News Archive

March 2021
  • Phil is selected to receive the SC Space Grant Consortium graduate research scholarship to perform work on electrochemical treatment for resource recovery from source-separated urine.
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January 2021
  • We have been selected for a fourth year in a row to host two undergraduate students over the coming summer through the Palmetto Academy program of the SC Space Grant Consortium.  This year's students will work on electrochemical treatment for stabilization of source-separated urine.

December 2020
  • Lauren successfully defended her M.S. thesis on electrosynthesis of H2O2.
  • Sudeep presented a virtual poster on our work on membrane fouling in anaerobic membrane bioreactors at the IWA Biofilms 2020 Virtual Conference.
  • Sudeep presented (virtually) at the 2020 WEASC Industrial Wastewater and Pretreatment Workshop on anaerobic co-digestion of FOG with wastewater sludge.

November 2020
October 2020
  • Sudeep presented seminars (virtually) at Arizona State University, New Jersey Institute of Technology and the University of Notre Dame.  Thanks for all the invitations!

September 2020
  • Sudeep presented a seminar (virtually) at the Georgia Institute of Technology.  Thanks to Dr. Xing Xie for the invitation!
  • ​Sudeep presented (virtually) our work on electrochemical ammonia stripping from source-separate urine at the Rich Earth Summit.
  • Ao's paper on electrochemical ammonia stripping from non-nitrified animal rendering wastewater is accepted for publication in Chemical Engineering Journal Advances.
  • Emily's paper on electrosynthesis of H2O2 is accepted for publication in Journal of Power Sources.

July 2020
  • The Popat Lab will receive funding from the Fats and Proteins Research Foundation to explore electrocoagulation of rendering wastewater as an alternative to dissolved air flotation.
  • The Popat Lab will receive funding from Gwinnett County Water Resources via Black & Veatch to research two-phase anaerobic co-digestion of sludge with fats, oils and grease.
  • Clancy Kerr joins the group as a Ph.D. student.  Clancy did her B.S. in Microbiology at Clemson, and worked in the group for >2 years prior.
  • ​Julia Ann Funk joins the group as an M.S. student.  Julia Ann did her B.S. in Environmental Engineering at Clemson, and is continuing on for her M.S. degree.
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June 2020
  • Spencer successfully defended his M.S. thesis virtually.  Spencer performed his M.S. research on electrosynthesis of hydrogen peroxide.  Spencer is now headed to Dallas, TX, where he will join Freese and Nichols, Inc.
  • ​Jess and Spencer receive first and third place virtual poster awards from SCAWWA/WEASC.  These posters were supposed to be presented at the South Carolina Environmental Conference at Myrtle Beach in March 2020, but the conference was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  All students accepted for poster presentations were invited to present their posters virtually in May.
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May 2020
  • The Popat Lab was selected for the third year in a row to host undergraduate students for the Palmetto Academy program organized by the SC Space Grant Consortium.  This year's project focuses on nitrogen removal and recovery from source-separated urine.
  • ​The Popat Lab will host Winnie Zheng, a high school student at SC Governor's School of Math and Science, for a virtual summer project.  Winnie will work on correlating microbial communities with conditions in anaerobic treatment technologies.

April 2020
  • Jess's paper on anaerobic co-digestion of sludge with fats, oils and grease is accepted for publication in Chemical Engineering Journal.​
  • In collaboration with Dr. Scott Husson (Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering), the Popat Lab was selected to receive funding from the SC Space Grant Consortium to study anaerobic osmotic membrane bioreactors for regenerative water purification in space.
  • Kaiser successfully completes his non-thesis M.S. exam, including a presentation on his research project on electrosynthesis of hydrogen peroxide. ​
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October 2019
  • Negin completes her postdoctoral position funded by R-Initiatives at Clemson University, and starts as an environmental engineer at NewFields in Atlanta, GA.  All the best to Negin!

September 2019
  • The Popat Lab welcomes new undergraduate students Emily Waud (Chemical Engineering) and Tejas Athavale (Environmental Engineering).

​August 2019
  • The Popat Lab welcomes new graduate students to the group:  Philip Arve (Ph.D.), Emmaline Spier Camposano (M.S.), Lauren Schmidt (M.S.), Alex Gex (M.S.), Mrinal Rama Thulasiram (M.S.) and Kaiser Rich (M.S., non-thesis research project).​
  • In collaboration with Dr. Mark Schlautman, the Popat Lab was selected to receive continued funding from the South Carolina Department of Agriculture through the Agribusiness Center for Research and Entrepreneurship on evaluating scenarios for overcoming nitrification inhibition in rendering wastewater treatment.

