The environmental and water recourses engineering faculty members of the SIUE Civil Engineering Department organized the 2024 Mid-American Environmental Engineering Conference (MAEEC) on October 19 at SIUE. Graduate students and their faculty advisors attended a day-long conference, where students presented their research. The attendees represent six universities in the region: Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri University of Science and Technology, University of Missouri Columbia, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, and Saint Louis University.

School of Engineering Dean Cem Karacal offered the welcome remarks, “As we confront the pressing challenges of global climate change and environmental pollution, it’s essential for scholars and graduate students from our region’s universities to come together. Sharing insights and exchanging ideas is crucial for advancing our understanding of these complex issues.”

The conference chair Dr. Rohan Benjankar, an associate professor in water resources engineering of the Civil Engineering Department opened the conference and elaborated the significance of the event and emphasized the collaborative research work to address the problems in water resources and environmental management “Water resources management and environmental engineering professionals have very challenging responsibilities to address the issues that arise from future population growth, increasing water, food, and energy demands and the impacts on the ecosystem. The climate change adds more frequent extreme events such as flood and drought, which pose a serious threat to water resources management and the environment”.

The conference co-chair Dr. Jianpeng Zhou, a professor in environmental engineering of the Civil Engineering Department said, “...in addition to research presentations by the graduates students, this conference has brought to SIUE the world-renown AEESP Distinguished Lecturer Dr. Lynn Katz, Professor in Civil Engineering and the Director of the Center for Water and the Environment of the University of Texas at Austin to give the keynote presentation, also offered a Career Panel to the students, making this event a  wonderful learning experience for all”.

The SIUE Emeritus College and the ASCE-EWRI St. Louis Chapter sponsored the conference. The image below shows the participants at the 2024 MAEEC.