HONORARY LECTURE Professor Urs von Gunten
Event details
| Date | 02.04.2025 |
| Hour | 18:00 › 19:30 |
| Speaker | Prof. Urs Von Gunten |
| Location | |
| Category | Inaugural lectures - Honorary Lecture |
| Event Language | English |
Date: 02 avril 2025
Time: 18:00 – 19:30
Introduction by the Dean Katrin Beyer, IIE Director Tamar Kohn and Eawag Director Martin Ackermann, lecture by Prof. Urs Von Gunten. Followed by an Apero.
Place: EPFL, SG 1138
Live stream: link
Title:
Water research through the lens of an environmental chemist: highlights of an amazing journey
Abstract
Even though the development in the water sector seems slow, in retrospective there have been remarkable changes in the perception and approaches to water and wastewater systems in the last 30+ years. From the beginning of my career, I was confronted with a never-ending discovery of problematic contaminants and microorganisms in aquatic systems, mostly triggered by development of novel analytical tools. Starting from these practical problems, my research group performed basic and applied research to find treatment solutions to protect human and environmental health and developed prediction tools for future challenges. Thereby, the connection to the practical water sector was key to focus on the relevant questions and to implement solutions. In the lecture, selected examples will be presented, to illustrate highlights of my research in aquatic chemistry and beyond.
About the speaker
After his PhD in Chemistry at ETHZ in 1989, Urs von Gunten joined Eawag, where he became a senior group leader and was department head of the Departments of Chemistry and Water Resources and Drinking Water. Since 2011, he has a joint appointment between Eawag and EPFL where he is a full professor. He is an internationally recognized expert in water quality and treatment with a strong focus on oxidation processes in water and wastewater, including disinfection, micropollutant abatement, and formation of transformation products and disinfection byproducts. In the last two decades he was strongly involved in the application of ozone for enhanced municipal wastewater treatment for micropollutant abatement, from laboratory experiments to full-scale implementation. He collaborates regularly with Swiss practitioners from the water and wastewater sector, e.g., he was the head of the two large trans-disciplinary projects “Water Supply for the 21st Century (2004-2008)” and “Regional Water Supply Basel-Country (2013-2016)”.
Time: 18:00 – 19:30
Introduction by the Dean Katrin Beyer, IIE Director Tamar Kohn and Eawag Director Martin Ackermann, lecture by Prof. Urs Von Gunten. Followed by an Apero.
Place: EPFL, SG 1138
Live stream: link
Title:
Water research through the lens of an environmental chemist: highlights of an amazing journey
Abstract
Even though the development in the water sector seems slow, in retrospective there have been remarkable changes in the perception and approaches to water and wastewater systems in the last 30+ years. From the beginning of my career, I was confronted with a never-ending discovery of problematic contaminants and microorganisms in aquatic systems, mostly triggered by development of novel analytical tools. Starting from these practical problems, my research group performed basic and applied research to find treatment solutions to protect human and environmental health and developed prediction tools for future challenges. Thereby, the connection to the practical water sector was key to focus on the relevant questions and to implement solutions. In the lecture, selected examples will be presented, to illustrate highlights of my research in aquatic chemistry and beyond.
About the speaker
After his PhD in Chemistry at ETHZ in 1989, Urs von Gunten joined Eawag, where he became a senior group leader and was department head of the Departments of Chemistry and Water Resources and Drinking Water. Since 2011, he has a joint appointment between Eawag and EPFL where he is a full professor. He is an internationally recognized expert in water quality and treatment with a strong focus on oxidation processes in water and wastewater, including disinfection, micropollutant abatement, and formation of transformation products and disinfection byproducts. In the last two decades he was strongly involved in the application of ozone for enhanced municipal wastewater treatment for micropollutant abatement, from laboratory experiments to full-scale implementation. He collaborates regularly with Swiss practitioners from the water and wastewater sector, e.g., he was the head of the two large trans-disciplinary projects “Water Supply for the 21st Century (2004-2008)” and “Regional Water Supply Basel-Country (2013-2016)”.
Links
Practical information
- Informed public
- Registration required
Organizer
- SSIE - Christina Treier
Contact
- christina.treier@epfl.ch