Dr Adrian Oehmen, who graduated with a PhD in Chemical Engineering in 2005, has received the CH2M-Hill PhD Thesis Award from the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors (AEESP).

His project was recognised as one of the best environmental science and engineering PhD studies in the world.

Dr Oehmen’s discovery of operational factors that can improve phosphorus removal in wastewater treatment systems has provided the wastewater industry with strategies that could potentially improve the performance and reduce the costs of full-scale wastewater treatment plants.

It is the first time the award had gone to a non-US university student in its 17-year history.

“My work revealed potential ways to eliminate the unwanted bacteria, leading to improvements in the performance and reliability of phosphorus-removal treatment systems,” he said.

While at UQ, Dr Oehmen received an International Postgraduate Research Scholarship and a UQ International Postgraduate Research Scholarship. His research was sponsored by the Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) for Waste Management and Pollution Control through Environmental Biotechnology CRC.

“My work would not have been possible without the expertise of my supervisors, my colleagues, the high-level research facilities at UQ and the financial support from the CRC and the University,” he said.

Dr Oehmen is currently working on a project at the New University of Lisbon in Portugal, examining ways of removing mercury from drinking water systems.