People

Pierre Bérubé, PhD, PEng, Professor

Contact: p.berube@ubc.ca

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/berube-pierre

Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=gC-bNaEAAAAJ&hl=en

Pierre Bérubé is a Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of British Columbia, where he has been a faculty member since 2002. He leads an internationally recognized research program in water treatment and has trained numerous graduate students and postdoctoral researchers who now work in academia, industry, and the public sector. Through collaborations with utilities, industry partners, and communities, his work advances environmental engineering knowledge while preparing the next generation of highly qualified professionals in the water sector.

Pedro de Medeiros Carrilho, MASc Student

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/pedro-de-medeiros-carrilho-076bb1222/

Pedro Carrilho is a MASc student specializing in Environmental Systems at the Civil Engineering department of the University of British Columbia. Pedro is originally from Brazil and obtained his BSc in Chemical Engineering from the Federal University of Santa Catarina. Under Prof. Bérubé’s supervision, Pedro applies his process engineering skills in the lab to further understand the impacts of temperature and hydraulic cleaning in Passive-Gravity Driven Membrane Filtration systems. Pedro also collaborates with Indigenous communities to monitor a small drinking water treatment plant on Vancouver Island. In his free time, you will find Pedro either cooking something from scratch for far too many hours or reading a book that is way too long.

Md Nurul Afcher Shishir, PhD Student

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/nurulshishir 

Md Nurul Afcher Shishir is a PhD student specializing in the fluorescence characterization of Natural Organic Matter (NOM). He obtained his MASc. within the group and worked with historical data analysis of full-scale ultrafiltration (UF) membrane facilities. Prior to joining UBC, he earned his BSc. from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET). In his free time, he likes to read history and play tennis.  

Rahul Dutta, PhD Candidate

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahul-dutta-b1b614144/

Rahul Dutta is a PhD candidate in Environmental Systems Engineering studying how membrane material ageing affects chemical cleaning strategies in water treatment systems. He holds a degree in Civil Engineering and completed his Masters in Environmental Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, India. Outside academia, Rahul enjoys playing badminton, soccer, and chess. In the summer, he spends much of his time hiking and camping in the outdoors.

Ruby Halters, Undergraduate Student (Environmental Engineering)

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rubyhalters/

Ruby Halters is a fourth-year Environmental Engineering student at the University of British Columbia. She recently completed a six-month co-op in the Netherlands with Teijin Aramid, where she researched reducing water use in their chemical manufacturing sites. Most recently, Ruby completed a four-month co-op at Ramboll in Vancouver, where she specialized in air quality consulting. This summer she is excited to work in the Environmental Systems Engineering labs for her last co-op placement. Outside of school and co-op, she enjoys spending time outdoors, being with friends and family, painting, training with the UBC AMS Triathlon Club, and working as a Student Ambassador tour guide on UBC’s campus.

Martin Viguie, Undergraduate Student (Civil Engineering)

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martin-viguie-2234163b6/

Martin Viguie is a third year civil engineering undergraduate student currently working as a research assistant at The University of British Columbia. Martin was born in the south of France and has grown up in Calgary, where he graduated with the French Baccalaureate (High School Diploma), with honors. Beyond academia, his interests include golf, hockey, and growing his vinyl collection!

Baohui Jia, PhD (Recent graduate – Civil Engineering)

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seanj0813

Baohui completed his PhD investigating how interactions between natural organic matter foulants and hypochlorite during chemical cleaning accelerate the ageing of PVDF ultrafiltration membranes in drinking water treatment. His research combined laboratory accelerated ageing experiments with membrane fibers harvested from full-scale facilities to bridge the gap between bench-scale findings and real-world operations. Baohui obtained his BSc from Tongji University and his two MScs from Harbin Institute of Technology and Georigia Insititute of Techonology. Outside the lab, you will find Baohui cooking or baking something ambitious in the kitchen.

Xiaodong Wang, PhD, Professor

Contact: wangxiaodong@qut.edu.cn

Google scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=hoZIYtQAAAAJ

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/xiaodong-wang-544b76b5

Xiaodong Wang is a professor at the School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering in Qingdao University of Technology, and a visiting researcher in the Department of Civil Engineering at UBC (2025–2026). His research specializes in the monitoring and control of wastewater treatment processes, with extensive expertise in developing soft sensors for real-time optimization and enhancing online sensor network reliability through anomaly detection and diagnostic frameworks. With a PhD from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences and previous industry experience as a project engineer in Norway and China, he has pioneered practical real-time control practices that have contributed foundational experience to the sector. 

Hiroshi Yamamura, PhD, Professor

Group web site: https://water-chuo.jp/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hiroshi-yamamura-0b321457/

Hiroshi Yamamura is a Professor in the Department of Integrated Science and Engineering for Sustainable Society at Chuo University, Tokyo, Japan. His research focuses on advanced water and wastewater treatment, including AI-driven process optimization, membrane filtration and fouling control, PFAS decomposition, and water quality monitoring using fluorescence spectroscopy (EEM). He received his Ph.D. in Engineering from Hokkaido University in 2008.