People
Current
Mrs. Alexandria (Ali) Gagnon started her Ph.D. candidacy in 2017 under the co-advisory of Dr. Zhiwu Wang and Dr. Charles Bott. She received her B.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Virginia Military Institute in 2014 and M.S. in Environmental Engineering from Virginia Tech in 2016. Ali is researching how to incorporate Machine Learning into process control for wastewater treatment and interceptor systems.
Mr. Karthik R. Manchala joined Dr. Wang’s team as a Ph.D. student in 2016. He received his M.S. in Environmental Engineering from Virginia Tech in 2008 and his B.E. in Civil Engineering from Osmania University in 2006. Mr. Karthik is currently a Professional Engineer and has over 7 years of experience in design of water and wastewater facilities. Karthik is developing novel mathematical modeling system for both liquid & solid wastes treatment.
Mr. Rafael Iboleon joined Dr. Wang’s team as an Environmental Engineering M.S. student in Fall 2020. He received his B.S. in Environmental Science from Virginia Tech.
Ms. Xueyao Zhang started her Ph.D. study under Dr. Wang’s advisory in Spring 2021. She received her B.S. from Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture in 2018 and will receive her M.S. from University of Southern California in 2020.
Mr. Jiefu Wang joined Dr. Wang’s team as a Ph.D. student in fall 2019. He received his B.E. in Environmental Engineering from Beijing University of Chemical Technology in 2016 and M.S. in Water, Waste & Environmental Engineering from University College Dublin in 2018.
Mr. Alexander Panaccione began his M.S. in Civil Engineering with a concentration in Environmental and Water Resources in fall 2020. He is being co-advised by Dr. Zhiwu Wang and Dr. Christopher Wilson. He received his B.S. in Civil Engineering from West Virginia University in spring 2017. His research involves dewatering of anaerobically digested sludge.
Mr. Hao Luo joined Dr. Wang’s team as a Ph.D. student in Spring 2019. He received his B.S. in Environmental Science from Kunming University of Science & Technology in 2014 and his M.S. in Science & Technology from Southeastern Louisiana University in 2017. Hao is currently developing an advanced phosphorus removal technique.
Mr. Jeffrey Nicholson joined Dr. Wang’s team as a PhD student in 2019. He received his B.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Virginia Tech. His research is focused on identifying the parameters that control the dewatering of biosolids with respect to the effects of biological phosphorus removal and thermal hydrolysis pretreatment.
Mr. Yitao Li joined Dr. Wang’s team as a Ph.D. student in Fall 2022. He received his B.S. in Sustainable Urban Environments and M.S. in Environmental Engineering from New York University in 2021. He has one year of engineering consulting experience prior to starting his Ph.D. study at Virginia Tech. Yitao’s research focuses on bioprocess intensification for advanced wastewater treatment.
Alumni
Ms. Parita Shah graduated with a M.S. degree in Environmental Engineering in fall 2018. Her Thesis is titled “Evaluation of digital PCR (dPCR) for the quantification of soil nitrogen turnover bacteria in wetland mesocosms in response to seasonal, fertilization, and plant species richness level effects“.
Ms. Parita Shah graduated with a M.S. degree in Environmental Engineering in fall 2018. Her Thesis is titled “Evaluation of digital PCR (dPCR) for the quantification of soil nitrogen turnover bacteria in wetland mesocosms in response to seasonal, fertilization, and plant species richness level effects“.
Dr. Zhaohui An graduated with a Ph.D. degree in Civil Engineering in Spring 2022. His dissertation is titled: “Mechanistic understanding of biogranulation for continuous flow wastewater treatment and organic waste valorization“.
Mr. Tim Kent graduated from Dr. Wang’s team with a M.S. degree in Civil Engineering in fall 2018. His thesis is titled “Mechanistic Understanding of the NOB Suppression by Free Ammonia Inhibition in Continuous Flow Aerobic Granulation Bioreactors“.
Dr. Dian Zhang graduated with a Ph.D. degree in Civil Engineering in Spring 2020. His dissertation is titled “Effects of process intensification techniques on biosolids management“
Ms. Jie Lin graduated from Dr. Wang’s team with a M.S. degree in Environmental Engneering in Spring 2018. Her thesis is titled “Statistical evaluation of the factors causing microbial growth in point-of-use filters“.
Mr. Kyle Malin graduated with a M.S. degree in Civil Engineering in fall 2021. His thesis is titled “Development of Kinetic Parameterization Methods for Nitrifying Bacteria using Respirometry“
Mr. Tyler Houston Kisling graduated with a M.S. degree in Environmental Engineering in fall 2022. His thesis is titled “Characterizing Kinetic Shifts in Nitrifying, Denitrifying, and Phosphorus Removing Biomass Adapting to Low DO“