While conveying the news of his selection for the award, Mr.
Navaneethan has not only expressed his gratitude, but he has also
dedicated the award to Prof. Chettiyappan
Visvanathan of AIT’s EEM and Dr. Samir K. Khanal of the University of Hawaiʻi
at Mānoa. Prof. Visvanathan was the Chairperson guiding Mr.
Navaneethan’s thesis when he was pursuing Master’s in Engineering
(M.E.) at AIT; and Dr. Khanal, then with
Iowa State University, was the Co-chairperson.
In a message to his former advisors, Mr. Navaneethan says, “I would
like to dedicate this award to you both.”
The Radebaugh
Award is a prestigious award, and since 1937 it has been awarded to
the best paper presenter at the CSWEA annual conference. Mr.
Navaneethan will receive the Radebaugh Award along with Mr. Peter
Topczewski of Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, Mr. Scott Royer
of Veolia Water, and Mr. Daniel Zitomer of Marquette University. The
award is presented for the best paper published at the CSWEA annual
conference. The paper titled “Anaerobic Co-Digestion for Increased
Renewable Energy” was presented by Mr. Navaneethan at the 2010 CSWEA
conference.
During his studies at AIT, Mr. Navaneethan received the award for
outstanding academic performance in the field of EEM in 2007. His
research interest was “Anaerobic digestion of waste activated sludge
with ultrasonic pretreatment.” He has also worked as an intern
researcher at the Korea Water Research Corporation, South Korea and as
a Design Engineer at PSC Freyssinet Ltd, Singapore. He studied
Bachelor’s in Civil Engineering at the University of Moratuwa, Sri
Lanka; while he completed his Master’s in Engineering (M.E.) from AIT.
Currently he is a research assistant and a doctoral student at
Marquette University, USA.