2025 Dana Knox Research Showcase

Thirteen students from our group and collaborating teams participated in NJIT’s Dana Knox Research Showcase on April 23, 2025, presenting a diverse range of research topics through poster sessions. Funding sources were duly acknowledged, including NSF/BSF Environmental Engineering (Award number: 2215387 and 2025374), New Jersey Water Resources Research Institute (Award#: G21AP10595-01), NJIT’s Technology Innovation Translation and Acceleration (TITA) Seed Grant seed grant, NOAA Prevention, Control and Mitigation of HABs (PCMHAB) award (NA22NOS4780172), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under Assistance Agreement No. SU-84086601-0, United States Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) research grant (agreement#: 13761566), New Jersey Health Foundation (Award#: PC 27-23), ACS Petroleum Research Fund (PRF # 68417-ND9), This research was supported by EPA Region 2 P2 research agreement (#NP-96259122-0) and DOE Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (Award #: FE-0032188).

1. Alejandro Vargas (undergraduate student from Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering): Enhanced PFAS Removal from Wastewater Using MXene-Modified Forward Osmosis Membranes
2. Mohammadali Vafaei (Ph.D. student from Department of Chemistry and Environmental Science): Enhanced water flux and dewatering using electric-magnetic-responsive hydrogels as draw agents for forward osmosis
3. Guangyu Zhu (Ph.D. student from Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering):Effects of Nanobubbles on Membrane Rejection of PFAS and Fouling in Commercial Reverse Osmosis (RO) and Nano-filtration (NF) Processes
4. Haodong Jia (Ph.D. student from Institute of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Shanxi University): Copper-based layered metal catalysts with rich oxygen vacancies for efficient degradation of phenolic pollutants via peroxymonosulfate activation under high salinity conditions
5. Sowmya Atukuri (master student from Department of Chemistry and Environmental Science): Evaluation of Colloidal Behavior of Nanobubbles under Mechanical and Centrifugal Stress for Environmental Applications  
6. Md Mohidul Alam Sabuj (Ph.D. student from Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering): 2D Molybdenum Disulfide-Based Field Effect Transistor Nanosensors for Harmful Contaminants Detection in Water
7. Lai Wei (Ph.D. student from Department of Chemistry and Environmental Science): Zirconium-modified biotite as a dual adsorbent for orthophosphate and phosphonate: implications for reverse osmosis concentrate treatment
8. Oluwanifemi Fuwa (undergraduate student from Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering): High-efficient inactivation of airborne viruses using a microwave-enabled air filtration system
9. Jingru Wei (Ph.D. student from Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering): Aqueous properties and applications of CO₂ nanobubbles: enhancing algal growth and carbon capture
10. Yajing Li  (Ph.D. student from Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering): Nanobubble-enriched hydrogels for sustainable agriculture: enhancing water and nutrient delivery to boost plant growth
11. Yihan Zhang (Ph.D. student from Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering): Nanobubble-enabled Foam Fractionation to Remove Algogenic Odorous Micropollutants
12. Shreejitha Kanduri (undergraduate student from Hiller College of Architecture & Design): Ammonia Recovery from Wastewater containing Nitrate and Ammonia using Integrated Electrochemical Membrane Flow Reactor
13. Jiahe Zhang (Ph.D. student from Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering): Ammonia Recovery from Wastewater containing Nitrate and/Ammonia using Integrated Electrochemical Membrane Flow Reactor