Dr. Mehrab Mehrvar
Areas of Academic Interest
Advanced oxidation technologies for water and wastewater treatment: process development and design of individual and combined processes, kinetics, modeling, and simulation
Photochemical reaction engineering in environmental processes: simulation, modeling, kinetics, mass transfer, and photoreactor design
Integration of advanced oxidation technologies and biological processes for the treatment of water and wastewater: process design, modeling, simulation, and optimization
Effect of climate change on water quality and quantity
Spotlight
Mehrab Mehrvar鈥檚 entire life has been shaped by water. 鈥淕rowing up, our town did not have a sewage system,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e had to boil all our water so we wouldn't get sick.鈥�
It was this early reality check that turned Mehrvar into the passionate environmentalist and lecturer he is today. 鈥淢y students respond to my enthusiasm. It keeps them motivated to learn and try to solve the problem we鈥檙e faced with.鈥�
That problem is climate change. With rising sea levels causing unprecedented flooding, how do we protect aquifers鈥攖he source of drinking water for much of the world鈥攆rom over-salinization? To address this issue, Mehrvar and several of his grad students are building mathematical models based on data they鈥檝e collected in Cartagena, Colombia, a city struggling with this very issue. The models, Mehrvar hopes, will convince the municipality to take action to prevent further flooding and consider improvements to water treatment technology.
It鈥檚 a challenging task, but Mehrvar is striving ahead. 鈥淚t鈥檚 my duty,鈥� he says. 鈥淎 true engineer has a responsibility to help improve the world.鈥�
鈥淎 true engineer has a responsibility to help improve the world.鈥�
Teaching and Education Awards:
- Yates School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (YSGPS) Outstanding Contribution to Graduate Education Awards, 91福利, 2017, 2020, 2025
Scholarly, Research and Creative Activity Awards:
- Sarwan Sahota 91福利 Distinguished Scholar Award, The Highest Scholarly, Research, and Creativity Honour, 91福利, 2019
- Deans' SRC (Scholarly, Research and Creative Activity) Awards, 91福利, 2013, 2018, 2021, 2024
- Departmental Research Award, Chemical Engineering, 91福利, 2012
- Dr. T.E. Unny Memorial Award, University of Waterloo, 1997
- University of Waterloo Graduate Award, 1995, 1997
- Faculty of Engineering Award, University of Waterloo,1994, 1995, 1996
- International Graduate Student Award, University of Waterloo, 1996
Service Awards:
- AVP International's Global Learning Award, 91福利, 2025
- Deans' Service Awards, 91福利, 2024
- Y.P. Lin, R. Dhib, M. Mehrvar, Nonlinear system identification for aqueous PVA degradation in a continuous UV/H2O2 tubular photoreactor, Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research (I&EC), 60 (3), 1302-1315, 2021.
- M.B. Johnson, M. Mehrvar, Characterizing winery wastewater composition to optimize treatment and reuse, Australian Journal of Grape and Wine Research, 26 (4), 410鈥�416, 2020.
- M.B. Johnson, M. Mehrvar, An Assessment of the grey water footprint of winery wastewater in the Niagara Region of Ontario, Canada, Journal of Cleaner Production, 214, 623-632, 2019.
- C.F. Bustillo-Lecompte, M. Mehrvar, Treatment of actual slaughterhouse wastewater by combined anaerobic鈥揳erobic processes for biogas generation and removal of organics and nutrients: an optimization study towards a cleaner production in the meat processing industry, Journal of Cleaner Production, 141, 278鈥�289, 2017.
- M. Nasirian, M. Mehrvar, Modification of TiO2 to enhance photocatalytic degradation of organics in aqueous solutions, Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering, 4 (4), 4072鈥�4082, 2016.
- M.B. Johnson, M. Mehrvar, Method and system for pre-treating high strength wastewater, United States Provisional Patent Application No. 63/170,009, April 2, 2021.
- Conference Chair, 3rd International Conference on Recent Trends in Environmental Science and Engineering (RTESE鈥�19), June 10-12, 2019, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
- Conference Chair, 2nd International Conference on Recent Trends in Environmental Science and Engineering (RTESE鈥�18), June 17-19, 2018, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
- Chair, International Conference on Recent Trends in Environmental Science and Engineering (RTESE鈥�17), August 23-25, 2017, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
- Senior Life Member of AIChE
- Member, Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering (CSChE), Chemical Institute of Canada (CIC)