Zaher Hashisho

Biography

First place award in Doctoral Student Paper/Poster Competition, 100th Air & Waste Management Association (A&WMA)Annual Conference & Exhibition, 2007. Third place award in Sustainable Development/Pollution Prevention Student Paper/Poster Competition, 99th A&WMA Annual Conference & Exhibition, 2006. Third place award in Doctoral Student Paper/Poster Competition, 99th A&WMA Annual Conference & Exhibition, 2006. Second place award in Sustainable Development/Pollution Prevention Student Paper/Poster Competition, 98th A&WMA Annual Conference & Exhibition, 2005. Second place award in Student Paper Competition, Lake Michigan States Chapter of A&WMA, 2003. Travel Awards Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors (AEESP) Travel Grant, National Science Foundation, 2005. Travel Award from Lake Michigan States Chapter of A&WMA, 2005, 2007. Racheff Student Travel Award, CEE, UIUC, 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006.

Research Interest

The general areas of my research are air pollution control and air quality characterization. Within air pollution control, I am interested in adsorption process for the capture and recovery of organic vapor emissions to promote sustainable development, microwave heating for the regeneration of novel adsorbents, and chemical treatment of adsorbents to modify their adsorption and regeneration properties. Within air quality characterization, I am interested in measuring and modeling of air quality in confined spaces such as tunnels and indoor environments, as well as studying the socio-economic aspects of air pollution. I recently participated in the study that analyze total gaseous mercury monitoring data around Edmonton to identify factors controlling total gaseous mercury concentrations and whether the reduction in mercury emissions form coal-fired power plants will affect total gaseous mercury concentrations . Research Currently in Progress Currently I am studying the impact of the properties of adsorbents and adsorbates on the thermal behavior of adsorbents during microwave regeneration. These results are useful for designing a microwave system for the regeneration of adsorbents. I am also working on using microwave energy to activate oil sands coke for use as adsorbent for water and air treatment applications. I am also working on characterizing and developing emission factors for air pollutants emitted from oil sands tailings ponds. The results from this research will help determining the contribution of tailings ponds to air pollutants emissions in the oil sand processing areas.