WEX Center names new Fellows:
WEX Center names new Fellows:
José Jimenez and Nikolay Voutchkov
José Jimenez and Nikolay Voutchkov
Embedded Files
April 2026
The WEX Center is adding two outstanding scholars and practitioners to the group of WEX Fellows from industry: José Jimenez and Nikolay Voutchkov.
José is the VP of Brown and Caldwell, a wastewater process engineer who has been working on biological wastewater treatment for almost 30 years. He has been pioneering research on comammox in low DO activated sludge operations and of AvN advanced ammonia aeration control. He has been working with the WEX Center students on various research themes centered on biological wastewater treatment.
Nikolay, CEO of Water Globe Consultants, is a desalination expert with worldwide experience in design and analysis of desalination systems. He brings decades of experience to the Fellows group and his sustained collaboration with our students and faculty has yielded many publications.
Both Fellows are Board Certified Environmental Engineers and are outstanding mentors to our students. Welcome to the WEX Center!
José Jimenez
José Jimenez
Nikolay Voutchkov
Nikolay Voutchkov
February 2026
WEX Fellow Dr. Imre Takács lectures on dynamic modeling
WEX Fellow Dr. Imre Takács lectures on dynamic modeling
Dr. Imre Takacs, Fellow of the WEX Center, delivered a series of 2-weeks guest lectures on dynamic process modeling for water treatment, reclamation, and reuse. The UCI students enrolled in process analysis and process design courses benefitted from his renowned expertise.
February 2026
WEX Center organizes NAWI Workshop on Digital Twins in Water Reclamation and Reuse
WEX Center organizes NAWI Workshop on Digital Twins in Water Reclamation and Reuse
The WEX Center is organizing a half-day workshop on February 4th. The theme is Digital Twins in Water Reclamation and Reuse, and we will have as special guests Dr. Imre Takacs from Dynamita and Dr. Kris Villez from ORNL.
Our colleagues from OCWD are graciously hosting the event on their campus, in the MWDOC Conference Room. The event will be from 1 to 4pm and attendance is FREE but registration is required. See flyer below.
February 2026
Fellow Imre Takács to visit WEX Center
Fellow Imre Takács to visit WEX Center
We are happy to announce that Dr. Imre Takacs, Fellow of the WEX Center, will visit us to deliver guest lectures from February 2nd to 13th. Dr. Takacs is a world renowned expert in process modeling and is leader in the digitization of the water sector. While at UCI, he will present lectures on process modeling and will participate in the NAWI workshop on Digital Twins in Water Reclamation and Reuse (on Feb 4th, hosted by OCWD; see flyer above).
October 2025
WEX Fellow Daniel Nolasco
WEX Fellow Daniel Nolasco
joins CEE Department Faculty
joins CEE Department Faculty
The inaugural WEX Fellow Daniel Nolasco, NAE has joined the CEE Faculty as Adjunct Professor, beginning October 1, 2025. Prof. Nolasco will participate in the educational delivery of the program and will teach a course on Carbon and Energy Footprint Analysis of Water and Wastewater, which he lectured already in 2015. We welcome his return to UCI!
In the image above, Prof. Nolasco is delivering his talk on the Circular Water Economy at WEFTEC 2025 in New Orleans, LA.
September 2025
Dr. Adam Atia from NETL leads WaterTAP workshop
Dr. Adam Atia from NETL leads WaterTAP workshop
Dr. Adam Atia from the National Energy Technology Laboratory is leading the knowledge-transfer workshop for the NAWI WaterTAP platform.
Attendees from academia, consulting firms, and water utilities are participating in this event.
September 2025
WEX Fellow Imre Takács teaching the SUMO training course
WEX Fellow Imre Takács teaching the SUMO training course
The WEX Center is organizing a 2+1 day training course on process modeling with Sumo. WEX Fellow Dr. Imre Takács (shown in the photo) is teaching the module on influent fractionation.
Attendees arriving from around the US and internationally are in the audience interacting with Dr. Takács.
