Excellence in Environmental Engineering and Science Education (E4S)

The E4S 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™ (E3S) Awards Luncheon and Technical Conference. A monetary award of $1,000 with an additional $500 for travel by the award recipient to the annual E3S 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.

Information on where to submit a nomination package can be found here: https://aeespfoundation.org/awards/e4.

2023 Excellence in Environmental Engineering and Science Education Recipient

Yuefeng Xie, Ph.D., P.E., BCEE

Yuefeng Xie has been a Professor of Environmental Engineering at the Pennsylvania State University, Harrisburg campus for over 27 years. He is also a Distinguished Visiting Professor in School of Environment at Tsinghua University. Dr. Xie was the Chair of AWWA Organic Contaminant Control Committee and the founding President of Chinese-American Professors in Environmental Engineering and Sciences. He also served as a member of US EPA Science Advisory Board’s Drinking Water Committee under three administrations.

With a teaching and research focus on drinking water quality and water treatment, Dr. Xie has published over 100 peer-reviewed journal papers. He also published one book and co-edited two books in disinfection byproducts. Dr. Xie co-founded and directed two centers at Penn State, which provided trainings to approximately 15,000 water professionals (registrations). Dr. Xie co-organized 20-plus professional workshops, including two multi-day ACS disinfection byproduct symposia and six AWWA WQTC Sunday workshops. Dr. Xie has also been extensively involved in water professional training in Canada, Singapore and China.

Dr. Xie received Penn State Harrisburg Faculty Excellence in Research Award and Penn State University Faculty Outreach Award. An IWA Fellow and a Fulbright Scholar, he also received PWEA Professional Research Award, PAAWWA Special Recognition Award, and CAPEES Lifetime Achievement Award. Dr. Xie’s 20-plus-year contributions to Penn State’s wastewater reuse operation was recognized with an honorary road “Xie Lane” nomination at Penn State University Park. “Water Doc Lane”, suggested by Dr. Xie and his wife to recognize all water professionals, was officially adopted and erected in 2021.

Thank you to ABET for sponsoring the 2023 Excellence in Environmental Engineering and Science Education Award.  

Past Recipients