International Workshop on: Resource Recovery from Membrane Biological Reactors (MBRs) - From Laboratory to Pilot Scale
An international Workshop on “Resource Recovery from Membrane Biological
Reactors (MBRs) - From Laboratory to Pilot Scale” was organized at the
Institute of Environmental Sciences & Engineering (IESE-SCEE),
National University of Sciences & Technology (NUST) H-12 campus,
Islamabad from 31st March to 1st April 2016.
Three international speakers included
well known researchers in membrane based technologies. Professor Chung
Hak Lee from Seoul National University (South Korea), Professor C.
Visvanathan from Asian Institute of Technology (Thailand), and Professor
Ismail Koyuncu from Istanbul Technical University (Turkey) along with
local speakers delivered key lectures on current and future technologies
for membrane based Water and Wastewater treatment. This workshop
brought together professionals from various sectors including
government, consultancies, development sector, NGOs and academia. During
this two day international workshop, the most significant developments
in Membrane Bioreactor technology were thoroughly shared and discussed.
Key topics discussed during this two day
workshop included use of membranes as an emerging technology for the
wastewater treatment and various advancement in this field for minimum
energy consumption and better and safe water usage according to
internationally accepted standards.
The workshop was initiated by Professor
Lee where he gave his insight on the use of Quorum Quenching (QQ)
bacteria in MBR for wastewater treatment. He described the biofilm
formation as bacterial communication and better performance of
cylindrical bacteria over beads. His insight over the topic was detailed
and refined and it was highly beneficial for participants to get the
knowledge he has acquired through his cutting edge research. Next,
Professor Visvanathan presented the use of membranes for surface water
treatment. He comprehensively discussed his knowledge on the evolution
of microfiltration and membranes.
Among the last international speakers,
Professor Ismail Koyuncu presented his experience of working with
Forward Osmosis (FO) technique for water and wastewater treatment. He
also shared his knowledge of using FO technique with MBRs followed by
Reverse Osmosis (RO) method as an effective design for wastewater
treatment.
Among the local speakers, Dr. Sher Jamal
Khan and Dr. Zeeshan from IESE-SCEE, NUST, presented their ideas and
work pertinent to application and resource recovery from MBRs.

(First
row, from left to right) Associate Dean IESE Dr. Imran Hashmi,
Professor C. Visvanathan, Professor Ismail Koyuncu and Professor Chung
Hak Lee.

A PhD student of IESE-SCEE, NUST presenting a bouquet to Professor C. Visvanathan.

Dean SCEE, NUST Dr. S. Muhammad Jamil (left) with Associate Dean IESE Dr. Imran Hashmi (right).

Chief
Guest of the international workshop Mr. Siddique Khan (Country
Representative, WaterAid-Pakistan) receiving an honorary shield from Dr.
Sher Jamal Khan (HoD Environmental Engineering, IESE-SCEE, NUST).