Water Talk

Tuesday, January 14, 2020 2:30 pm - 2:30 pm EST (GMT -05:00)

As part of the Water Institute's WaterTalks lecture series Sudhir Murthy will present: Redeploying existing wastewater treatment infrastructure for process intensification, resource management and energy neutrality.

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There are new approaches for “doing more with less in less” at wastewater resource recovery facilities by making modest changes to existing processes and without abandoning built infrastructure. This talk aimed at students, academics and practitioners provides examples of re-engineering existing infrastructure by reconsidering the limiting physics of existing treatment processes and improving it to leverage large increases in capacity, improving treatment efficiency to support nutrient removal, while at the same time moving the infrastructure towards resource conservation or recovery. The presentation will also discuss approaches for innovating in the water sector and for developing new inventions and technologies.

Speaker Bio

Sudhir Murthy is Chief Executive Officer of NEWhub Corp. He is also an adjunct Senior Research Scientist at Columbia University and Senior Vice President of the International Water Association. NEWhub is a cleantech company that specializes in managing technology and know-how for licensed distributors.

Until May 2018, Sudhir was the Innovations Chief for DC Water and led the development and implementation of the Authority's innovation strategy. Sudhir created, defined and translated research and development into product, service and commercial technologies. Sudhir led the concept development for over $1 billion in new engineering and construction.

Much of the work led by Sudhir was steered through a worldwide open innovation approach that led to collaboration with universities, utilities, manufacturing and professional organizations. These partnerships spanned the globe including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, France, Hungary, India, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Switzerland, The Netherlands, United Kingdom and United States.

These innovative projects were developed though novel approaches of public-public partnership with other water utilities, and through collaboration with private enterprise and universities. More than 80 MS and PhD students from universities in North America, Europe, Australia and Africa, were ‘insourced’ to innovate at DC Water in a multifunctional and interdisciplinary setting. This approach is now viewed as a model for collaborative engagement by universities and utilities.

Similarly, Sudhir developed commercial solutions with private enterprise through the development of public-private ‘open-innovation’ approaches between the water technology demand and supply sectors and through the co-development of technologies and financial innovations. The Digestivore, DEMON, AvN, inDENSE and AAA technologies for wastewater treatment are part of the commercial suite that he has led. He has recently developed new financial instruments including the Resilience Bond and Restoration Bond that are green/climate bonds to promote holistic approaches for infrastructure investments.

Sudhir led teams to win four Research Grand Prizes from the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists (AAEES) for new technologies developed in wastewater treatment and has received the Edward J. Cleary Award for Outstanding Service to the Profession. He has received several Water Environment Federation awards including the Ralph Fuhrman Medal for Academia-Practitioner Collaboration, the George Gascoigne Medal for Wastewater Treatment Operational Improvement and the Camp Applied Research Award. Sudhir has a M.S. in Environmental Engineering and Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from Virginia Tech and is a Professional Engineer. He has over 140 peer review publications and over 250 publications or presentations.

Coffee, tea & refreshments served.