Environmental biotechnology expert to present 2012 Stueck Lecture at S&T

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On March 22, 2012

Dr. Bruce Rittmann, an international leader in assessing microbial communities, spends his time motivating his “many little friends” to do what he wants through engineering and biotechnology applications. In an upcoming lecture at Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rittmann will discuss ways his interdisciplinary research is improving conditions around the world and leading to new ways to clean up pollution, treat water and wastewater, capture renewable energy and improve human health.


“Making research meet practice in environmental biotechnology” is the title of Rittmann’s lecture at Missouri S&T. It will be presented at 2:15 p.m. Friday, April 20, in the Gunther Lecture Hall, Room 125, Butler-Carlton Civil Engineering Hall, 1401 N. Pine St. The event is free and open to the public.

Rittmann, director of the Swette Center for Environmental Biotechnology at the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University and also a Regents’ Professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and Built Environment, will discuss how microorganisms can provide society with many valuable services, such as improving water quality and producing renewable energy. The talk will illustrate how environmental biotechnology creates innovative microorganism-based systems by combining engineering tools with a deep understanding of the microorganisms. The outcome is a set of services that will make human society more sustainable in the future.

Rittmann was named an International Water Association Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow and an ASU Regents’ Professor, and is a National Academy of Engineering member. He has also won the Arizona BioIndustry Association 2009 Award for Research Excellence, American Society of Civil Engineers 2009 Simon W. Freese Award, 1994 National Water Research Institute’s Clarke Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Water Science and Technology, and the Huber Research Prize from American Society of Civil Engineers.

The lecture is presented as part of the Neil and Maurita Stueck Distinguished Lecture Series for Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering at Missouri S&T. The series is made possible by a fund established by Maurita Stueck to bring additional outside perspectives to S&T students, and to honor her late husband, Neil Stueck, a 1943 civil engineering graduate of the university.

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