Ph.D. candidate, Gerald Matar, was awarded second place best presentation in the 250th ACS National Meeting, division of Environmental Chemistry in the ASC symposium "Microorganism-Membrane Interactions: Towards Understanding Pathogen Removal and Membrane Biofouling".
His presentation "Initiation and succession of biofouling communities on hydrophobic and hydrophilic membrane surfaces in a submerged membrane bioreactor" characterized the biofouling microbial communities and their metabolic products, and assessed their temporal changes according to different membrane surfaces. The paper concluded that membranes with modified surfaces should be tested under MBR mode for extended durations, to evaluate their effectiveness in reducing or delaying MBR fouling.
Matar is currently finishing his Ph.D. work under the supervision of Professor Pascal Saikaly.
