Research

Current Research Projects

  1. Implementation of a Wasterwater Based Epidemiology program for monitoring SARS-CoV-2 viral load in communities. We are currently sampling at various municipalities in Ontario as well as international sites around the world, particularly in lower-income regions. Funding provided by the Ontario Ministry of Environment Conservation and Parks and Western University. Collaboration with Prof. Eric Arts at Western University.
  2. Numerical modelling of wastewater treatment processes. Projects include filtration of solids from municipal wastewater using rotating belt filters, flocculation of primary wastewater, and biological treatmet using activated sludge reactors. Funding provided by NSERC CRD Grant with Trojan Technologies.
  3. Computational fluid dynamics modelling of photobioreactors using a coupled flow/biokinetics/radiation model developed in OpenFOAM. Collaboration with Prof. Damien Batstone at the University of Queensland and Prof. Hassan Peerhossaini at Western University.

Media Coverage

  1. Using wastewater to track COVID-19 variants of concern around the globe, CTV News, August 17, 2021.
  2. Water detectives: Scientists test wastewater for signs of virus, Western News, August 17, 2021.
  3. Wastewater data suggests COVID-19 cases to soon reach record highs in London, Ont., Global News, April 8, 2021.
  4. What's your poo telling you? Western University engineers test wastewater to detect COVID-19 in community, The Morning Show with Devon Peacock, April 8, 2021.
  5. An early warning system: Testing wastewater for COVID-19, Western News, April 1, 2021.

Open Source Code

  1. WEdiff (Western Engineering Automatic Differentiation Library) is a Python/C++ library that implements forward mode automatic differentiation for calculation of numerical derivatives of arbitrary expressions with machine accuracy. It is implemented using a class called 'FwdDiff' which stores both the numerical value and accumulated derivative with respect to designated input variables(s). All standard mathematical operators and functions are implemented for this type. The code is primarily implemented in C++ and can be used in a straightforward manner in the development of other C++ codes. It also includes Python wrappers generated using SWIG, enabling it to be used in the development of Python scripts as well.