July 2019
  • Sudeep presented a talk on treatment of rendering wastewater in microbial fuel cells at the Society for Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology annual meeting in Washington DC; Jess presented a poster at the same conference on her work on blackwater treatment in microbial fuel cells.
  • Emily successfully defended her M.S. thesis on AnMBRs.  Emily will start working at Hazen and Sawyer, in Greenville, SC, from August onwards.
  • Karla presented a poster on her work on anaerobic co-digestion of FOG with wastewater sludge at the Clemson Undergraduate Research symposium. 
  • Clancy and Michael presented their research on AnMBRs through the Palmetto Academy program at the College of Charleston.
 
June 2019
  • The Popat Lab hosts undergraduate students Clancy Kerr and Michael Ralph (Wofford College) through the Palmetto Academy program for summer research on AnMBRs.

​May 2019
  • Raven Althouse from Furman University returns for another summer REU stay, working on AnMBRs for domestic wastewater treatment.​
  • Paige successfully defended her M.S. thesis on landfill leachate treatment.  Paige will start working at HDR, Inc., in Greenville, Sc, from June onwards.
  • Several members for the Popat Lab (Sudeep, Negin, Ao and Jess) attended the AEESP conference in Tempe, AZ.  Sudeep presented a talk on landfill leachate treatment to remove UV-quenching substances, while the others presented posters.
  • The Popat Lab was selected to receive funding from the NASA EPSCoR program to develop peroxide-producing microbial fuel cells for space life support systems applications.  
  • The Popat Lab was selected to receive funding from the the Fats and Proteins Research Foundation via the Animal Co-Products Research & Education Center at Clemson to develop electrochemical methods for ammonia removal and recovery from rendering wastewater.
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March 2019
  • Negin and Paige presented talks at the South Carolina Environmental Conference in Myrtle Beach, SC, while Ao, Emily and Jess presented posted.  Ao won first place in the student poster competition, and Jess won third place.
  • Emily B. received the A. Ray Abernathy Water Environment Association Fellowship and Jess received the Linvil G. Rich Water Environment Association Fellowship for the 2019 calendar year.  Both Emily and Jess were recognized at the opening ceremony of the South Carolina Environmental Conference in Myrtle Beach, SC.

September 2018
  • Karla Diviesti (Biosystems Engineering junior) and Emily Miller (Chemical Engineering sophomore) join the group as undergraduate students.  Karla and Emily will work on microbial fuel cells, while Allen will work on anaerobic membrane bioreactors.

August 2018
  • Spencer Lindsay joins the group as an M.S. student.  Spencer will work on microbial fuel cells on a project funded by the South Carolina Space Grant Consortium.
  • Sudeep presented Emily M.'s work on peroxide production in microbial fuel cells at the annual meeting of the Society for Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology in Chicago, IL.

July 2018
  • Clancy and Nick presented their summer research results at the closing meeting of the 2018 Palmetto Academy supported by the South Carolina Space Grant Consortium, at the College of Charleston in Charleston, SC.
  • Emily M. successfully defended her M.S. thesis.  She begins working at WithersRavenel in Asheville, NC from August onwards.

June 2018
  • In collaboration with Dr. Mark Schlautman, the Popat Lab was selected to receive funding from the South Carolina Department of Agriculture through the Agribusiness Center for Research and Entrepreneurship's Competitive Grant Program, to determine options for managing the impact of quaternary ammonium compounds on wastewater treatment at poultry processing and rendering plants.

May 2018
  • The Popat Lab was selected to receive continuing funding from the Fats and Proteins Research Foundation via the Animal Co-Products Research & Education Center at Clemson to develop microbial fuel cells for rendering wastewater treatment.

April 2018
  • Three undergraduate students will be joining the Popat Lab over the summer as part of REU projects.  Nick Mitchell (USC) and Clancy Kerr (Clemson) will work on microbial fuel cells, while Raven Althouse (Furman) will work on anaerobic membrane bioreactors.  Nick and Clancy will be supported through the South Carolina Space Grant Consortium's Palmetto Academy award, while Raven will be supported through the South Carolina EPSCoR/IDeA's Stimulus Research Program award.
  • Mehul successfully defended his M.S. thesis on Investigating the Inhibitory Effects of Fats, Oils and Grease Addition on Fatty Acids Degradation During Anaerobic Co-Digestion, and will join Rogers and Callcott in Greenville, SC, starting in May.
  • The Popat Lab was selected to receive additional funding from the South Carolina Space Grant Consortium to continue to research microbial fuel cells for space life support systems applications.
  • New publication accepted:
    Lusk BG, Peraza I, Albal G, Marcus AK, Popat SC, Torres CI. pH dependency in anode biofilms of Thermincola ferriacetica suggests a proton-dependent electrochemical response. Journal of the American Chemical Society.

