Integration of chemical engineering, environmental engineering, and bioengineering to facilitate research and education in nanotechnology, biotechnology, and sustainability.

E nvironmental engineering education has a traditional engineering foundation that includes a heavy emphasis on the physical sciences. In contrast, the disciplines of chemical engineering and bioengineering are founded on a strong combination of the physical, chemical, and biological sciences. We believe that the environmental engineering profession needs to address whether to shift from the traditional physics-based ''civil engineering'' education to a more ''chemical engineering'' approach to educate environmental engineers that can more fully embrace the new array of chemical and biological technologies. The environmental engineering profession of the twenty-first century will need to fully use the wide array of new technologies that are being introduced in the fields of biotechnology, nanotechnology, and modern chemical processing. Biotechnology applications presently range from DNA-array sensing of toxicity to the production of specialized enzymes from genetically modified organisms. Nanotechnology advances now include improved water treatment methods to new membrane-embedded bio-catalysts. Modern chemical processing is rapidly adopting ''green'' chemistry, radical reductions of waste streams, and intelligent design of benign chemicals for use in society. Clearly, many other advanced technologies for the environmental engineering profession are on the horizon that will require higher-level, scientific-based chemical and biological approaches than are presently provided in our existing curricula. This move to incorporate more chemical and biological engineering to environmental engineering is reflected in the major project themes in the Biological and Environmental Systems Division of the National Science Foundation (NSF). For example, the ''Multiscale Modelling in Biomedical, Biological and Behavioral Systems'' initiative will enable researchers to develop new molecular techniques for studying cellular and molecular processes in mixed communities. In this light, a current NSF-funded project within the environmental engineering faculty at Oregon State University (OSU) is studying the gene expression of nitrifying bacteria after exposure to toxic chemicals, including heavy metals, chlorinated solvents, and aromatic compounds. By evaluating gene expression, the researchers will develop biosensors for monitoring wastewater treatment. Similar studies are being performed with anaerobic cultures that dehalogenate chlorinated solvents. A better understanding of complex microbial processes can now be obtained using these advanced molecular methods, which may lead to better remediation. Such approaches are far removed from traditional civil engineering paradigms. Nanotechnology is also being applied to environmental systems, including drinking water treatment, hazardous waste destruction, and environmental sensors, and will require application of principles embedded in material science, chemistry, bioengineering, and chemical engineering. Collaboration of environmental engineering with these disciplines will be essential. …