UW College of Engineering and Applied Science to Host Engineer Director of United States Environmental Protection Agency for 2009 Kappe Lecture - October 22

October 19. 2009 -

The Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering in the College of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Wyoming has been selected by the American Academy of Environmental Engineers to host this year’s KAPPE Lecture. The title of this year’s KAPPE Lecture is “Nanotechnology and the Environment” which will be presented by Dr. Rao Y. Surampalli, P.E., B.C.E.E., F.AAS. The lecture will be held October 22 at 3 p.m. in the UW Classroom Building room 129.

The KAPPE Lecture is named in honor of the late Stanley E. Kappe, P.E., DEE who served as Executive Director of the American Academy of Environmental Engineers from 1971 to 1981.  Each year institutions of higher learning apply to host the KAPPE Lecture and only a few are chosen, making this a distinct honor for the University of Wyoming.

Dr. Surampalli has worked with the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) for the past 23-years and now serves as its Engineer Director.  His particular areas of expertise are water/wastewater treatment, sludge treatment/disposal, hazardous/solid waste management, and soil and groundwater treatment.  Dr. Surampalli has received numerous awards for his work.  He was named a Distinguished Engineering Alumnus of both Oklahoma State University and Iowa State University, where he respectively obtained his M.S. and Ph.D. Degrees in Civil Engineering.  He was elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2005, and a Member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts in 2008. He is also a Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).

The topic of this year’s KAPPE Lecture focuses on the current and future application of nanomaterials and nanotechnologies in environmental engineering.  Nanotechnology presents new opportunities to create better materials and products.  Applications of nano-materials in environmental protection have created conditions to improve environment and control pollution, which will bring breakthrough progress to environmental science and engineering.  Nanotechnology has the potential to improve the environment, both through direct applications of nano-materials to detect, prevent, and remove pollutants, as well as indirectly by using nanotechnology to design cleaner industrial processes and create environmental friendly products.