The College of Engineering at Oregon State University is poised to strengthen its already substantial efforts in ensuring communities in Oregon and beyond have access to clean water, thanks to two new faculty appointments made possible by support from the college’s wider community.
Photos by Robert Gill
Bahman Abbasi has always been driven to help those in need and protect the environment. As an associate professor of mechanical engineering at OSU-Cascades, he’s doing this by innovating ways to bring clean water to the world.
Photo by Johanna Carson
Kyle Proctor had no agricultural background before pursuing his doctorate in water resources engineering at Oregon State, yet he soon found himself growing endless rows of plants beneath solar arrays at the university-operated Vegetable Research Farm.
When asked why she has focused her career on water, Meghna Babbar-Sebens has a simple answer: “Water is life.”
Clean water is precious in India, where she grew up. According to a recent report by the World Bank, India contains 18% of the world’s population, but just 4% of the world’s water resources.
What if you could give millions of people access to safe drinking water and help solve the climate crisis at the same time? As a bonus, you could help your own community prepare for when the Big One comes.
That’s the vision behind a personal-sized water treatment appliance now in development by a team led by two Oregon State engineering alumni.
“For most people around the world, water out of the tap has to be treated, not optionally for better taste but to make it safe to drink,” said Paul Berg, B.S. civil engineering ’78.
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To say Bahman Abbasi is driven would be an understatement.
In collaboration with the National Science Foundation (NSF), the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture has awarded Oregon State University a $1.5 million grant. This funding is part of the new NSF-USDA INFEWS program focused on accelerating discovery and innovation at the nexus of food, energy, and water systems.
Doctoral student Ashley Berninghaus (left) and Associate Professor Tyler Radniecki prepare to test a cost-effective process for converting wastewater into renewable energy.
Tyler Radniecki, associate professor of environmental engineering at Oregon State University, is partnering with local water utilities and municipalities on strategies for enhancing wastewater treatment processes that could result in lower costs, cheaper sources of renewable energy, and, ultimately, cleaner water for everyone.
