News
Nov 17, 2016
CESTiCC 2016 Student of the Year: Mehdi Honarvar Nazari
Mehdi Honarvar Nazari completed a Ph.D. in Metallurgical & Materials Engineering in 2010 at the University of Tehran and worked as a Research Associate and laboratory manager at the Western Transportation Institute and Washington State University (WSU). He is currently a graduate student at WSU, pursuing his 2nd Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering. He has worked on CESTiCC research on the evaluation of bio-based anti-icers and DOT research pertaining to the negative effects of deicers on protection equipment and the environment. He has published and presented on a variety of transportation related topics and exhibited leadership in mentoring undergraduate students.
His thesis will demonstrate the use of microbial fuel cell (MFC) as a maintenance-free power source for treating deicer-laden stormwater runoff collected from the roadway surface. One key innovation is the applications of nanotechnology to MFC to greatly improve their power density and efficiency in harvesting bioenergy from natural waters, using biominerals naturally-replenished by native population of safe manganese oxidizing microorganisms (MOMs), which are abundant in natural waters.
