Events

Sep

21

PD Seminar: David Kosnik

McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering

11:30 AM

EVENT DETAILS

Structural Health Monitoring for Limit States Other Than “Failure”

Abstract

This presentation will cover applications of instrumentation and monitoring of in-service structures to understanding, quantifying, and mitigating challenges related to limit states other than catastrophic failure due to insufficient strength or stiffness. Such non-catastrophic limit states include various forms of serviceability limits, from the familiar floor deflection provisions in building codes to dynamic compatibility considerations between processing piping and structural elements in industrial plants, durability and service life considerations, and preservation of essential ancillary structural elements such as fireproofing and building envelope materials. Structural adequacy against these limits may be compromised by endogenous factors such as material degradation (corrosion, alkali-silica reactivity) or by exogenous factors such as changes in service loads or beyond-design-basis events. Judiciously selected instrumentation and appropriate monitoring schemes can provide insight into the behavior of structures with respect to these limits and thus help (1) reduce uncertainty in the ability of the structure to perform as desired, and (2) inform retrofit or rehabilitation efforts if required. These instrumentation and monitoring approaches will be discussed in the context of case studies from transportation, industrial, and specialty structures.

Bio

NU Civil Engineering alumnus David Kosnik (MS 2009, PhD 2012) draws from his dual background in civil and computer engineering to develop innovative performance monitoring and evaluation solutions for in-service infrastructure. His experience includes both long-term, continuous remote monitoring and short-term tests of occupied buildings, in-service bridges and structures, industrial facilities, movable structures, structures subject to ground vibration, and infrastructure vulnerable to hydraulic and geo-hazards. Dr. Kosnik’s monitoring strategies link measured quantities to specific limit states or performance metrics to support infrastructure management decisions, particularly those related to risk management, beyond-design-basis events, evaluation of retrofits and life extension efforts, characterization of damage progression, and early warning of possible disruption.

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TIME Monday, September 21, 2020 at 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM

CONTACT Tierney Acott tierney.acott@northwestern.edu EMAIL

CALENDAR McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering

Sep

27

EES Seminar- Nanqing Zhou

McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

2:00 PM A230, Technological Institute

EVENT DETAILS

Title: Production of Nanoplastics and Bioavailable Carbons by Wastewater Comamonas

Abstract: Comamonadacae bacteria are enriched on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) microplastics in wastewaters and urban rivers, but the PET-degrading mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we investigated these mechanisms with Comamonas testosteroni KF-1, a wastewater isolate, by combining microscopy, spectroscopy, proteomics, protein modeling, and genetic engineering. Compared to minor dents on PET films, scanning electron microscopy revealed significant fragmentation of PET pellets, resulting in 3.5-fold increase in the abundance of small nanoparticles (< 100 nm) during 30-day cultivation. Infrared spectroscopy captured primarily hydrolytic cleavage in the fragmented pellet particles. Solution analysis further demonstrated double hydrolysis of a PET oligomer, bis-(2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate, to the bioavailable monomer terephthalate. Supplementation with acetate, a common wastewater co-substrate, promoted cell growth and PET fragmentation. Of the multiple hydrolases encoded in the genome, intracellular proteomics detected only one, which was found in both acetate-only and PET-only conditions. Homology modeling of this hydrolase structure illustrated substrate binding analogous to reported PET hydrolases despite dissimilar sequences. Mutants lacking this hydrolase gene were incapable of PET oligomer hydrolysis and had 25% decrease in PET fragmentation; re-insertion of the gene restored both functions. Thus, we have identified constitutive production of a key PET-degrading hydrolase in wastewater Comamonas, which can be exploited for plastics bioconversion.

Bio: Dr. Nanqing Zhou is a postdoctoral scholar working with Prof. Ludmilla Aristilde at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Northwestern University. Dr. Zhou obtained her B.S. in Environmental Science and M.S. in Environmental Engineering from the University of Science and Technology of China. She then obtained a doctoral degree in Marine Biosciences from the University of Delaware. Her research focuses on applying multi-omics approaches to unravel the metabolic network in biotechnologically relevant microbes using waste carbon sources.

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TIME Friday, September 27, 2024 at 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM

LOCATION A230, Technological Institute map it

CONTACT Andrew Liguori andrew.liguori@northwestern.edu EMAIL

CALENDAR McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

Sep

30

McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

2:00 PM A230, Technological Institute

EVENT DETAILS

TBA

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TIME Friday, November 22, 2024 at 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM

LOCATION A230, Technological Institute map it

CONTACT Andrew Liguori andrew.liguori@northwestern.edu EMAIL

CALENDAR McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

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PD Seminar: David Kosnik

EES Seminar- Nanqing Zhou

Last day to add a class or change a section for Fall (Last day for tuition adjustment related to enrollment changes (to or from full-time). No reductions are made to bills for dropped or swapped classes after this date)

Achenbach Lecture- Vijay Kumar

CEE Department Happy Hour

EES Seminar- Anna Vincent

EES Seminar- John Fortner

EES Seminar- Satish Myneni

CEE Fall Career Fair

EES Seminar- Shushan Wu

EES Seminar- Jason Ren

EES Seminar- George Wells

EES Seminar- Ludmilla Aristilde

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Events filtered by

PD Seminar: David Kosnik

EES Seminar- Nanqing Zhou

Last day to add a class or change a section for Fall (Last day for tuition adjustment related to enrollment changes (to or from full-time). No reductions are made to bills for dropped or swapped classes after this date)

Achenbach Lecture- Vijay Kumar

CEE Department Happy Hour

EES Seminar- Anna Vincent

EES Seminar- John Fortner

EES Seminar- Satish Myneni

CEE Fall Career Fair

EES Seminar- Shushan Wu

EES Seminar- Jason Ren

EES Seminar- George Wells

EES Seminar- Ludmilla Aristilde

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