The State of Civil Engineering Education
Vinik Dean of Engineering Jerome P. Lynch joins a conversation about engineering education trends and the steps educators should take to prepare students who are ready to tackle today’s global challenges.
Media Hits
US to Limit PFAS ‘Forever Chemicals’ in Drinking Water
Lee Ferguson says new EPA limits will likely have a wider impact on public drinking water quality as the thorough testing and treatment process required for PFAS will allow utilities to rid water of other contaminants besides PFAS.
‘We have to change the law.’ In NC, EPA’s Regan wants stronger water pollution rules.
Lee Ferguson
Department of Defense Launches Project to Remove Pfas From Naval Base
CEE Professor Marc Deshusses's startup company 374Water signed a contract to remove PFAS from US Naval installations.
Exploring The Microbiome
CEE Professor Claudia Gunsch and Dean Jerome Lynch join NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan and others on a podcast about the new Duke Research Center for Precision Microbiome Engineering, which will be creating microbiome technologies that address challenges at the interface of human health and the built environment.
You Can’t Always Trust Claims on ‘Non-Toxic’ Cookware
CEE Professor Lee Ferguson notes that PFAS chemicals aren't required to make non-stick ceramic pans.
New Company Looks to Destroy PFAS With Green Chemistry
CEE Professor Marc Deshusses's startup company 374Water aims to use a tried and tested method to destroy PFAS and other contaminants at commercially viable volumes, using supercritical water.
Water in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill Contains Pfas Above New EPA Health Advisory Levels
Lee Ferguson runs a state-of-the-art lab that can detect PFOA and PFOS compounds as low as one part per trillion (ppt) - but even that is still too high for the new EPA guidelines of .02 ppt for PFOA and .004 ppt for PFOS.
A New Paradigm for the Water and Sanitation Crisis
Clean-tech has enormous potential to shift the waste management paradigm from treatment and disposal to resource recovery and pollutant elimination, writes Duke Engineering's Marc Deshusses.
Translational Engineering: Academics and Careers
The civil engineer who is part of efforts to integrate ethics training into Duke's engineering curriculum writes that entrepreneurial engineering introduces the student to the marketplace. It makes the engineering student think outside of the typical physics comfort zone. Whether the engineering student realizes it, the marketplace is an important context, since engineers often do all the hard work and provide the intellectual firepower for a design.
Why flush toilets are wasteful | Sci NC
Modern flush toilets waste a gallon and a half of treated, potable water every time you flush. The Duke Center for WaSH-AID is working on ways to get rid of waste more efficiently.