Smouldering Technology for Sanitation

Speaker

Professor Jose Torero, Head of School - School of Civil Engineering, The University of Queensland

Overview

Focus on technology as a means to deliver solutions for sanitation in developing countries has long been a subject of controversy. Criticism to multi-million dollar initiatives such as the “Reinvent the Toilet Challenge” supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has been forthcoming and the results of such a publicised initiative remain to be seen. This presentation explores the motivation behind the development of such technologies; smouldering combustion as a waste less, energy less and waterless technology intended to serve as a means for the destruction of human waste.

Professor José L. Torero is Head of the School of Civil Engineering at The University of Queensland. He is a leader in the field of Fire Safety Engineering where he specialises in the behaviour of fire in complex environments, thermal destruction of waste, land contamination and pollution management. He holds a BSc from the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (1989), an MSc (1991) and PhD (1992) from the University of California, Berkeley and a Doctor Honoris Causa from Gent University, Belgium. Jose is a fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, the Royal Academy of Engineering (UK) and the Royal Society of Edinburgh (UK). Jose joined The University of Queensland in 2012 following appointments as the Landolt & Cia Chair in Innovation for a Sustainable Future at Ecole Polytechnique Fédéral de Lausanne, BRE Trust/RAEng Professor of Fire Safety Engineering at The University of Edinburgh, Associate Professor at the University of Maryland and Charge de Recherche at the French National Centre for Scientific Research.

Date 

Tuesday, 5 July 2016

Time 

1:00pm – 2.00pm  

Location 

Room 113, Public Health Building, Herston