A Nanoparticle and an Engineer Walk into a Lab: Using Nanotech to Purify Water

On World Water Day, Fulton Schools Regents’ Professor Paul Westerhoff explains how global water challenges are being tackled with nanotechnology.

by Joe Kullman

Portrait of Paul Westerhoff. Caption: Paul Westerhoff is an Arizona State University Regent’s Professor in the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering, where he is the vice dean of research and innovation. He is also deputy director of one of the National Science Foundation’s prestigious Engineering Research Centers, the Nanosystems Engineering Research Center for Nanotechnology-Enabled Water Treatment.

Paul Westerhoff is an Arizona State University Regent’s Professor in the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering, where he is the vice dean of research and innovation. He is also deputy director of one of the National Science Foundation’s prestigious Engineering Research Centers, the Nanosystems Engineering Research Center for Nanotechnology-Enabled Water Treatment.

Paul Westerhoff leads cutting-edge research aimed at producing technological advances to help bring clean and plentiful water to communities in the U.S. and throughout the world. He’s featured on a special World Water Day podcast released recently by the National Nanotechnology Coordination Office describing how he and his colleagues are employing nanotechnology to develop portable, off-grid water treatment systems that can be used in rural communities or deployed to disaster areas.

 

Profile of Joe Kullman

Joe Kullman

Joe Kullman is a science writer for the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering. Before joining Arizona State University in 2006, Joe worked as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers and magazines dating back to the dawn of the age of the personal computer. He began his career while earning degrees in journalism and philosophy from Kent State University in Ohio.

Media contact: Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering