Omid Etemadi

Contact Information Omid Etemadi Civil and Environmental Engineering University of Southern California Biegler Hall of Engineering 213H 3620 S. Vermont Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90089-2531 Tel:  (213) 740-0594 Fax: (213) 744-1426 Email: oetemadi@usc.edu

Research Interest 

• Nanocomposite Synthesis for Organic Sulfur Adsorption in Fossil Fuels
• Selective Adsorption in Ultrasound Assisted Oxidative Desulfurization 
• Encapsulation of Heavy Metals in Subsurface by Biopolymers 
• Enhancing Shear Strength of Soil with Biopolymers

Biographical Information

Ph.D. Candidate in Environmental Engineering
Advisor: Professor Teh Fu Yen
Thesis Title: Selective Adsorption in Ultrasound Assisted Oxidative Desulfurization Process with Nano-Engineered Adsorbents: Mechanism and Characterization

Education

• University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California
  Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering,  expected December 2006
  M.S. in Environmental Engineering – Water and Wastewater Engineering, 2002

• Ferdowsi University, Mashad, Iran
  B.S. in Civil Engineering, 1989
  

Related Course Work:

• SGS International Certification Services Ltd.
  Internal Auditor Training Course
• Ministry of Housing and Urban Constructions
  Introduction to Seismic Engineering
• Akam Felez Company
  Introduction to Space Frame Design and Formex Algebra

Published Journal Articles

• Etemadi, O., Petrisor, I. G., Kim, D., Wan, M. -W., and Yen, T. F. “Stabilization of Metals in Subsurface by Biopolymers: Laboratory Drainage Flow Studies”, Soil & Sediment Contamination: An International Journal, 12(5), 2003, 647-661.
• Yen, T. F., Wan, M. -W., Khachatoorian, R. A., Lai, H. -T., Etemadi, O., and Yang, T. S. “Stabilization of Subsurface Contaminants Using Microbial Polymers”, Subsurface Contaminants Focus Area (SCFA) Mid-Year Review, Salt Lake City, Utah. March 5-7, 2002. 

Published Conference Articles

• Etemadi, O. and Yen, T. F. “Aspects of Selective Adsorption in Ultrasound Assisted Oxidative Desulfurization Process of Diesel Fuel”, 232^nd ACS National Meeting, San Francisco, California, September 10-14, 2006.
• Etemadi, O., Petrisor, I. G., and Yen, T. F. “Drainage Flow Simulation for Metal Stabilization in Soils by Biopolymers”, 14^th AEHS Annual West Coast Conference on Soils, Sediments, and Water, San Diego, California, March 15-18, 2004.
• Etemadi, O., Petrisor, I. G., and Yen, T. F. “Subsurface Stabilization of Heavy Metals in Soil Using Xanthan Gum and Chitosan Separately and in Combination”, AIChE Annual Meeting, San Francisco, California, November 16-21, 2003.
• Etemadi, O., Petrisor, I. G., and Yen, T. F. “Drainage Flow Simulations for Metal Stabilization in Soils”, ACS Regional Conference, Long Beach, California, October 15-18, 2003.
• Petrisor, I. G., Etemadi, O., Kim, D., Wan, M. –W, and Yen, T. F. “Biopolymers as Potential Tools for Stabilization of Metals in Subsurface: Laboratory Drainage Flow Studies”, 13^th AEHS Annual West Coast Conference on Contaminated Soils, Sediments, and Water, San Diego, California, March 17-20, 2003. 

Fellowships and Awards

• USC research assistant fellowship award (2001 to present)
• Leadership award from USC Office of International Services (2006)
• USC outstanding teaching assistant award (2005)
• USC teaching assistant fellowship award (2004 to 2005)
• Special award from USC Viterbi School of Engineering (2004)
• Achievement in graduate education award from Association of Professors and Scholars of Iranian Heritage (2002)

Research Experiences

Research Assistant
University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, 2001 - Present          

• Developing self assembled nanoscale adsorbents for sulfur removal in fossil fuels.
• Synthesis of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) on alumina membranes for sulfur removal in fossil fuels (Funded by Army Research Laboratory).
• Selective adsorption studies in ultrasound assisted oxidative desulfurization of diesel fuel (Funded y Army Research Laboratory).
• Modification of a modular unit of ultrasound assisted oxidative desulfurization of diesel (Funded by Office of Naval Research).
• Stabilization and encapsulation of heavy metals in subsurface by crosslinked biopolymers (Funded by DoE).

Teaching Experiences

Teaching Assistant
University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, 2004 - 2005 

• Graduate course Chemical and Biological Processes in Environmental Engineering (CE553). Prepared weekly homeworks and discussion sessions.
• Graduate course Energy and the Environment (CE501). Prepared weekly homeworks.
• Courses Water Quality Control (CE453) and Environmental Chemistry (CE443). Prepared weekly homeworks and discussion session.
• Courses Water Chemistry and Analysis (CE463L) and The Atmospheric Environment (GEOG165Lg). Conducted lab experiments and graded weekly lab reports.

Industrial Experiences

Construction Manager
Steel Tech Group (Joint venture between Al-Dolaimi Group and Iran Steel Plants Group), Doha, Qatar, 1999 - 2000 

• Conducted steel structure projects in industrial zones.

Field Engineer
Iran Steel Plants Group, Tehran, Iran,1996 – 1999  

• Conducted quality control tests for steel structure fabrications and supervised steel structure installations and composite slabs. Responsible for shop-drawing preparations and field inspections.

Structural Engineer
Iran Steel Plants Group, Tehran, Iran, 1993 - 1996  

• Estimated steel structures and composite slabs. Developed shop-drawings for industrial warehouses.

Akam Felez Company, Tehran, Iran, 1991 - 1993  

• Estimated projects for Export Department. Developed a computer program for weight estimation of prefabricated steel structures.

Estimator and Drafter
Raziran Consulting Group, Tehran, Iran, 1987    

• Summer Internship.

 Computer & Equipment Skills

• Proficient in SAP, ETABS, AutoCAD, MAT, Microsoft Office, Visual Basic.
• Capable of working with GC/MS, GC/PFPD, GC/SCD, AA Spectroscopy, UV-visible Spectroscopy, Sulfur Analyzer, Scanning Electron Microscopy.

 Languages

• Fluent in English and Farsi (Persian), familiar with Spanish and Arabic

 Activities

• Vice President of Program of USC Engineering Graduate Student Association   2004 - 2005
• Department Representative of USC Engineering Graduate Student Association 2002 - 2004