Environmental Remediation Technology

Environmental Remediation Technology

Research Position Openings for New Environmental Remediation Technology The RESTORE (Research for Subsurface Transport and Remediation - www.eng.uwo.ca/research/restore)group at The University of Western Ontario invites applications for several graduate student and post-doctoral fellowship research positions on innovative site remediation. STAR (Self-sustaining Technique for Active Remediation) is a novel, patent-pending technique for the restoration of soils contaminated with hazardous industrial compounds. Research on this exciting new approach has received significant funding at Western from both industry and government to conduct groundbreaking studies in laboratory and modelling research to scale up this technology from the bench scale at which it has been proven. Successful applicants will have the opportunity to work closely with collaborators at the University of Edinburgh (Scotland) as well as industry partners in Ontario, who are focused on commercialization and field demonstrations expected in 2009-2010. STAR is based upon applying smouldering combustion to organic liquids in porous media; as such, its development lies at the intersection of chemical engineering, geoenvironmental engineering, and combustion science. Applicants for the Ph.D. position should have a M.Sc. in one of these disciplines. Applicants for the post-doctoral position should have a Ph.D. in one of these disciplines. All applicants should have a strong academic record and training/expertise related to one of these three subject areas; relevant publications in highly respected journals in the field are considered an asset. In addition, excellent communication skills are important, as significant interaction with industry is expected. Associated with these interactions and delivering presentations at conferences, there is a high probability of national and international travel. Moreover, there is potential for future employment with a STAR spinout company. The successful candidate will join the dynamic RESTORE group recently awarded over $4 million for experimental and modelling investigations of innovative remediation technologies. The new postdoctoral fellow and students will join a research group that includes 15 graduate students, five postdoctoral fellows and three laboratory technicians. RESTORE has four fully equipped laboratories, as well as modelling facilities. Salaries for graduate students and post-doctoral fellows are highly competitive; substantial increments are available for scholarship holders. Informal inquiries and applications (including a cover letter, CV, and the contact information for three references) should be directed to Jason Gerhard (jgerhard@eng.uwo.ca). The University of Western Ontario is situated in picturesque, London, Ontario, a city of approximately 340,000 along the banks of the Thames river (http://www.londontourism.ca/main.aspx, http://www.goodmovelondon.com/home/ and www.london.ca). It is located within a two hour drive of Toronto and Detroit. The University of Western Ontario is a leading Canadian academic institution that has made a commitment to excel as a research intensive university (http://communications.uwo.ca/about/index.htm). The university frequently ranks among the top universities in Canada most recently being ranked #1 in student satisfaction by the Globe and Mail (the leading national daily newspaper in Canada) in its annual university report card. See 2008 results summarized at: http://communications.uwo.ca/com/western_news/stories/canadian_universit...