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Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering

Francis de los Reyes III awarded Camp Applied Research Award by WEF

October 19, 2024
Francis de los Reyes III, Glenn E. and Phyllis J. Futrell Distinguished Professor

Francis de los Reyes III, Glenn E. and Phyllis J. Futrell Distinguished Professor, was awarded the Camp Applied Research Award by the Water Environment Federation (WEF) earlier this month.

This award recognizes a WEF member who demonstrates a unique application of basic research or fundamental principles through the design or development of a wastewater collection or treatment system.

The award recognized de los Reyes’ work in developing operational approaches to improve the anaerobic co-digestion of fats, oils and grease (FOG) waste and food waste, and his development of technologies for emptying pit latrines in low- and medium-income country settings.

De los Reyes was named a WEF Fellow in 2021.

His research focuses on two main areas: the interface between microbial ecology and environmental engineering, and global sanitation. He is widely recognized for his work on waste treatment systems and sanitation, and he has published more than 160 peer-reviewed journal and conference papers. De los Reyes is a TED Fellow whose talk “Sanitation is a Basic Human Right” has been viewed more than 840,000 times, and whose TED-Ed video animations on sanitation and water have been viewed over 5.6 million times.

Previous awards de los Reyes has received from WEF include the Gordon Fair Distinguished Engineering Educator Medal in 2015 and the Rudolfs Industrial Waste Management Medal in 2022.