ABSTRACT

Part 1: Many students think that one’s career is a linear affair. It is not. In the first part of the presentation, I will describe the many twists and turns in my professional life that led me to my present post and emphasize the importance of flexibility and curiosity throughout one’s professional development process.

Part 2: Electrochemical reactions and processes offer a wide and flexible set of tools that enable innovative and varied separations.  These applications depend on the development of appropriate materials, a deep understanding of the various electron-and mass-transport processes, and an acknowledgement of the limitations associated with these processes.  In this talk, we will discuss our recent work in developing materials for different water treatment and resource recovery applications.  Specifically, we will discuss how carbon nanotubes can be used to form electro-active membrane materials for various separation processes, including wastewater treatment, desalination, and resource extraction.  We will articulate the material fabrication steps, material characterization, and electrochemical processes that can be harnessed to improve existing processes or enable completely new separations.  In addition, we will discuss the challenges and unresolved problems associated with these technologies.

BIO

David Jassby is an associate professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UCLA.  Before this, he was an assistant professor in the Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Riverside.  He received his Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Duke University (2011), an M.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from UC Davis (2005), and a B.Sc. in Biology from Hebrew University (2002).  David’s research is primarily concerned with water treatment technologies, environmental applications of nanotechnology, and environmental electrochemistry.  His lab is currently engaged in research concerning membrane development, industrial wastewater treatment, desalination, and the electrochemical treatment of contaminated groundwater.

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