Season 12: Quest for clean water

Season 12 of "Engineering Out Loud," takes us back in time to follow the progress of a research project to turn salt water into drinking water. In 2018, Bahman Abbasi, associate professor of mechanical engineering, received a $2 million grant to develop a modular, portable, self-contained desalination plant. We learn how his team developed a system to the cusp of commercialization, and how they have applied the technology to other purposes such as lithium extraction.

Bahman Abbasi’s desalination research.
And so, it flows, S12E3
The pandemic didn’t stop Bahman Abbasi’s desalination research. In this third episode, we learn about the successful lab-scale demonstration of his team’s technology and…

Group of people.
Building the foundation, S12E2
We travel to Bend, Oregon, to visit the Water and Energy Technologies Laboratory and meet the team inventing a new desalination technology. Bahman Abbassi, associate…

Houssam Abbas on a beach.
Turning seawater into sweet water, S12E1
Can turning seawater into drinking water be a cost-effective way to provide clean, fresh water for the growing numbers of people facing water scarcity? Bahman Abbasi,…