March 2018
  • The Popat Lab attended the South Carolina Environmental Conference in Myrtle Beach, SC.
    • Sudeep presented on anaerobic biodegradation of lipid-rich waste
    • Mehul, Ao, Paige and Emily presented posters at the student poster competition.  Mehul, Paige and Emily won the top awards in the competition.

January 2018
  • In collaboration with Drs. Scott Husson (lead PI), David Ladner, Gary Amy, Nicole Berge (USC), Sean Norman (USC), Brannon Andersen (Furman), and Jessica Furrer (Benedict), the Popat Lab was selected to receive funding from South Carolina EPSCoR through the Stimulus Research Program to research anaerobic membrane bioreactors.

December 2017
  • The Popat Lab was selected as a Palmetto Academy site by the South Carolina Space Grant Consortium for the summer of 2018.  As part of the funding received, the lab will support two undergraduate students over the summer to research microbial fuel cells for space life support systems.

October 2017
  • Negin Kananizadeh joins the Popat Lab as a postdoctoral research associate.  Negin will work on the CU FELLOWS project on anaerobic membrane bioreactors, in collaboration with Drs. David Ladner, Scott Husson, and Gary Amy.

September 2017
  • Emily Murawski (M.S. student), Paige Taber (M.S. student) and Jess Deaver (Ph.D. student) join the Popat Lab.  Emily will work on improving peroxide production in microbial fuel cells, Paige on leachate treatment in microbial fuel cells, and Jess on anaerobic co-digestion of municipal sludge with fats, oils and grease.

August 2017
  • Sudeep presented at the Naval Research Lab on transport processes in microbial electrochemistry technologies.
  • Sudeep presented at the ACS Fall Meeting in Washington DC on electrochemical hydrogen peroxide production.

July 2017
  • The Popat Lab was selected to receive funding from the Division of Research at Clemson to research anaerobic membrane bioreactors for domestic wastewater treatment.
  • The Popat Lab was selected to receive funding from the South Carolina Space Grant Consortium to research microbial fuel cells for space life support systems applications.

June 2017
  • Our new ACREC project was highlighted in the June issue of Render Magazine. Click HERE for the story, and HERE for the entire issue.​

May 2017
  • New publication accepted:
    ​D Ki, SC Popat, BE Rittmann, CI Torres. H2O2 production in microbial electrochemical cells fed with primary sludge. Environmental Science & Technology.

April 2017
  • The Popat Lab was selected to received funding from the Fats and Proteins Research Foundation through the Animal Co-Products Research & Education Center at Clemson to research microbial fuel cells for the treatment of rendering wastewater.

March 2017
  • Two new publications accepted:
  1. MN Young, N Chowdhury, E Garver, PJ Evans, SC Popat, BE Rittmann, CI Torres. Understanding the impact of operational conditions on performance of microbial peroxide producing cells. Journal of Power Sources.
  2. J Madrajov, SC Popat, J Erben, A Gotze, R Zengerle, S Kerzenmacher. Revisiting methods to characterize bioelectrochemical systems: the influence of uncompensated resistance (iRu drop), double layer capacitance, and junction potential. Journal of Power Sources.

December 2016
  • New publication accepted:
    ​D Ki, P Parameswaran, SC Popat, BE Rittmann, CI Torres. Maximizing Coulombic recovery and solids reduction from primary sludge by controlling retention time and pH in a flat-plate microbial electrolysis cell. Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology.

October 2016
  • Mehul Soni joins the Popat Lab.​
  • Two new publications accepted:
  1. MJ Patel, SC Popat, MA Deshusses. Determination and correlation of the partition coefficients of 48 volatile organic and environmentally relevant compounds between air and silicone oil. Chemical Engineering Journal.
  2. MN Young, MJ Stadie, SC Popat, BE Rittmann, CI Torres. Tailoring microbial electrochemical cells for production of hydrogen peroxide at high concentrations and efficiencies. ChemSusChem.

August 2016​
  • Ao Xie, Emily Blair, and Salley Reamer join the Popat Lab.
  • Sudeep joins the Department of Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences at Clemson University as an Assistant Professor.