News

UT Austin professors from the Cockrell School of Engineering and College of Natural Sciences were recently selected to receive a $2 million National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to better forecast and identify potential lapses in water quality in urban water infrastructure. The interdisciplinary team will develop more accurate predictive models that could better protect the health of the American public from contaminated drinking water and guide future infrastructure investment.

The project's investigators are Professors Charles Werth, Lina Sela, Kerry Kinney and Lynn Katz from the Department of Civil, Architecture and Environmental Engineering and Cory Zigler from the Department of Statistics and Data Sciences.

The project, “Leading Engineering for America's Prosperity, Health, and Infrastructure (LEAP-HI): Smart Sensing and Forecasting of Water Quality in the Water Distribution Network For Protection of Public Health,” aims to develop a broadly adaptable process and data-driven models that will give water managers better tools to identify disturbances or lapses in water quality that could expose people to associated health risks.

In the U.S., pathogens in drinking water from public water systems cause an estimated 33 million cases of gastrointestinal illness each year. Two main pathogens found in contaminated drinking water, Legionella and non-tuberculous Mycobacteria, cause respiratory infection.

Pathogen occurrence can be caused by problems with the premise (building) plumbing (where end-users consume water), the water treatment and distribution network (where the water is being treated and distributed), which can be caused by extreme events such as flooding or by reliability failures that occur as infrastructure ages.

Motivated by the lead epidemic in Flint, Michigan and water quality issues that occurred in Houston and the Texas Gulf Coast after Hurricane Harvey, researchers will use data-driven modeling approaches to adequately capture the complexity of an entire water system for real-time prediction of imminent transient and ongoing public health risks.

Principal Investigator Werth said, “This grant represents a unique opportunity to connect water quality and public health and to train students in these often separate but connected disciplines.”

Three unique test beds will be utilized to gather data from small—and large-scale systems using smart sensing and monitoring efforts. They include a laboratory-based pipe network, the water distribution system on the UT Austin campus and the City of Victoria, Texas utilities.

Co-PI Sela has already begun monitoring pressure changes in the water distribution system on campus. She said, “Utilizing more advanced sensing and models and promoting collaboration between academic research and public utilities will support the modernization of urban water systems.”

Katz and Kinney have also previously collected water quality data related to Hurricane Harvey, highlighting changes in the microbial composition of the water in the distribution system.

The project also includes interdisciplinary graduate student training in hydraulics, water chemistry, microbiology, systems engineering, big data, risk assessment, and public health. An outreach component will also be created to connect water utility, health care and public policy experts with the general public.

 

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The University of Texas at Austin ASCE Student Chapter has been selected by the Committee on Student Members from the national American Society of Civil Engineers to receive a Letter of Honorable Mention for its outstanding activities as recorded in the 2019 Chapter annual report.

The University of Texas at Austin’s Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering is once again top-ranked in the U.S. News & World Report's 2021 graduate program rankings, certifying the department's position as one of the nation’s top engineering programs.

Dr. Maria Juenger has been awarded the 2020 American Concrete Institute’s Concrete Sustainability Award in recognition of her innovative research to improve the sustainability of concrete materials.

Dr. Kara Kockelman, the Dewitt Greer Centennial Professor of Transportation Engineering, has been appointed president of the North American Regional Science Council (NARSC).

The National Academy of Engineering has elected Robert B. Gilbert, professor and chair of the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering at The University of Texas of Austin, as a new member of the prestigious academy.

A multidisciplinary group of engineers and scientists has discovered a new method for water filtration that could have implications for a variety of technologies, such as desalination plants, breathable and protective fabrics, and carbon capture in gas separations. The research team, led by Manish Kumar in the Cockrell School of Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin, published their findings in the latest issue of Nature Nanotechnology.

During the 2019 Alumni Banquet and Academy of Distinguished Alumni Induction Ceremony in October, the department recognized an outstanding young graduate who has become an influential leader in the engineering community. Kristi Grizzle-Gollwitzer was 2019’s recipient.