September 2025
WEX Center hosts Dr. Chris Bye for Wastewater Treatment Process Modeling course with BioWin
WEX Center hosts Dr. Chris Bye for Wastewater Treatment Process Modeling course with BioWin
Dr. Chris Bye from Envirosim is guest lecturing this week for the wastewater treatment process modeling course using BioWin. Wastewater professionals from Oregon to Tennessee joined this in-person event at UCI.
In the image we can see Dr. Bye presenting the theory of secondary sedimentation before an hands-on exercise.
September 2025
WEX Center organizes SUMO training course
WEX Center organizes SUMO training course
On September 16-18, the WEX Center will organize a 2+1 day training course on process modeling with Sumo. Schedule:
Sep 16-17, 2025 9AM-5PM: Introduction to Process Modeling with Sumo
Sep 18, 2025 9AM-5PM: Advanced modeling topics with Sumo
For details and registration contact Prof. Rosso <bidui@uci.edu>
June 2025
Passing of WEX Fellow Dr. Mansur Abahusayn
Passing of WEX Fellow Dr. Mansur Abahusayn
WEX Fellow Dr. Mansur Abahusayn passed on June 13, 2025. He was an active collaborator and supported many WEX projects, in the US and internationally. The WEX Center team will miss him, his brilliant mind, and his smile.
Summer 2025
WEX Center organizes BioWin training course
WEX Center organizes BioWin training course
This September, the WEX Center will organize a 2-day Introductory session followed by a 2-day Advanced session on process modeling using BioWin.
Each session is 16 hours in total and includes manuals in PDF form, supplemental BioWin files, and a certificate of completion.
The event will be on Sep 9-12, 2025
9:00AM - 5:00PM PDT
May 2025
WEX Associate Director Chris Olivares to speak at NASEM event on wildfires
WEX Associate Director Chris Olivares to speak at NASEM event on wildfires
WEX Associate Director Chris Olivares will speak at the "Water Supply Systems and Wildfires" organized by the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine.
The event will be on May 14, 2025
1:00PM - 5:00PM ET
May 2025
IWA USA Webinar on Circular Water Economy and Decarbonization
IWA USA Webinar on Circular Water Economy and Decarbonization
WEX Fellow Daniel Nolasco, NAE and WEX Director Diego Rosso will present a webinar on Circular Water Economy and Decarbonization in Water Resource Recovery Facilities on May 14, 2025
Join here:
https://unlv.zoom.us/j/8307158039?pwd=SZXhqp8foudnMk85ZimMHZuZ6NVofI.1#success
August 2024
WEX Center Director interviewed on Steeped Tea podcast
WEX Center Director interviewed on Steeped Tea podcast
July 2024
Meet our new Associate Director Prof. Chris Olivares
Meet our new Associate Director Prof. Chris Olivares
Chris Olivares is the new Associate Director of the WEX Center. He is an Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and is a process engineer by training. His research focuses at the intersection of chemical contaminants, biological processes, and effects on population.
Chris is also a humanist, having double majored in French and being a keen painter.
March 2024
WEX Center hosts dynamic process modelling course
WEX Center hosts dynamic process modelling course
The WEX Center hosted a 3-day training course on dynamic process modeling using Sumo, in collaboration with the Dynamita team. The audience represented a diverse group within the water industry, including researchers, utilities, consultants, and equipment manufacturers from across the US. In the photo above we see Tanush Wadhawan and Daniel Bencsik during one of the interactive sessions.
February 2024
WEX Fellow Daniel Nolasco
WEX Fellow Daniel Nolasco
elected to the National Academy of Engineering
elected to the National Academy of Engineering
Join us in congratulating the inaugural WEX Fellow Daniel Nolasco for his election to the National Academy of Engineering. Much deserved!
Daniel has introduced the concept of sustainability in the water sector more than two decades ago and has advocated for water reclamation and wastewater treatment technologies to mitigate climate change effects.
