UROP Project
Engineering Materials to Solve the Clean Water Challenge
Water Treatment; Environmental Sustainability; Materials Discovery; Resource Recovery; Industrial Production
Research Mentor: Prof. Ali Abdelhafiz,
Department, College, Affiliation: Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, FAMU-FSU College of Engineering
Contact Email: am26cg@fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor): Ms. Aya Kamel
Research Assistant Supervisor Email: ak26bg@fsu.edu
Faculty Collaborators:
Faculty Collaborators Email:
Department, College, Affiliation: Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, FAMU-FSU College of Engineering
Contact Email: am26cg@fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor): Ms. Aya Kamel
Research Assistant Supervisor Email: ak26bg@fsu.edu
Faculty Collaborators:
Faculty Collaborators Email:
Looking for Research Assistants: Maybe one more
Number of Research Assistants: 2
Relevant Majors: Chemical Engineering; Chemistry; Environmental Engineering; Mechanical Engineering; Materials Science and Engineering; Physics; related science and engineering majors
Project Location: On FSU Main Campus
Research Assistant Transportation Required: Remote or In-person: In-person
Approximate Weekly Hours: 8, Flexible schedule (Combination of business and outside of business. TBD between student and research mentor.)
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link:
Number of Research Assistants: 2
Relevant Majors: Chemical Engineering; Chemistry; Environmental Engineering; Mechanical Engineering; Materials Science and Engineering; Physics; related science and engineering majors
Project Location: On FSU Main Campus
Research Assistant Transportation Required: Remote or In-person: In-person
Approximate Weekly Hours: 8, Flexible schedule (Combination of business and outside of business. TBD between student and research mentor.)
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link:
- Day: Wednesday, September 2
Start Time: 12:00
End Time: 8:00
Zoom Link: 519 787 8254
Project Description
Clean water is essential for human health, economic development, and environmental sustainability. At the same time, seawater, industrial wastewater, and brines contain contaminants that must be removed as well as valuable resources such as organic pollutants, lithium and other metals that could potentially be recovered.This project will investigate new materials for water treatment and resource recovery. The research assistant will prepare and test materials and study how their composition and surface properties influence their ability to remove contaminants or selectively capture dissolved species from water.
The project combines hands-on laboratory experimentation with materials characterization and data analysis. Rather than simply following a predetermined procedure, the student will help interpret experimental results and determine which materials and conditions should be investigated next. The ultimate goal is to identify materials with improved performance and understand the material characteristics responsible for that performance.
Research Tasks: * Prepare and process selected materials using laboratory synthesis methods.
* Conduct controlled experiments to evaluate material performance in water-treatment applications.
* Collect, organize, and analyze experimental data.
* Compare materials and investigate relationships between composition, surface properties, and performance.
* Assist with characterization of promising materials and improvement of experimental procedures.
* Prepare figures and present research findings at the UROP symposium.
Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Required:
* Interest in hands-on scientific experimentation.
* Basic understanding of science or engineering principles.
* Careful and organized approach to laboratory work.
* Willingness to learn new experimental techniques and work safely in a laboratory.
Recommended:
* Coursework or experience in chemistry, materials science, environmental science, or engineering.
* Basic data analysis or programming experience.
* Familiarity with materials characterization or analytical techniques.
Mentoring Philosophy
I genuinely enjoy working with students as a team. My mentoring approach comes from both teaching and research experiences: at Georgia Tech, I mentored undergraduate researchers through the SURE program, and at MIT I have helped lead a diverse research team of more than 25 experimentalists. These experiences taught me that students develop fastest when they are engaged, respected, and given meaningful responsibility.I like to work closely with students, discussing ideas, troubleshooting experiments, and sharing my own research experience, but my goal is always to teach them to become independent while allowing them to lead. I begin by understanding their interests and strengths, provide the guidance they need, and gradually give them more ownership of the research question and decisions.
I also want students to feel comfortable asking questions and making mistakes. Research rarely goes exactly as planned, and I encourage students to treat unexpected results as opportunities to learn and think differently. Ultimately, I want them to feel that they are members of the research team, not simply assistants, and to leave with confidence, independence, and genuine ownership of their accomplishments.