Statement of Intent

The motivation and directions to pursue my graduate studies in environmental engineering are
influenced by the prevailing environmental conditions of my country. A developing country like
Bangladesh is facing enormous challenges to control environmental pollution due to widespread
arsenic contamination of ground water, untreated disposal of industrial effluent, crude open dumping
of solid waste in low lying areas and lack of sewerage and sanitation system in different parts of the
country. About 80% of diseases in Bangladesh are originated from the unclean and polluted water.
The situation in the urban areas is more alarming. In the capital city of Dhaka about 20000 m 3
wastewater with high pollution load (including heavy metals) is discharged daily in the main river
Buriganga from different leather tanning, textile, chemical and pharmaceutical industries. About 3000
ton of solid waste is dumped in the poorly managed and designed landfills and about 2000 ton of solid
waste is disposed daily in drains and canals. Lack of proper and low-cost technologies as well as
paucity of local experts in the field of environmental engineering have influenced me to pursue
knowledge in similar fields so that I can contribute to improve such situations.

This predilection was further reinforced during my undergraduate studies in Bangladesh University of
Engineering and Technology (BUET). I found the best place to strengthen my knowledge as BUET is
deemed as the best academic institution in our country and only the best students are enrolled here
after an extremely rigorous screening process. During my studies I came across interesting courses on
groundwater pollution, aquifer properties, ground water flow, water treatments, microbiology of
sewerage and wastewater, primary and secondary treatments of industrial effluents, sludge treatment
and disposal techniques etc. Especially the courses CE 331 (Environmental Engineering I), CE 333
(Environmental Engineering II) and CE 332 (Environmental Engineering Sessional I) taught me about
different processes of environment and thus I was able to perceive the importance of well-managed
environment. Therefore I was totally convinced to pursue my higher studies in environmental
engineering.

I have always maintained a balance between thorough study and in-depth understanding of the course
in hand. This approach has paid rich dividends in my academic career. Maintaining a CGPA of 3.77 I
was able to secure the 9th position among 204 graduating students in my undergraduate studies. For
such result the degree was awarded with Honours. I got highest grade in “Project and Thesis Work”
where I needed to develop computer models using programming knowledge. The research which was
executed under the guidance of my research supervisor taught me the ability to take an idea and
follow it while at the same time maintaining a balancing act involved in allocating time, money and
energy to a project. My supervisor influenced me with his tenacious approach to perform a task under
limited resource and time.

With such motivation and objective I started my career in teaching. My penchant for teaching and
research in Environmental Engineering was further fulfilled when I taught several courses on
Environmental Pollution and its Control, Environment Development Projects, Design of Water
Treatment Plant and Design of Sewerage System etc in the Department of Civil and Environmental
Engineering in The University of Asia Pacific. My research experience with my senior faculty
members of the department has raised my confidence about the methods and techniques for pursuing
further research in the field of environmental engineering. While taking course on Computer
Application in Civil and Environmental Engineering, I got opportunity to use and teach different
software related to civil engineering which I believe are required for computer aided research projects.
As I am working as an associate designer of the ETP design of a textile mill it was possible for me to
identify the limitations of treatment plants, disposal techniques and unavailability of low-cost
technologies.

Through such knowledge and experience I selected few research areas for my graduate studies and I
want to pursue my research in any of these areas. I am interested in working in the field of wastewater
and drinking water treatment, fate of contaminants, source-zone remediation technologies, simulation
and modeling techniques and solid waste management. Biological wastewater treatment is more
advantageous in comparison to physico-chemical treatment systems from the view point of cost
effectiveness and also less objectionable sludge production. I am interested in Biological Nitrogen and
Enhanced Biological phosphorous removal, microbiological community analysis, treatment of landfill
leachate, bioremediation process and hybrid system consisting of biological and physicochemical
treatment processes. As the conventional water treatment processes are not able to address adequately
the removal of a wide spectrum of toxic chemicals and pathogenic microorganisms in raw water, the
application of membrane technology and advanced oxidation processes is important to ensure
increasingly stringent regulations related to the drinking water quality. A membrane hybrid process
combined with other physicochemical processes such as ozonation, activated carbon adsorption,
coagulation etc. is also very attractive to me and may be very effective.

Also the input, transport and fate of organic contaminants in groundwater systems are of particular
importance to me. In order to remediate contaminated subsurface systems, it is imperative to first
characterize the contaminant source zone. Under the direct supervision of teachers of such
background in the Department of Civil Engineering of the University of Waterloo, the goal of my
research program can be to develop practical and reliable methods of characterizing contaminant
source zones, and determining the fate of these source zones, in subsurface systems. These data are
fundamental prerequisites to the development of new and innovative remedial strategies, as well as
the successful implementation of existing remedial strategies. Successful restoration of groundwater
resources depends on our understanding of the fundamental processes governing the movement of
water and chemicals in the soil. Modelling is an essential part of the risk assessment process and any
remediation of the subsurface.

Landfill has been the key disposal route for most of our waste including contaminated materials for
many years as it was very cheap. Space for landfill is likely to run out within few years. So
approach of disposal of waste should be towards waste reduction, reuse, recycling and
recovery. The reliance on landfill must be reduced in future. I hope that I can contribute to
sustainable waste management practices implemented through fundamental contribution to
increased recycling and composting, and increasing the recovery of value from waste. The
remediation of subsurface formations contaminated by non-aqueous phase liquids (NAPLs)
is also a major impediment to the restoration of many hazardous waste sites. Identifying the
relationships between NAPL mass depletion, contaminant mass flux from the source zone,
and dissolved plume properties through bench-scale experiments and numerical models can
be also interesting fields of research to me.

I wish that my research will combine both field work and controlled laboratory experiments in the
well-established infrastructure of the University of Waterloo. I believe the faculty members
in the Department of Civil Engineering of the university have in-depth knowledge and
experience in my intended fields of interests. The rich course contents and research facilities
in the field of Water Resources and Environmental Engineering encourage me to apply for
my graduate studies in the University of Waterloo. Up to now, I have always enrolled in the
best institutions of my country and I want to pursue my future studies in one of the best
institutions of the world.

My desire is to continue up to Ph.D. in my intended fields, if possible and I like to come back to
Bangladesh and continue my job as a faculty member. As a faculty member my intention is
to disseminate the knowledge of my degree to my students in Bangladesh. I also want to
invent new, effective and low-cost technologies of water and wastewater treatment or solid
waste management in which area I will be able to complete my higher studies. I believe my
research will of value to the people of my country and I can originate and continue research
on fate of contaminants and modelling techniques in Bangladesh.
(Signature of Applicant)