July 2023
WEX Center Team
WEX Center Team
Presents at Fog Conference
Presents at Fog Conference
The WEX Center team (Prof. Yoonjin Won and Dr. MAnsur Abahusayn) presents a poster at the 9th International Conference on Fog, Fog Collection and Dew at Colorado State University in Fort Collins (July 22-28).
This work is a collaboration with industry between Prof. Won's laboratory and WEX Fellow Dr. Abahusayn. The title of the poster is ∑ 10⁶ = 1 HIGH YIELD ZERO-CARBON COALESCENCE OF ATMOSPHERIC LIQUID MICRO-DROPLETS.
June 2023
WEX Center Inaugurates
WEX Center Inaugurates
International Joint Laboratory
International Joint Laboratory
The WEX Center inaugurated the International Joint Laboratory on Water-Energy Nexus with a ceremony on June 12. The Joint Lab is a collaborative initiative with the NorthEast Petroleum University in Daqing, China. At the ceremony, held both in person and via zoom, top representatives of the two institutions participated and the lab plaques were unveiled.
Photos by Elinor Austin
For UCI, Provost Hal Stern signed the memorandum of understanding in place between our two institutions. This agreement was facilitated by the UCI Global Engagement Office. The personnel from the WEX Center and NEPU will participate in joint research, which will include visits to the sites of the Joint Lab at UCI and in China.
June 2023
Circular Water Economy Colloquium
Circular Water Economy Colloquium
The WEX Center is please to announce the Circular Water Economy Colloquium held on June 5th by Daniel Nolasco, the IWA Vice-President and Fellow of the WEX Center.
The colloquium is titled "OPTIMIZATION, CIRCULAR ECONOMY AND DECARBONIZATION IN WATER RESOURCE RECOVERY FACILITIES".
Abstract: There is a common tendency of understanding Circular Economy (CE) in water resource recovery facilities (WRRFs) as reusing water, recycling nutrients (e.g., from solids treatment) and recovering energy through co-generation with biogas. However, the reduction of infrastructure needed in WRRFs as a CE measure is often overlooked. Experience with optimization of existing facilities through Process Audits leading to infrastructure reduction will be presented as an important aspect in a CE and decarbonization strategy. The CapEx and OpEx implications of optimization vis-à-vis more traditional methodologies for plant expansions or upgrades will be exemplified with recent case studies, stressing the water-energy-carbon nexus and some overlooked dynamics in the water sector.
Daniel Nolasco has over 30 years of engineering experience in applying dynamic modeling techniques for design and optimization of water reclamation and wastewater treatment plants. He has published over 100 technical papers in journals and conference proceedings and has co-authored four books. His clarification/thickening model is used in most wastewater treatment simulators, has received over 1200 citations, and is considered by the International Water Association as one of the “10 most significant groundbreaking papers during the [past] 40 years” in Water Research. He has received numerous international awards, including a nomination for the Governor General of Canada Award. He works as a consultant for numerous industries and water utilities, advising numerous boards of directors. Daniel is: Vice-President and Fellow of the International Water Association (IWA); Fellow of the Water Environment Federation, where he served as director (trustee) for several years; Fellow of the Water-Energy Nexus Center at the University of California, Irvine; Chair of the independent Technical Advisory Panel of the Green Climate Fund. Daniel has a Civil Engineering degree (U. of Buenos Aires), a Master in Environmental Engineering (McMaster U., Canada), and a Master in Management of Technology from MIT.
Summer 2022
Prof. Adeyemi Adeleye is the new Associate Director of WEX
Prof. Adeyemi Adeleye is the new Associate Director of WEX
Prof. Adeyemi Adeleye is now in the WEX Leadership Team as the new Associate Director. He joins Prof. Sunny Jiang in this role.
He has been leading the WEX Center efforts focuses at the intersection between PFAS and microplastics in the water sector.
The WEX Leadership Team takes the opportunity to thank Prof. Detwiler, the outgoing Associate Director.
