ARC Participation at Waste Management 2012

Staff and students from the Applied Research Center (ARC) at Florida International University (FIU) participated in the Waste Management 2012 Conference in Phoenix, Arizona, from February 26 to March 1, 2012. Participation included hosting an exhibitor booth in the vendor hall, presenting technical research at oral and poster presentations, and contributing to conference panel sessions. A total of eight professional oral and poster presentations were given by FIU Applied Research Center staff at Waste Management 2012 in the areas of high-level waste, groundwater modeling and remediation, waste information management, D&D technologies, and D&D knowledge management. Professional oral and poster presenters included Dr. David Roelant, Dr. Leo Lagos, Amer Awaad, Dr. Dwayne McDaniel, Dr. Yelena Katsenovich, Dr. Siamak Malek-Mohammadi, Himanshu Upadhyay, Walter Quintero, Dr. Seckin Gokaltun and DOE Fellow Heidi Henderson. Highlights from the event included the following:

01. Dr. Siamak Malek-Mohammadi was awarded Best Professional Poster for Waste Management 2011 for his poster on “Simulation of Flow and Mercury Transport in Upper East Fork Poplar Creek, Oak Ridge, TN.” This research was associated with the development of an integrated surface and groundwater model for flow and mercury transport. The model is being developed and used to predict transport patterns of mercury and evaluate risks during deactivation and decommissioning of mercury contaminated facilities at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, TN.

02. Dr. Siamak Malek-Mohammadi and Dr. Georgio Tachiev won first place in their research track for their poster on “Transport of Organic Compounds in the Old Salvage Yard, Oak Ridge, TN.”

Himanshu Updhyay presenting D&D KM-IT

03. Himanshu Upadhyay presented the D&D Knowledge Management Information Tool – 2012 to a live audience at the Waste Management conference. D&D KM-IT web and mobile systems generated a lot of interest in the D&D community when presented to the conference participants which included U.S. and international attendees. D&D KM-IT is a web-based knowledge management tool, custom built for the D&D user community. The system has been developed by the Applied Research Center at Florida International University in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management, the Energy Facility Contractors Group (EFCOG) and the ALARA Center at Savannah River Site. The web system can be viewed at www.dndkm.org and the mobile version can be seen at http://m.dndkm.org.

ARC Scientists and DOE Fellows at WM2012 booth

04. ARC hosted an exhibitor booth at the Waste Management Conference 2012. The booth was managed by Walter Quintero, Himanshu Upadhyay, Clint Miller and DOE Fellows to showcase the D&D Knowledge Management Information Tool, the DOE Fellows Program, and DOE-EM applied research being conducted at the Applied Research Center in the areas of waste processing, soil and groundwater remediation, and deactivation and decommissioning. Fact sheets describing ARC research and projects were distributed to participants visiting the booth to increase awareness about FIU and ARC.

Himanshu Upadhyay and Walter Quintero presenting Waste Information Management System

05. Himanshu Upadhyay and Walter Quintero presented the Waste Information Management System -2012 during a poster session at the conference. WIMS 2012 has been developed by the Applied Research Center at Florida International University to provide DOE Headquarters and DOE site waste managers with the tools necessary to easily visualize, understand, and manage the vast volumes, categories, and problems of forecasted waste streams. WIMS can be accessed at www.emwims.org.

06. Seventeen DOE Fellows and other STEM students attended the Waste Management 2012 Conference and met with Mr. David Huizenga (DOE Senior Advisor for Environmental Management) to discuss their EM applied research work being performed at FIU’s Applied Research Center as well as their summer internship experiences at DOE sites, national laboratories, and site contractors. The DOE Fellows Program is being supported by EM in order to create a pipeline of minority students and engineers to help span the science and engineering talent gap necessary to complete EM’s mission. This occasion also appeared in an article in the March 1 EM Program Update (http://www.em.doe.gov/pdfs/EM%20Program%20Update%20-%20EM%20Renews%20Information-Sharing%20Agreement%2003-01-12.pdf).

David Huizenga (DOE Senior Advisor for EM, 8th from left) with FIU’s DOE Fellows and Dr. Leo Lagos (DOE Fellows Program Director, 10th from left) at WM2012

Leo Lagos and Heidi Henderson with panel members at WM2012

Dr. Leonel Lagos and Heidi Henderson with panel members at WM2012

07. Fourteen DOE Fellows from the DOE – FIU Science and Engineering Workforce Development Initiative presented technical posters during the session entitled, “Student Poster Competition: The Next Generation – Industry Leaders of Tomorrow” (Session 30). Presentations by the students were based on the hands-on research they performed at the Applied Research Center at FIU and during their summer internships at DOE sites, national laboratories, and site contractors.

08. Dr. Leonel Lagos and DOE Fellow Heidi Henderson participated in Waste Management 2012 conference panel sessions – “Graduating Students and New Engineers – Wants and Needs – Are Companies Even Listening?” (Session 44) and “Young Professionals” (Session 45).