The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (EECE) has been awarded $780,000 as part of a larger $4.57 million grant to 不良研究所 from the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC). The overall project, titled "In Defense of Water: Strategies and Technologies to Enhance the Nation's Water Resiliency," is led by Principal Investigator Dr. Brooke Mayer from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEEN).

The 2019 DoD report 鈥淚mproving Water Security and Efficiency on Installations鈥� highlighted key DoD water supply challenges including clean-up responsibilities related to PFAS and other chemicals at current and former military installations, including many in Wisconsin. Successful and sustainable environmental remediation of groundwater contamination will require increased financial investment, cross-sector partnerships, and the development and application of cutting-edge technologies, especially monitoring/sensor technologies. ERDC is the lead DoD entity advancing innovative technologies and research for current water-related requirements. In collaboration with ERDC, a water quality monitoring system has been proposed in EECE鈥檚 Nanoscale Devices Lab and ECE鈥檚 Microsensor Research Lab in collaboration with CEEN.

The EECE-led research includes two major thrusts: The first thrust is the development of an on-site/in-situ continuous detection of PFAS in drinking water using a loop-gap resonator and deep learning. A remarkable feature of this sensor system is that it is non-invasive, i.e., the sensor system does not require to be in contact with the water, thereby ensuring virtually unlimited lifetime. The second thrust focuses on the development of a portable, liquid-phase sensor system for direct and continuous detection of gasoline components (aromatic and halogenated hydrocarbons) in contaminated bodies of water. This sensing system will also include detection using an integrated electrochemical sensor system targeting PFAS and/or its degradation byproducts. 

The EECE team is led by Drs. Fabien Josse and Chung Hoon Lee, and includes faculty members Cris Ababei, Florian Bender, and James Richie, with CEEN collaborator Dr. Patrick McNamara. The ultimate goal is to develop field-deployable prototypes capable of detecting PFAS at parts-per-trillion (ppt) and other contaminants at low parts-per-billion (ppb) levels. These innovations will provide valuable tools for both military and industrial environmental remediation efforts. This development will then help to comply with environmental and safety regulations in spill/contamination scenarios.