Dr. Lynda H. McCarthy

Dr. Lynda McCarthy is a Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biology at Ryerson University. Her research includes aquatic ecotoxicology, Great Lakes pollution and remediation, and the impact on organisms from land-applied pulp mill and municipal biosolids. In the past decade, she has received funding for her research from sources such as the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council ( NSERC) and the National Centres for Excellence’s (NCE) Canadian Water Network. She attended Queen’s University and the University of Waterloo where she gained a BSc and a PhD respectively and was a Department of Fisheries and Oceans federal government scientist for many years at the Great Lakes institute Canada Centre for Inland Waters (CCIW). At Ryerson University, Dr. McCarthy is the founding visionary behind Ryerson Urban Water (RUW) and is currently an Executive Member. She is also leading an initiative that brings Ontario school boards and the Ministry of Education together with education experts in an effort to develop a deep environmental literacy in our children. Her motto is: from the classroom to the boardroom to the legislature.

Topic of Keynote: Silent Spring Revisited: Trends in Environmental Engineering and Sciences, From the 1960s to Today.

Keynote Abstract

Dr. Ya-Huei (Cathy) Chin

Ya-Huei (Cathy) Chin is an assistant professor of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry at the University of Toronto. She is a Canada Research Chair (Tier II) in Advanced Catalysis for Sustainable Chemistry and a recipient of Ontario’s Early Researcher Award (2014) and Imperial Oil’s University Research Award (2014). She obtained her Doctoral of Philosophy degree in Chemical Engineering from University of California, Berkeley (2011). She was a senior research scientist at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), one of the ten United States National Research Laboratories, where she held a joint appointment at the William R. Wiley Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, a U.S. Department of Energy’s national scientific user facility (2000-2005). Cathy’s research addresses the technological challenges in catalytic processing of hydrocarbons and oxygenates, emission control, microchemical reactor development, and on-anode natural gas reforming in solid oxide fuel cell. Her recent work focuses on elucidating the molecular events during catalytic conversions of alkanes, alkenes, and oxygenates to liquid fuels and value-added chemicals. Specifically, she applies isotopic, kinetic, and density functional theory methods to investigate the dynamics of catalyst surfaces and their kinetic consequences.

Topic of Keynote: Catalytic Strategies for the Production of Renewable Fuels and Chemicals

Keynote Abstract

Ahmed Eldyasti

Research Overview and Background

Dr. ElDyasti is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at Lassonde School of Engineering, York University. Dr. ElDyasti received his B.Sc in Construction & Building Engineering from Arab Academy for Science & Technology & Maritime Transport, Alexandria, Egypt in 2002. He then obtained his M.Sc. degree in Environmental Engineering from Arab Academy for Science & Technology & Maritime Transport, Cairo, Egypt in 2006. Dr. ElDyasti holds a Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering (Environment and Sustainability) from Western University in 2013.

Dr. ElDyasti research interests include waste and wastewater treatment encompassing both liquid and biosolids treatment from research and application perspectives focusing on biological municipal and industrial wastewater treatment, biological nutrient removal, biofilm and bioparticles processes, ultrafiltration and microfiltration processes, waste-to-energy processes for bioenergy, and renewable energy. He has significant experience in developing different innovative technologies for renewable energy production and chemical recovery from municipal and industrial waste streams.

Dr. ElDyasti has received several distinguishing awards, including Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS); Julie Lassonde Scholarship for Green Technologies and Processes; Ross and Jean Clark scholarship; Graduate Thesis Research Award (GTRA); Industrial MITACS accelerated fellowship. He also was recognized in a number of conferences/workshops, including Top Poster in 9th-2012 ANNUAL Earth Day Colloquium; Top Seminar Presentation in 61st Canadian Chemical Engineering Conference (CSChE 2011); Top Seminar Presentation in 4th Particle Technology Research Centre Conference (PTRC-2011). As an early-career researcher, Dr. ElDyasti has raised more than $500K in research grants since July 2014 and has published 2 book chapters and more than 40 journals and conference papers.

Research Interests

• Biological wastewater treatment processes using Biofilm technologies
• Nitrification and Denitrification processes
• Phosphorus removal and recovery
• Waste-to-Energy (WtoE) treatment processes
• Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) emissions from wastewater treatment processes
• Modeling, Simulation and Optimization of Biological Wastewater/Sludge Treatment and Biofilm Processes

Topic of Keynote: Novel Applications for Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) for Municipal and Industrial Wastewater Treatment Technologies

Keynote Abstract

Tom Kaszas

Tom Kaszas, P.Eng., Director, Environmental Innovations Branch, Environmental Programs Division, Ontario Ministry of Environment and Climate Change.

As Director, Environmental Innovations Branch Tom leads a wide variety of initiatives that bridge the gap between regulatory policy development and field implementation. Projects include the development of implementation of programs, new Regulations, and pilot projects designed to test regulatory concepts and approaches as well as projects supporting the implementation and deployment of innovative Environmental technologies in Ontario.

Prior to joining the ministry, Tom worked in Environmental consulting, and in Agri-Food Manufacturing, most notably serving 17 years at McCain Foods Limited in various environmental engineering capacities and finally as Director, Global Environmental Sustainability: responsible for developing and implementing McCain’s environmental sustainability strategy as well as the day to day environmental management of the company’s 50 facilities located in 18 countries. He has broad experience and significant technical expertise in the areas of environmental permitting, energy and water management, green energy, wastewater treatment and recycling across a wide variety of industries.

Tom is also a member of Ryerson Urban Water’s Board of Advisors, where he provides feedback on RUW research projects and provides support to student and university events.

Tom holds a Bachelor of Applied Science (Chemical Engineering) from the University of Ottawa and is a licensed member of Professional Engineers Ontario (PEO). Tom is known for his ability to work across organizations and with internal and external stakeholders on a wide variety of environmental projects to develop and achieve mutually beneficial goals and objectives.

Topic of Keynote: Innovation in a Regulated Environment: Why Do We Need it and How Are We Going to Get It?

Keynote Abstract

Zhi Chen

Dr. Zhi Chen is a Professor in the Department of Building, Civil, and Environmental Engineering at the Concordia University in Montreal. Dr. Chen worked at the University of Regina, the National Research Council Canada (NRC), and the Oil & Gas industry before he joined Concordia University. Prof. Chen’s research interests include water/air quality modeling and risk assessment, environmental emergency response and preparedness, systems analysis under uncertainty, removal of emerging contaminants, environmental informatics and their applications to energy and environment problems. Technologies developed in his group have been applied to the pollution control planning, management of soil and groundwater contamination, and coastal environmental protection in the North America and Asia. Prof. Chen has over 200 refereed publications and has supervised more than 30 graduate students. He obtained 2006-2007 PetroCanada young innovator award and 2008 University Tier II research award. Prof. Chen was involved in organizing many science and engineering symposiums such as the 2010 IEEE Human and Technology Toronto conference and 2006 IWA-CAWQ Montreal conference. He currently serves as member and editor in the editorial board of several international journals including journal of environmental policy and decision making (IJEPDM).

Topic of Keynote: Examples of Recent Development and Application of Environmental Modeling and Assessment

Keynote Abstract