The three Fellows from CBEE:
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Jahir Antonio Batista Andrade, environmental engineering Ph.D. candidate, Blaney Lab
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Hui Chen, postdoctoral researcher, Blaney Lab
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Michael Fleming, environmental engineering Ph.D. candidate, Blaney Lab
The Fellows spent one day at NYU to present and receive feedback on their ongoing research, engaged with NYU faculty from a range of engineering disciplines, and participated in workshops designed to help them advance their careers.
Fellow Profiles
Jahir Antonio Batista Andrade
How did you become interested in STEM topics?
I grew up in Panama, in a family of very modest means, and while I very much wanted to learn to swim, there was no money for lessons. I decided to teach myself, in a small stream near our home. I practiced swimming, and my siblings sometimes caught fish and crayfish my mother could prepare for our dinners.
When a neighbor upstream began farming, he allowed untreated animal waste to enter the stream, so that it was no longer possible to swim in it or eat the fish from it. That sparked my interest in chemistry and environmental engineering at a young age.
Describe your academic journey and research up until now.
I earned a B.S. in Industrial Chemistry from the University of Panama thanks to a government scholarship; I was the first person in my family to graduate from college. After being out in the work world as a lab technician for a while, I started a master's degree program in Environmental Chemistry at the Federal University of Rio Grande, in Brazil. Upon my return to Panama, I applied successfully to the Fulbright Foreign program for Ph.D. study in the U.S. Thanks to that, I embarked upon a doctoral program at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and in July of 2023, I expect to earn my Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering.
My dissertation is titled “Identifying Wastewater Inputs to Urban Streams by Monitoring Dissolved Organic Matter Fluorescence and Contaminants of Emerging Concerns.” In lay terms what that means is taking a chemical approach to identifying pollutants. If, for example, you test spring water and it shows the same chemical signatures for things that can be found in nearby sewage water, like artificial sweeteners, hormones, or antibiotics, then we can pinpoint and mitigate those contaminants. With sewer infrastructure in the U.S. aging rapidly, that’s very important, and work like mine could even affect public policy one day.
How do you feel about participating in the Faculty First Look program?
This has been a great year for me: I started it with a new journal publication and accepted talks at American Chemical Society and Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors conferences; I won a 2023 Graduate Student Award from the American Chemical Society; and I was chosen to take part in Faculty First Look.
I hope to get feedback on my work from faculty members at NYU Tandon who I know are focused on water-related issues and sustainability-focused research issues. Because the program also encompasses writing help, I’d like to work on my vision statement too; I have a definite vision, and I want to get it down in a succinct and compelling way.
What are your ultimate goals?
I taught back in Panama and loved it, so ultimately I’d like to divide my time between the lab, doing socially beneficial research with practical application, and the classroom. I identify as both Latino and a member of the LGBTQ community, and I think it’s important for students from underrepresented groups to see themselves represented in their school’s faculty.
Hui Chen
How did you become interested in STEM topics?
My father ran a business that involved filtration systems, and I had always been good at science and math, so when I entered Nanjing Normal University, in my native China, I opted to study chemistry. After earning my undergraduate degree in 2016, I had to carefully consider what my next steps would be, and I decided that I wanted to come to the U.S. I’m am only child, and I knew my parents would be upset at the prospect of me living that far away, but once I was accepted to various programs, I was determined to go. As I expected, they were not fully happy about my decision to attend Stony Brook, but they eventually came around, and they’re very proud of me now. I earned my Ph.D. in Chemistry in 2021 and have since written several papers and given multiple conference presentations.
Describe your academic journey and research up until now.
I’m currently a post-doctoral research assistant at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, where I study the possibilities of recovering nutrients from urine using a tubular membrane reactor. I’m also working on a USDA-funded project aimed at efficient nutrient recovery from animal manure using hollow-fiber ion exchange membranes.
How do you feel about participating in the Faculty First Look program?
At the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, I work in the lab run by Professor Lee Blaney, whose focus is on the intersection of fundamental and applied aspects of analytical, environmental, inorganic, organic, and toxicological chemistry. A few of us in the lab applied to Faculty First Look–unbeknowst to the others. It seemed so lucky when we all got accepted, and I know Professor Blaney feels very proud of all of us. I hope to learn more about the different stages of the job application process, from writing statements to giving a compelling job talk.
What are your ultimate goals?
I was a teaching assistant at Stony Brook, and I’ve lectured in Baltimore County, and I love that aspect of being in academia, I;ve mentored about a dozen students during my journey so far, from high school students exploring STEM to Ph.D. candidates. My ideal job would encompass teaching, mentoring, and research.
Michael Fleming
How did you become interested in STEM topics?
I had always loved math and science, and while I was a bit fuzzy about engineering as a field, I hit upon the idea that electrical engineering would allow me to have a computer on my desk, which I had always wanted. When I got to Howard University, I realized that any engineering discipline would allow me to work on a computer every day, and thanks to a mentor, Professor Taft Broome, I made the switch to civil engineering. I decided to focus on issues related to access to clean water – a topic that would enable me to lead a purposeful life.
Describe your academic journey and research up until now.
After earning a B.S. from Howard in 1998, I considered teaching, but my mother, who was a teacher, convinced me that it wasn’t for me. I took a job at the U.S, Patent and Trademark Office as a patent examiner before returning back to my native South Carolina. My mother was ill at that time, and I wanted to be closer to home, so I took on engineering posts at the state’s Department of Transportation, where I worked on bridge design since there were no environmental engineering jobs available at the time. I subsequently moved on to the Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation and the Department of Health and Environmental Control, but I ultimately decided to return to school.
In 2014 I earned a master’s in paralegal studies from George Washington University, and the following year I received my master’s in environmental engineering from Johns Hopkins. I expect to earn my Ph.D. this year from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, where I won a Meyerhoff fellowship, aimed at promoting cultural diversity in STEM fields at the graduate level; I also sit on the Meyerhoff advisory board.
I’m working with Professor Lee Blaney on sustainably recovering ammonium from agricultural and municipal wastes by using a technique called Donnan dialysis. Ammonium is a form of nitrogen that can be used in fertilizer if treated. The issue is that ammonia production is a very intensive process that currently takes a full 1 percent of the world’s energy resources because it requires heat of 400 degrees Celsius and a great deal of pressure. If you can get it from waste sources and use Donnan dialysis, a technique involving a semipermeable member and a concentrated salt solution that was developed back in the 1920s, the process would be much more sustainable. Although Donnan dialysis has previously been used for ammonium recovery from wastewater, we have modified Donnan dialysis in a manner than has never been used before for agricultural waste.
How do you feel about participating in the Faculty First Look program?
I think the program will provide me with a window into NYU culture and help me understand how I can meet what’s expected of faculty members. I’m a relatively nontraditional student, because I’m married with three children and also already hold a professional engineer (PE) license, so this is a totally new endeavor for me.
What are your ultimate goals?
My ultimate goals are becoming a tenure-track faculty member and providing access to clean water. I want the research I conduct to be actionable and applicable to the engineering “Grand Challenges” that have long been important to me: clean water for all and the management of the nitrogen cycle. I also want to remain in academia because mentoring underrepresented students is highly important to me.
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