June 2022
Dr. Kati Bell from Brown and Caldwell
Dr. Kati Bell from Brown and Caldwell
named WEX Fellow
named WEX Fellow
Dr. Kati Bell, Vice President and Director of Research and Innovation at Brown and Caldwell, was named WEX Fellow in June 2022. Kati has been actively involved in collaborative research with the WEX Center since 2020, focusing on microplastics in water reclamation and reuse, PFAS, and viral markers in wastewater collection and treatment. She has extensive experience in applied research and innovation and has served as Project Manager for multiple projects.
Dr. Bell holds a Ph.D. in environmental engineering from Vanderbilt University, M.S. degrees in civil engineering and biology from Tennessee Technological University, and a B.S. in biochemistry from the University of Dallas.
May 2022
WEX Center presentation at 2022 Brazil Water Week
WEX Center presentation at 2022 Brazil Water Week
Director Rosso, on behalf of the WEX Center, presented the Center's expertise on Energy Efficiency in Wastewater Treatment. This presentation was part of the session on Energy Efficiency Management in Practice (Sessão 4.2 - Gestão da Eficiência Energética na Prática: Foco na Obtenção de Resultados).
May 2022
The WEX Center hosts a Workshop with Water Utilities on Viral Surrogates
The WEX Center hosts a Workshop with Water Utilities on Viral Surrogates
Prof. Sunny Jiang, Associate Director of the WEX Center and Chair of CEE@UCI, organized a workshop on Viral Surrogates Monitoring for Water Reuse. The U.S. EPA has funded a research project to understand the potential for implement viral surrogates to indicate viral safety of municipal wastewater reuse (EPA-G2021-STAR-A1). In this event, structured like a WEF Forum, utilities lead the conversation instigated by the project team and provide early feedback on the project direction and on industry priorities in municipal wastewater reuse.
March 2022
WEX Center presentation at Mexican conference for World Water Day
WEX Center presentation at Mexican conference for World Water Day
WEX Director Prof. Rosso presenting at the DÍA MUNDIAL DEL AGUA (WORLD WATER DAY) Conference held on the 22nd of March, 2022
Director Rosso, on behalf of the WEX Center, presented on groundwater treatment and recharge. This overarching topic is central to the interest of Southern California and of the WEX Center. Other WEX Center faculty are actively engaged in related research (e.g., Detwiler, Jiang).
March 2022
The WEX Center hosts a Microplastics Workshop with Water Utilities
The WEX Center hosts a Microplastics Workshop with Water Utilities
On March 23rd, the WEX Center team organized a workshop on Microplastics in Wastewater Treatment and Water Reclamation. This event was co-organized and sponsored by Brown and Caldwell. Several water utilities from Southern California participated, discussing regulatory drive, sampling and analytical methods, and the steps forward. UCI students assisted this group of professionals in an engaged discussion. Prof. Bob Andrews from the University of Toronto was guest speaker and presented their experience on microplastics sampling and characterization. In the photo is Hélène Baribeau from Brown and Caldwell, instigating the discussion on the regulatory drive in California.
March 2022
WEX Center partners with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory team to apply data analytics to water reuse
WEX Center partners with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory team to apply data analytics to water reuse
Here we will develop tools/methods to overcome data sparsity, sensor issues, and transferability challenges, combining the development of a descriptive dynamic process and energy model with the predictions from a digital/physical twin couple used to emulate normal and anomalous conditions.
The WEX Center team lead by Director Rosso, including Dr. B. Tarroja and WEX Fellow Dr. Imre Takacs, is partnering with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Team (lead by Philip Bingham) to apply data analytics to water reuse.
This 2-year project is sponsored by NAWI, the DOE-funded National Alliance for Water Innovation. The partners of this projects are: Orange County Water District, Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County, Hampton Roads Sanitation Districts, Glacier Technologies International, and Brown and Caldwell.
