November 13, 2023
Parameswaran honored with endowed recognition in civil engineering
Prathap Parameswaran, recipient of the Fornelli Engineering professorship and associate professor of civil engineering, has been appointed the Thomas and Connie Paulson Civil Engineering Outstanding Faculty Member at Kansas State University.
The two-year appointment designates Parameswaran as a highly regarded K-State educator and researcher and carries annual funding to support assistants, travel, equipment or other expenses related to the endowed position.
Parameswaran received his bachelor's in chemical engineering from Coimbatore Institute of Technology in India before earning a pair of advanced degrees in environmental engineering, with his master's coming in 2005 from the Illinois Institute of Technology and his doctorate from Arizona State University in 2010. He spent two years as a postdoctorate research associate at the Swette Center for Environmental Biotechnology and one year as an associate research scientist for the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State before coming to K-State in 2015.
His research interests pertain to all aspects of biological wastewater treatment and sustainable resource recovery from wastes using novel environmental biotechnology platforms. He is an international expert in the implementation and long-term operation of Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactors and currently operates a pilot scale system at K-State's north agronomy farm to treat swine lagoon wastewater. He serves as lead or co-principal investigator on several federal, private and K-State GRIP research projects with a focus on circular bioeconomy and sustainable resource recovery.
The award is created through funds to honor Thomas and Connie Paulson on the K-State campus, and to recruit and retain the highest quality faculty in the Carl R. Ice College of Engineering. Both Kansas State University alumni, Thomas Paulson is a 1973 graduate in civil engineering, and his wife, Connie, a 1973 graduate in arts and sciences.