PROTECT welcomes Patrick Compton, a new Ph.D. student at Northeastern University studying Civil Engineering with a concentration in Environmental and Water Systems. Patrick graduated from the Air Force Academy in 2013 with a BS in Environmental Engineering and spent the next five years on active duty as a Civil Engineering Officer. He has worked on a wide range of projects in Alaska, the Philippines, Florida, and various countries in the Middle East as a construction manager, operations commander, QA/QC liaison, and site supervisor. His current research interests focus on the use of electrochemical reactions utilizing a wide variety of experimental methods to remove contaminants in groundwater. He joined the PROTECT Center to be able to help further his aspiration of creating a cleaner environment in a concrete and resolute way by developing novel processes for remediation, and we couldn’t be more excited to have Patrick join the PROTECT Team!

PROTECT Trainee Amir Taqqieddin recently graduated with a Master’s Degree in Engineering and has moved on to a PhD program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Amir’s research with PROTECT focused on Modeling physicochemical hydrodynamics of gas bubbles in two phase electrochemical systems. We thank Amir’s contribution to our research here at PROTECT and wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors.

In addition, Bente Hyldegaard and Paula Guedes, who joined the team of visiting scholars this spring, finished their respective studies over the summer. Their research was part of the e.THROUGH project, (a branch of the European Horizon 2020 Program) in collaboration with PROTECT Project 5.

Bente’s research focuses on adapting electrochemical processes for in situ degradation of chlorinated solvents in groundwater as a more efficient and sustainable technology for treatment of harmful contaminants. Paula’s research is focused on development of EK based technologies for (i) critical elements recovery from secondary resources and (ii) emerging contaminants remediation. We wish Paula and Bente success on their continued research aspirations, and thank them for their collaboration with PROTECT Center.

Congratulations, everyone!