchange membrane to separate a feed solution containing a target ion from a draw solution with a high concentration of acid, base, or salt. The electrochemical potential gradients of the target and draw ions across the membrane facilitate transport phenomena that can be exploited for contaminant removal or resource recovery.

In the paper, the authors highlight the need for a consistent framework for the design and interpretation of Donnan dialysis systems using the Rd/w concept and evaluate the impacts of solution properties, membrane characteristics, and system configuration on the effectiveness of the process. They also discuss the use of Donnan dialysis for the treatment and recovery of metals, nutrients, and other inorganic and organic chemicals.

The authors also provided recommendations for future studies to fill knowledge gaps and promote new opportunities in the field. Overall, this paper serves as an important resource for those working on Donnan dialysis for clean water and circular economy purposes.

Congratulations to Jahir Antonio Batista Andrade, Ph.D. Candidate in Environmental Engineering, on his first publication related to his Ph.D. research. Batista Andrade, under the supervision of Dr. Lee Blaney, worked with a team of researchers including undergraduate (Erick Diaz, ‘21 Chemical Engineering & Diego Iglesias Vega, ‘23 Chemical Engineering) and graduate students (Ethan Hain, Ph.D. ‘22 Chemical and Biochemical Engineering) as well as postdoctoral researchers (Michael Rose) from Blaney Lab on the research published in the Water Research journal.

The journal article is titled: “Spatiotemporal analysis of fluorescent dissolved organic matter to identify the impacts of failing sewer infrastructure in urban streams”. The findings of this study describe the use of fluorescence excitation-emission matrix (EEM) spectroscopy and parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) to track hotspots of raw wastewater in urban streams. The study analyzed 296 surface water samples from 27 sites in two watersheds over a one-year period and found that the area-normalized ratio of soluble microbial product-like to humic acid-like fluorescence (R4/R5 ≥ 0.85) and the ratio of EEM-PARAFAC components with tryptophan-like and fulvic acid-like fluorescence (C4/C3 ≥ 1.45) could be used to distinguish when and where untreated wastewater is introduced to these streams.

The researchers validated the proposed ratios by detecting contaminants such as sucralose, antibiotics, and UV filters in the samples. They identified three sites impacted by septic systems and ten sites affected by sanitary sewer overflows and/or sewer exfiltration. These hotspots occurred almost every month, with the majority being identified in the spring and early summer.

The study's findings suggest that EEM-PARAFAC-based wastewater indicators could be a quick, easy, cost-effective, and scalable technique for identifying failing sewer infrastructure in low-order streams. This is important as failing infrastructure can introduce raw wastewater into these streams, potentially causing environmental and public health issues.

Dr. Rao, Dr. Frey and graduate students from the Chemical Biochemical & Environmental Engineering Department (CBEE) at UMBC as well as collaborators, released a transcript in bioRxiv, titled: “An approach to rapid distributed manufacturing of broad spectrum anti-viral griffithsin using cell-free systems to mitigate pandemics”.

The study details a way for swiftly and effectively synthesizing a protein with broad-spectrum activity. The protein, known as griffithsin, can now be made using either a plant-based or microbial cell-free technology in less than 24 hours and is effective against viruses like SARS-CoV-2 and HIV-1 in vitro. 

The production process is effective and scalable, and its quality and purity have been confirmed using accepted regulatory metrics. Being able to quickly deploy it anywhere in the world to aid in containing viral outbreaks at their source makes it a crucial tool for pandemic mitigation. The development of viral variants has resulted in frequent updates to current vaccines and decreased efficacy of some monoclonal antibody treatments, making proteins like griffithsin a potential asset to the suite of antiviral therapies.