Institute for Environmental Risk Management

Institute for Urban Environmental
Risk Management

What's New?

September 2009

Former Student Wins Award

Yiying Xiong (M.S., 2002) now of Mead and Hunt in Middleton, WI, received the Young Civil Engineer Award from the Wisconsin Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers. Ms. Xiong studied in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Institute between January 2001 and August 2002 working on simulation of the rainfall-runoff process.

April 2009

Faculty Member Wins Research Award

Dr. Daniel Zitomer of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering won the 2009 Outstanding Researcher Award from the College of Engineering at Marquette University. Dr. Zitomer is the Director of Marquette University’s Water Quality Center and is a faculty affiliate of the Institute.

September 2008

Former Student Accepts Faculty Position

In September, Dr. Emre Alp (M.S., 2002, Ph.D., 2006) left his post-doctoral researcher position with the Institute to accept an Assistant Professor position with the Department of Environmental Engineering at the Middle East Technical University (METU) in Ankara, Turkey. METU is one of the leading universities in Turkey, and Dr. Alp was happy to receive this prestigious position. Dr. Alp continues to work with the Institute on some projects from his home in Turkey.

September 2008

Faculty Member Wins Water Environment Federation Medal

Dr. Daniel Zitomer of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering won the 2008 Fair Distinguished Engineering Educator Medal from the Water Environment Federation. This medal recognizes accomplishments in the education and development of future engineers. It honors Gordon Maskew Fair, a professor of sanitary engineering at Harvard University, who achieved exceptional results in preparing students for the water environment profession. This medal commemorates Dr. Fair’s contributions and likewise the contributions of his fellow educators. Dr. Zitomer is the Director of Marquette University’s Water Quality Center and is a faculty affiliate of the Institute.

April 2008

Institute Director Wins Research Award

Dr. Charles S. Melching, Institute Director, of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering won the 2008 Outstanding Researcher Award from the College of Engineering at Marquette University.

September 2007

Institute Hosts Visiting Professor from China

Prof. Xiaoyan Wang of the College of Resources, Environment and Tourism of Capital Normal University, Beijing, China visited the Institute. She worked with Prof. Melching on issues related to simulation of nonpoint source pollution particularly with respect to the watershed of Miyun Reservoir (the primary water supply for the city of Beijing). Profs. Wang and Melching hope that this can grow into joint research in the future. Prof. Wang also gave a seminar at Marquette University on during her stay.

January 2003

Institute Director Named Member of

Technical Committee for the Review of Lake Michigan Diversion Accounting

The State of Illinois diverts water from Lake Michigan to the Illinois River and on to the Mississippi River at Chicago. The amount of this diversion is carefully regulated by U.S. Supreme Court Decree in response to law suits by the states of Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin against Illinois. As part of this Decree the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers must form a three member panel of experts to review the Diversion Flow Measurements and Accounting Procedures every 5 years. Dr. Charles Melching was named the Hydrologic Modeling Expert for the 5^th Technical Committee. Dr. Melching and his colleagues—Dr. William Espey, Committee Chairman, and Mr. Dean Mades, Flow Measurement Expert—met with representatives of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Geological Survey, Illinois State Water Survey, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, and other state and local agencies in the affected states to determine the current accuracy of the diversion accounting and suggest future improvements to these procedures. Their final report can be found at the following web site: http://155.79.114.198/divacct/

September 2002

Former Institute Director Named

Camp Dresser and McKee Professor of Environmental Engineering

at Northeastern University in Boston, MA

Dr. Vladimir Novotny, the founder and first director of the Institute of Urban Environmental Risk Management, was named the first Camp Dresser and McKee (CDM) Professor of Environmental Engineering at Northeastern University in Boston, MA. The following is from the announcement of this appointment.

The Camp Dresser Mckee Professorship is endowed as the result of generous contributions of leaders and employees of Camp Dresser & McKee, many of whom are alumni of Northeastern University’s College of Engineering.

Dr. Novotny’s distinguished career in environmental and water resources engineering has been focused at Marquette University since 1973, where he served most recently as Professor and Chairman of the Environmental and Water Resources Committee and Director of the Institute of Urban Environmental Risk Management. He is also the president of a consulting company, AquaNova International, Ltd. He has published widely in the field and has held a number of short-term teaching and research positions, including Fulbright Research Fellow at the University of Padova in Italy, and Visiting Professor at the University of Venice, Italy. In 2001 he received the Sam Jenkins Medal for Outstanding Service from the International Water Association for his leadership of the international group of specialists on diffuse pollution. In January 2002 he was elected a member of the International Water Academy in Oslo, Norway. Dr. Novotny began his education at the Technical University of Brno in his native Czechoslovakia, and received his Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from Vanderbilt University.

October 13, 2001

Young Researcher Award of the

American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)

was given to Professor Charles S. Melching

The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) gave the 2001 Walter L. Huber Civil Engineering Research Prize to Dr. Charles S. Melching “For his research on uncertainty and reliability analysis in water resources and environmental engineering, including especially uncertainty in rainfall-runoff and stream water-quality modeling.” The Huber Prize is to be awarded to members of ASCE of any grade for notable achievements in research related to civil engineering. Preference is given to younger members (generally under 40 years of age) of early accomplishment who can be expected to continue fruitful careers in research. Dr. Melching was one of 5 young researchers to receive the award in 2001.

October 15, 2001

Top Award by the
International Water Association (IWA)
was given to Professor Vladimir Novotny

The International Water Association, the largest international professional association in the world dealing with water, has given its highest award to Dr. Vladimir Novotny, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Director of the Institute for Urban Environmental Risk Management. The award that commemorates Dr. Sam Jenkins, one of the founders of the organization was given to Dr. Novotny during the opening ceremony of the World Water Congress in Berlin, Germany on October 15, 2001. The ceremony was attended by the German Federal President, Johannes Rau, Mayor of Berlin and other dignitaries, and several thousand delegates from all over the world.

Dr. Novotny obtained the award for his life-long work in the area of pollution abatement and watershed management. He was a chair of an international group of specialists of IWA and recently organized an IWA sponsored conference at Marquette University. This conference attracted about 240 delegates from 36 countries.

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