Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) are paid positions that give students the opportunity to actively participate in research and work closely with faculty.
Hanting Wang (BS 2013, MS 2015)
Water/Wastewater Process Engineer, Donohue & Associates
What year(s) did you participate in undergraduate research?
I participated in an exciting, motivating, challenging and life-changing experience within the National Science Foundation’s Center of Advanced Materials for Purification of Water with Systems (WaterCAMPWS) REU program during my junior and senior years.
During my junior year, I worked with my graduate student mentor, Sahid Rosado, to investigate the efficacy of reactive oxygen species produced by six dissolved organic matter to inactivate MS2 bacteriophage under simulated sunlight. Sahid treated me like a graduate student, expecting and teaching me to think deeply about the research and its applicability to drinking water treatment. The work we undertook introduced me to foundational science and taught me the discipline I need to perform rigorous work in the lab, both of which prepared me for and committed me to graduate level research.
This work also led to the opportunity to collaborate with Professor Karina Gin at the National University of Singapore (NUS). Sahid and I spent Summer 2012 at NUS investigating solar inactivation of viruses using Singaporean natural waters. We compared the findings with the results we obtained from the synthetic waters we experimented with at UIUC, and saw similar trends overall, proving that our methods can improve water quality when applied in the field. Beyond the technical aspects of research, I have experience communicating my work through presentations at conferences, such as the 2012 Singapore International Water Week, the 2012 UNC Water and Health Conference, and the 2012 EPA National Sustainable Design Expo. Furthermore, I am a co-author of a manuscript for this work that was accepted by Water Research in May 2013. Through this research, I gained experience in designing experiments, analyzing data, collaborating with international partners, and co-authoring a paper for publication.
During my senior year, I began investigating the mechanisms of virus removal in biosand filters (BSFs), which is a point-of-use drinking water treatment technology that has been implemented in communities around the world. I constructed a BSF with seven ports inserted down the length of the filter used to collect samples to determine MS2 bacteriophage removal as a function of depth of the filter, residence time, sand media aging, and flow rate. This research led to collaboration with the Centre for Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology (CAWST), the international organization that designs BSFs. In Summer 2012, I helped to edit a proposal with CAWST that won the 2012 Reed Elsevier Environmental Challenge grant, which was used to implement BSFs in communities in Nepal to decrease the burden of non-potable drinking water on community members.
What were the benefits of participating in research as an undergrad?
Beyond what I shared above about technical and non-technical skills that I gained, one benefit is that I met lifelong mentors and friends who I still keep in touch with today, even though we are spread out throughout the world. Rae Clementz, the Education Programs Coordinator of WaterCAMPWS, helped me to build self-confidence, create and achieve SMART goals, stay organized, and never give up. My graduate student mentors and I became friends, and they inspired me to work hard, stay curious and pay it forward by mentoring other undergraduate students as well. Undergraduate research brought out the curious side of me and shaped me into the life-long learner and advocate of the water industry that I am today.
Did it influence your desire to pursue more education or the career you chose?
I stayed at UIUC for my graduate studies to continue my proposed work to improve the BSF design by exploring the efficiencies and mechanisms of reduction of different viruses in BSFs, which was awarded an NSF GRFP Fellowship in April 2014.
After my masters, I started working as a consulting engineer in the water industry. Although I am not doing research anymore, I utilize a myriad of skills I developed from my undergraduate (and graduate) research experience including critical thinking, technical writing and presenting, being resourceful, mentoring, and project, people and time management.