3rd ANNUAL
RYCKMAN LECTURE
LOPATA HALL, Room 101
November 4, 2005
Time: 3 pm
(Reception Immediately Following Lecture in Lopata Gallery)
Walter J. Weber, Jr,
PhD, PE, DEE, NAE
Department of Chemical Engineering
Energy and Environment Program
The University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Mounting demands on an essentially fixed global resource of water, and the resulting needs for repeated reclamation, recycle, and reuse of that resource, present serious challenges to our abilities to provide supplies suitable for human consumption. Coupled with this are the realities of deteriorating water infrastructures, increasingly stringent drinking water standards, and the fact that current practices of treating the total demands of communities to levels required for human consumption are not indefinitely sustainable. Viable alternative strategies that integrate more effective water recovery for potable use with improved means for production and delivery of higher quality water for human consumption are thus essential. Given the inherent advantages of flexibility and responsiveness associated with decentralization of complex functions and operations, the strategic dispersal of flexible advanced treatment and control technologies throughout water transport and storage networks is a logical alternative to consider. Integration of our most sophisticated technology systems with cost-critical components of current water treatment and distribution/collection infrastructures would facilitate their most efficient and cost-effective uses. The strategy as outlined in this discussion would in fact provide both enhanced “personal water” quality and significant potential for energy recovery, a significant issue of sustainability in its own right.
Biosketch:
Walter J. Weber, Jr., Ph.D., P.E., D.E.E., NAE -
The Gordon Maskew Fair and Earnest Boyce Distinguished
University Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering and the Program in
Environmental and Water Resources Engineering.
Education:
Sc.B. (Chemical Engineering), Brown University, 1956;
M.S.E. (Civil Engineering), Rutgers University, 1959; A.M. (Aquatic Chemistry),
1961, and Ph.D. (Water Resources Engineering), Harvard University, 1962.
Professional Experience:
The Gordon Maskew Fair and Earnest Boyce
Distinguished Univ. Professor (since 1994); The Earnest Boyce Distinguished
College Professor (1987-94); Director, Engineering Concentrations in
Environmental Sustainability Program ( 2000-present); Executive Director,
Institute for Environmental Sciences, Engineering, and Technology (1997-2001)
Director, Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic Center for Hazardous Substance Research
(1988-2002); Executive Director, The National Center for Integrated
Bioremediation Research and Development (1993-1998); Chairman, University
Program in Water Resources (1968-92); Professor (1968-87); Associate Professor
(1965-68); Assistant Professor (1963-65); The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor,
MI. Visiting Professor, The University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley,
CA, and The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia (1971). Research
Assistant, Engineering and Applied Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
(1959-63); Soil Conservation Service, USDA, New Brunswick, NJ (1959).
Instructor, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ (1957-59). Caterpillar Tractor
Company, Peoria, IL (1956-57). Consultant to federal, foreign, state, and local
governments, industry, and engineering firms (1960-present).
Honors and Awards:
From Other Institutions, Academies, and Societies:
National Academy of Engineering (1985). Tau
Beta Pi. Chi Epsilon. Delta Omega. Sigma Xi. Inaugural Distinguished
Engineering Alumnus Medal, Brown University (1997). The Athalie Richardson
Irvine Clarke Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Water Science and Technology,
National Water Research Institute (1996). Distinguished Scientist Award (1991)
USEPA. Distinguished Faculty Award, Governing Board of State Universities, State
of Michigan (1989). Distinguished Faculty Award (1968), Research Awards (1979,
1984, and 1998), Outstanding Publication Award (1989), and Distinguished
Lecturer (1990) AEEP. Flom Visiting Scholar (1990), University of South
Florida. James R. Rumsey Award (1975) and Willard F. Shephard Award (1980), the
Thomas R. Camp Medal (1988), and the Gordon Maskew Fair Medal (1990) WPCF.
Academic Achievement Award (1981, 1989, and 1996), and the A.P. Black Research
Medal (1991), AWWA. Rudolph Hering (1980), Thomas R. Camp (1982), Simon W.
Freese (1984) and G. Brooks Earnest (1985) Awards, ASCE. Diplomate (1975), and
Gordon Maskew Fair Award (1995), AAEE. Presentation Award (1962), and F. J.
Zimmerman Award (1982), ACS. Founder's Publication Award (1987), and Founders
Medal (1992), IAWPRC. Who's Who in America (since 1976). Who's Who in the
World (since 1980).
Publications and Intellectual Contributions:
Dr. Weber has chaired or co-chaired 72 doctoral dissertations in several
departments of the College of Engineering at Michigan, and in four other major
schools and colleges of the University (Literature, Science and Arts; Public
Health; and Natural Resources) He has published over 300 peer reviewed
scientific and technical publications on a wide variety of environmental
research and educational topics and issues.