Civil and Environmental Engineering
Werth Research Group |
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 New Course - Sustainable Urban Engineering (CEE498SUE)
This fall Professor Werth will teach a new course, Sustainable Urbana Engineering (CEE498SUE). The course will focus on the design of sustainable technologies for the development of a brownfield site in Chicago, IL. Sustainable technologies in the areas of storm water management, water reuse, energy conservation, and renewable energy will be evaluated. Technical as well as economic and social considerations of each technology will be evaluated. On October 24 and 25 the entire class will take a field trip to Chicago to participate in a two-day workshop hosted by the USEPA that focuses on green building design.
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Professor Werth back from sabbatical (Aug 1, 2005)
This past year Professor Werth was on sabbatical in the Center for Applied Geoscience at Tuebingen University courtesy of a Humboldt Research Fellowship. His hosts were Professor Peter Grathwohl and Professor Christoph Schueth (now at Darmstadt Technical University). While in Tuebingen, Professor Werth used petrographic methods to characterize carbonaceous materials in Black Forest soils, explored the use of stable carbon isotope methods to identify PAH sources in an urban lake, and developed new ideas related to transverse mixing in heterogeneous aquifers. Professor Werth's familiy accompanied him to Germany and they all had a great time.
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First Day of Classes, FALL 2005 (24 Aug)
This semester Prof. Werth is teaching Remediation design. This course focuses on the characterization and cleanup of soil and groundwater at a chlorinated solvent spill site near Chicago, Illinois. First, we will review available site data and data collection techniques. Next, we will develop a site conceptual model, and identify viable cleanup technologies for the soil and groundwater. Detailed design strategies for several remediation technologies will be covered in class. Technologies covered depend on those selected by the class, and will likely include monitored natural attenuation and in situ bioremediation. The class will visit the chlorinated solvent spill site near Chicago, and perform microcosm studies in the laboratory to determine if bacteria at the site are capable of degrading the contaminants. The course involves group homework problems, as well as a design report due at the end of the semester.
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Symposium on Black Carbon in the Environment at ACS National Meeting (28-29 Aug)
On August 29 Professor Werth will give a talk entitled: The Contribution of Black Carbon to Hydrophobic Organic Chemical Sorption in Central Illinois Aquifer Sediments. Co-authors are Sangjo Jeong (the Ph.D. student who did most of the work), Bertrand Ligouis (who did the petrographic analysis), and Peter Grathwohl (who provided insights on interpreting the petrographic results).
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