This Partnership for International Research and Education (PIRE) award establishes a 5-year international research and education collaboration with France, Russia and Ukraine that is focused on membrane technology for safe drinking water. This project links seven institutions in four countries: Michigan State University, Duke University, Centre Europeen de Recherche et d'Enseignement des Geosciences de l'Environnement [(CEREGE), France], National Polytechnical Institute & National Institute for Applied Sciences [France], National University Kyiv-Mohyla Academy [Ukraine], Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology [Russia] and Volgograd State University of Architecture & Civil Engineering [Russia]. Membrane processing of water is a dynamic and critical area of research and one that has historically been international in scope. The project will address the issue of drinking water safety with two primary research thrusts. First, they will focus on three aspects of nanomaterial-enabling membrane technology, i.e., nanomaterial composites for improved polymeric membranes, nanomaterial-derived ceramic membranes, and low fouling membrane-supported nanoparticle sensors for water quality control. The second research thrust will address two aspects of membrane fouling, regeneration of polyelectrolyte membrane coatings, and hybrid ozonation-ultrafiltration pretreatment system for cost-effective reverse osmosis desalination of brackish surface waters. The research is organized in international teams of faculty and students. The student involvement in the teams will take various forms: 1) each U.S. graduate student is teamed with at least one foreign doctoral student, both of whom are co-advised by U.S. and foreign scientists; 2) over the course of their graduate career, each U.S. graduate student is expected to work in at least two foreign countries; 3) U.S. undergraduates will work in a partnering Russian lab after completing a semester of study abroad in Russia; 4) U. S. high school students will work in a U.S. lab on the international collaborative projects. The international teams of faculty will provide input for new U.S.-based courses and will participate in seminar programs at Rice University and Michigan State University, thus providing a more international curriculum both for students in the program, as well as for student who do not travel overseas. The results of this project in environmental engineering are likely to produce a substantial advance in our understanding of water treatment membranes and so should have substantial societal benefit. This project also fulfills the program objectives of bringing together leading experts in the U.S. and Europe/Eurasia to combine complementary efforts and capabilities in areas of strong mutual interest and competence on the basis of equality, reciprocity, and mutuality of benefit.