November 2021
Prof. Won and WEX Fellow Dr. Abahusayn reach record moisture harvest from fog
Prof. Won and WEX Fellow Dr. Abahusayn reach record moisture harvest from fog
Prof. Yoonjin Won of the UCI Mechanical and Aerospace Department has been working with WEX Fellow Dr. Abahusayn on enhancing the harvest of atmospheric moisture from fog. They reached a record performance exceeding 75% recovery in their experiments.
This technology breakthrough is expected to disrupt the atmospheric collection field with applications to arid areas worldwide.
August 2021
Dr. Nikos Melitas from LACSD
Dr. Nikos Melitas from LACSD
named WEX Fellow
named WEX Fellow
Dr. Nikos Melitas, Research Manager at the Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County, was named WEX Fellow in August 2021. Dr. Melitas has been fostering collaboration with faculty, postdocs, and students of the WEX Center for a number of years. As LACSD's research head, he has catalyzed research on energy-efficiency, monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 virus in water, and advanced data analytics. He holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from the University of Arizona.
Brown and Caldwell joins the WEX Center
Brown and Caldwell joins the WEX Center
Starting in April 2021, Brown and Caldwell joins the WEX Center with the sponsorship of research on microplastics and PFAS. Prof. Adeleye and Rosso will expand the research activities on these emerging contaminants to include the transport in the environment through solid streams. Undergraduate and graduate students will be supported by the WEX Center thanks to this collaboration.
WEX Leaders present WBE work on COVID
WEX Leaders present WBE work on COVID
The WEX Center Associate Director and Director, Profs. Jiang and Rosso, presented the WEX-led effort on wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) to utilities in Southern California. WBE is a valuable tool that can be used to quantify the number of cases of COVID-19, for example, in the aggregate population served by a sewershed. The utilities partnering with the WEX Center and participating in this project include the Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County, the Inland Empire Utilities Agency, the Irvine Ranch Water District, and the Santa Margarita Water District.
Prof. Jiang is leading a publication summarizing the monitoring campaign for COVID-19.
Investigating flexible WRRF operation to better enable renewable electric grids
Investigating flexible WRRF operation to better enable renewable electric grids
The development of low-cost, highly renewable electric grids will depend on harnessing flexibility in different electric loads to better align with renewable generation, including loads from the water treatment infrastructure. Dr. Brian Tarroja leverages modeling of increasingly renewable grid operations to understand how sources of electric load flexibility can better facilitate renewable energy integration. He is currently collaborating with WEX Director Rosso to combine electric grid modeling with dynamic, process-based modeling of water resource recovery facilities (WRRFs) to investigate how these facilities can shift their electric loads to uptake more renewable energy without compromising treatment quality. This research can illuminate practices to both reduce the carbon footprint of WRRFs and also better support renewable energy integration into distribution and transmission grids.
Research on PFAS lead by Prof. Adeleye
Research on PFAS lead by Prof. Adeleye
One of the major risks to water sustainability is the presence of emerging contaminants in natural and engineered water systems. Dr. Adeleye’s research encompasses environmental analytical chemistry, environmental nanotechnology, and interactions of environmental contaminants. His current research topics include occurrence and interactions of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and plastic debris; application and implication of nanoscale zerovalent iron (nZVI); and synthesis of novel materials for environmental remediation.
The Water Research Foundation names WEX Center's Associate Director Jiang lead researcher for SARS-CoV-2 study
The Water Research Foundation names WEX Center's Associate Director Jiang lead researcher for SARS-CoV-2 study
The Water Research Foundation (WRF) has selected the WEX Center Associate Director Prof. Sunny Jiang as lead researcher for the study Understanding the Factors that Affect the Detection and Variability of SARS-CoV-2 in Wastewater (project 5093). The team lead by Prof. Jiang includes about a dozen between co-investigators (WEX Center Director Prof. Rosso and UCSB's Prof. Trish Holden), graduate students and postdocs, partner utilities, and consultants.
This project, co-founded by the Bill & Melissa Gates Foundation, will investigate how to optimize sampling design in sewers and treatment facilities to quantify aggregate viral counts within communities at different scales.
