RISE August-September 2011 - University of Salford

Waste not want not
The Deans Prize, an award presented
as part of the College of Science and
Technology’s Research Showcase event,
was awarded to Dr Prasad Devi Tumula.
Prasad is a Lecturer and Researcher within
the College and during the last 15 years he
has focused his research efforts on the
development of tools for the sustainable
management of water/wastewater systems. Prasad’s
research has contributed to the development of eight
novel methods for the management of water and
wastewater systems. He has particular expertise in the
development of tools (for rehabilitation, leakage and
water quality management) that have continued to push
the state‐of‐the‐art for water network modelling using
artificial intelligence techniques.
He has secured external funding continually over the
past eight years from organisations such as the Royal
Academy of Engineering, Scottish Higher Education
Funding Council (ERP), and United Utilities. With over
40 scientific articles published in international journals,
its clear to see why Prasad is achieving funding from
organisations seeking real results for real problems,
such as funding received recently from United Utilities
to investigate the Iron and Manganese problems in water
distribution networks.
School of Environment & Life Sciences:
Carly Tetley, Centre for Environmental Systems and Wildlife
Research – ‘Keeper ratings of animal personality as a tool for
improving the breeding, management and welfare of zoo
animals’
Kathrin Scherer, Centre for Biochemistry, Drug Design &
Cancer Research – ‘Intracellular Uptake of E-combretastatins
by Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging’
You can read more about Elham and Jane’s research in the
Post Graduate Research section in this issue. The event was a
great success, and enabled the College staff to spend some
time together in an informal environment, discussing their
research and exploring potential new collaborations.
Name: Lynn Clarke
Email: l.clarke@salford.ac.uk
Above:
Testing liquids and
preparing a study
Prasad said: “Unfortunately, many decades of
accumulation in distribution systems and periodic release
of significant quantities of Mn and other adsorbed
compounds associated with the Mn deposits can cause
more than the traditional aesthetic issues. The process
of deposition and release of these compounds is highly
complex and, at present, not amenable to physical
modelling. Presence of high concentrations of Fe and Mn
will lead to higher operational and maintenance costs to
water companies, vis-à-vis to consumers. Pilot work will
be carried out, on a test network, to study the influence
variation of parameters such as pH and dissolved oxygen
on the manganese deposition in pipe networks”.
This research has Prasad research has led to work with
various academic organisations both in the UK and
Internationally, researching into the management of
sustainable urban drainge systems, a collaboration with
Napier and Edinburgh Universities to across the globe
and warmer climes working with DongA University in
South Korea, here Prasad researched into leakage
management in water supply systems, in collaboration
with the Hanil Networks.
Name: Prasad Devi Tumula
Email: p.d.tumula@salford.ac.uk
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