The January 2026 AAEES PechaKucha

January 28, 2026, at Noon Eastern

Join us as we showcase our 40 under 40 Recognition Program recipients using a popular Japanese-inspired presentation format called a PechaKucha.

What exactly is a PechaKucha?

A PechaKucha celebrates people, passion and creative thoughts. The event will consist of several speakers each showing 20 slides and presenting for about 6 and a half minutes.  We will have a few minutes in between each presentation for some Q & A. You will gain knowledge on multiple topics in under an hour!

AAEES members will earn 1.5 PDHs for attending.   Registration is $40 for non-members, FREE for all AAEES Board Certified Individuals and Members.

Danmeng Shuai, Ph.D.
Professor
Civil and Environmental Engineering
George Washington University

Vesicle-Cloaked Virus Clusters in the Environment and Their Impact on Public Health

Human enteric viruses, such as norovirus and rotavirus, are leading causes of gastroenteritis, driving widespread outbreaks, hospitalizations, and substantial global health and economic burdens. Recent research has identified vesicle-cloaked virus clusters (viral vesicles) as emerging pathogenic units for these viruses beyond free virions. Encapsulating multiple virions within a phospholipid bilayer, viral vesicles are prevalent in stool and wastewater, persist in aquatic environments, and exhibit great resistance to disinfection. My group is pioneering the study of their environmental behavior, and in this seminar, I will discuss the efficacy, mechanisms, and limitations of current disinfection strategies—specifically UV, free chlorine, and peroxides—in inactivating norovirus and rotavirus vesicles. Viral vesicles blur the distinct between non-enveloped and enveloped viruses, necessitating a reassessment of disinfection approaches to enhance efficacy and better protect public health.

Yewei Sun, PhD, PE
Senior Principal Engineer
Hazen and Sawyer

Process Intensification at Water Resource Recovery Facilities

This presentation will provide an overview of process intensification at water resource recovery facilities, focusing on how treatment processes can be fundamentally redesigned to achieve higher performance, smaller footprints, and lower energy, chemical, and carbon demands while maintaining operational reliability. The topic addresses key drivers such as increasingly stringent nutrient limits, decarbonization goals, space constraints, and the need to upgrade aging infrastructure without major expansion. The presentation will highlight major intensification pathways, including biological intensification through shortcut nitrogen removal, intracellularly stored carbon utilization, and biomass densification using granular, hybrid, and biofilm-based systems; hydraulic and reactor intensification through higher loading rates and decoupling of hydraulic and solids retention times; and operational intensification enabled by advanced monitoring, modeling, and dynamic control. Full-scale outcomes demonstrate that process intensification can significantly reduce aeration energy and external carbon requirements while improving effluent stability and resilience, positioning WRRFs as compact, adaptive, and resource-efficient facilities for the future.

Mohamed S. Gaballah, PhD
Lecturer I
Central Michigan University, School of Engineering & Technology

Mixed Antibiotics in Anaerobic Systems: Risks to Bioenergy and Practical Solutions

Anaerobic digestion is a key technology for renewable bioenergy production from animal waste; however, the presence of mixed veterinary antibiotics can disrupt microbial communities, reduce biogas yields, and pose environmental risks. This presentation highlights how mixed antibiotics affect anaerobic systems, explains the mechanisms behind bioenergy inhibition, and presents practical, cost-effective mitigation strategies. The talk emphasizes solutions that improve system resilience while maintaining energy recovery and environmental protection.

Daniel B. Oerther, Ph.D, P.E., BCEE, BCES
Executive Director
American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists

Ethical AI Use Requires Transparency, Accountability, and Verifiability

Artificial intelligence is transforming engineering practice - and young professionals will shape how it’s used. This presentation explores how transparency, accountability, and verifiability form the core of ethical AI adoption in the built‑environment professions. This presentation highlights how to define AI roles, manage risks like bias and hallucination, and stay in control of engineering decisions in an AI‑enabled workflow. Discover how emerging standards from engineering, medical, and legal fields can guide your practice and how you can lead the next generation in using AI responsibly, creatively, and confidently.

Register Today

Click here to learn how you can sponsor
one of our events.