Prof. Yoonjin Won collaborates with WEX Fellow Abahusayn on atmospheric water harvest
Prof. Yoonjin Won collaborates with WEX Fellow Abahusayn on atmospheric water harvest
Prof. Yoonjin Won of the UCI Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department has been working with WEX Fellow Dr. Mansur Abahusayn on advanced materials for enhancing water harvest from the atmosphere.
She has been recognized with the NSF CAREER Award and her work focuses on microscale thermo-fluid phenomena with the development of innovative materials and metrologies to address energy and thermal challenges.
Fall 2020
WEX investigation on wastewater treatment in the Andes
WEX investigation on wastewater treatment in the Andes
The WEX Center Director Diego Rosso (top picture) is working with the inaugural WEX Fellow Daniel Nolasco (middle picture) on the investigation of wastewater treatment in the Andean Region. This work is involving Prof. Andrés Baquero-Rodriguez of the Universidad Militar de Nueva Granada (UMNG) in Colombia (bottom picture). The team is investigating the effects of high elevation on the design and specification of wastewater treatment plants. This topic is timely and important for this region of the world that is undergoing infrastructural development in the water sector.
Previously, Prof. Baquero has been Visiting Scholar at the WEX Center and has catalyzed the signing of a memorandum of understanding between our institutions.
WEX Center research on COVID-19 led by Prof. Sunny Jiang
WEX Center research on COVID-19 led by Prof. Sunny Jiang
Dr. Zhiquan Song working on COVID-19 research in Prof. Sunny Jiang’s laboratory.
May 2020
The OC Register features Prof. Sunny Jiang, WEX Associate Director, for her research on COVID-19 in sewers, in the article titled Poop tests in sewage might predict coronavirus surge
Significant numbers of COVID-19 patients shed SARS-CoV-2 virus in their feces. The virus was now found in municipal wastewater. Monitoring of municipal wastewater for SARS-CoV-2 can serve as an indicator of the spread of COVID-19 in the community and provide an early warning for the resurgence of the disease.
Researchers at the WEX Center, led by Prof. Sunny Jiang, are developing methods to concentrate and purify SARS-CoV-2 from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in California and other parts of the county. The samples are analyzed for the presence and concentration of SARS-CoV-2. The viral concentration data are correlated with the reported cases of COVID-19 in the WWTP service area to understand the relationship between fecal shedding rate and wastewater concentration. The positive samples are also sequenced to determine the genetic variability and potential evolution of the virus over time as it spreading among human society.
Spring 2020
WEX Fellow Dr. Imre Takács teaching carbon and energy footprint modeling using SUMO
WEX Fellow Dr. Imre Takács teaching carbon and energy footprint modeling using SUMO
This Spring quarter, Dr. Imre Tàkacs joins Prof. Rosso in teaching ENGRCEE164/264 - Carbon and Energy Footprint Modeling of Water.
Course description: Process design for wastewater treatment. Mass- and energy-balance analysis applied to water and wastewater treatment systems. Case studies include analysis of water supply, treatment, reclamation, and reuse.
Dynamita SUMO is the dynamic process simulator used this year in class
DR. IMRE TAKÁCS JOINS THE WEX FELLOWS
DR. IMRE TAKÁCS JOINS THE WEX FELLOWS
Dr. Takács has authored one of the most cited papers in his field, developing the first dynamic model for solid separation in secondary settling. His pioneering work with WEX Fellow Daniel Nolasco lead to the development of dynamic process simulators as they are known today. He opened his company Dynamita in 2010.
Dr. Takács holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Technology from Ghent University and degrees in Environmental Bioengineering from the University of Budapest.
Dr. Imre Takács, CEO of Dynamita was named WEX Fellow in August 2019.
Photo Gallery
Photo Gallery
April 2020
CEE Seminar by Prof. Rosso
Science and its Method: a seminar on curiosity and constructive disobedience
Science and its Method: a seminar on curiosity and constructive disobedience
CEE Seminar by Prof. Rosso
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