Excellence in Environmental Engineering Education

2013 Sponsors

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The E4 Award will be granted to an educator who has made a significant contribution to the profession in the area of educating practitioners. The award will be jointly administered by AAEES and AEESP and will be bestowed annually at the AAEES Excellence in Environmental Engineering and Science (E3) Awards Luncheon and Technical Conference. A monetary award of $1,000 with an additional $500 for travel by the award recipient to the annual E3 ceremony will be granted to the winning nominee.

Examples of significant contributions include:

• Development of educational material or text that enhances the ability of students to succeed as professional environmental engineers serving as practitioners in roles such as infrastructure design and project leadership.
• Demonstration of successful course or curricula development aimed at educating practitioners. Successful deployment of the Environmental Engineering Body of Knowledge concepts.
• Creation of unique methods or curricula that challenge and inspire students in the area of environmental engineering practice.
• Demonstration of successful student educational outcomes (examples include: letters of support/nomination from former students currently practicing environmental engineering, former students passing PE, former students showing leadership as practitioners, critical projects that former students have led).
• Establishment of positive student mentoring relationships or programs.
• Contributions to the profession in terms of activity in professional organizations, delivery of lectures, and interaction with public agencies and the consulting community to bridge the gap between university education and environmental engineering practice.
• Open to all university faculty teaching environmental engineering.

Nomination packages should include: (1) a brief cover letter from the nominator; (2) brief curriculum vitae (4-page maximum) for the nominee, (3) documentation related directly to the award criteria consisting of no more than 30 pages, (4) one (minimum) to five (maximum) letters of recommendation from current or past students; and (5) one (minimum) to three (maximum) letters of recommendation from faculty, administrator, or industry peers. Past nominations will be carried over and considered for three years and can be modified during the current nomination period.

Questions may be directed to:
Professor James R. Mihelcic
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of South Florida
e-mail: jm41@usf.edu; Tel: 813-974-9896

Click here for additional information on the Excellence in Environmental Engineering Education Award.

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2013 Excellence in Environmental Engineering Education Recipient: John T. Novak, Ph.D., P.E., BCEE

John Novak is the Nick Prillaman Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Virginia Tech where he has been a faculty member for the past 31 years. Prior to that, he was a faculty member for 12 years at the University of Missouri, Columbia. Dr. Novak has conducted research in sludge management, wastewater treatment, solid waste management, and soil and groundwater remediation. He has received four awards for papers he has published during his career. In 2007, he received the Simon W. Freeze Award from the American Society of Civil Engineers for his contribution to "advancing the understanding of sludge dewatering processes and improving biosolids management”. In 2011, he received the Frederick G. Pohland Award from the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors and the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists, and, in 2013, he received the Ralph Furhman Medal from the Water Environment Federation for "Outstanding Water Quality Academic-Practice Collaboration.”

He is the author of more than 300 papers in journals and conference proceedings and has served as the major advisor to more than 180 graduate students. Dr. Novak also served six years as a member of the Research Council of the Water Environment Research Foundation, the last three as Chair. His B.S. and M.S. degrees are from the University of Missouri, Columbia, and his Ph.D. is from the University of Washington.

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Past Recipients

2012 -- George Tchobanoglous

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