With an educational background in civil engineering, Dr John Awad has a multidisciplinary water/environmental engineering research profile including topics in water characterization, water and wastewater treatment, catchment management and mathematical modelling.
John was awarded his PhD in 2016 for a study that formed the basis of an Australian Research Council Linkage Project titled ‘Impact of natural organic matter and nutrients on water quality: Identification of catchment sources and attenuation processes’ (LP110200208). As a part of his PhD study, he developed an innovative catchment management decision support tool, which guides management decisions regarding land-use and expected reservoir storage water quality.
... Read more
About me
With an educational background in civil engineering, Dr John Awad has a multidisciplinary water/environmental engineering research profile including topics in water characterization, water and wastewater treatment, catchment management and mathematical modelling.
John was awarded his PhD in 2016 for a study that formed the basis of an Australian Research Council Linkage Project titled ‘Impact of natural organic matter and nutrients on water quality: Identification of catchment sources and attenuation processes’ (LP110200208). As a part of his PhD study, he developed an innovative catchment management decision support tool, which guides management decisions regarding land-use and expected reservoir storage water quality.
During his PhD studies, John established partnerships with SARDI and CSIRO senior management research staff that facilitated further collaborative research (ED-17-01: 2017-2019) funded through the Goyder Institute for Water Research (Total project value $1.55 M). As a part of this project, he produced a software tool ‘Irrigation water quality and quantity for covered crops’ (or ‘IW-QC2’). The tool supports water resource managers and the horticulture industry in decision-making about water resource selection, water storage capacities and the quality of blended supply water.
Through his Post-Doctoral research associate position at UniSA, John has contributed to numerous research projects, including i) developing strategies to manage algae growth and nutrient levels in wastewater treatment plants (e.g., using floating wetlands for removal of nutrients from papermill wastewater), ii) developing strategies to manage chlorine/chloroamine decay and nitrification in water distribution systems, iii) developing model(s) for reliable and dynamic coagulant and disinfectant dose prediction for drinking water treatment based on on-line monitoring systems, and iv) assessing the feasibility of using Capacitance Deionization desalination of reclaimed and bore waters of the Northern Adelaide Plains.
Since 2019 John has managed and lead the three-year ‘Northern Adelaide Industrial Symbiosis’ project (total funding $181,296). This collaborative research forms part of an integrated vision being co-developed by the City of Salisbury in collaboration with Green Industries SA (GISA), UniSA and CSIRO for sustainable job creation within a new “circular economy”.
John has considerable undergraduate teaching experience as a lecturer of civil engineering courses, including water chemistry and water quality modelling. He is also an experienced research supervisor to Doctoral, Masters, and undergraduate/internship students.
Research
Excludes commercial-in-confidence projects.
Sustainable Expansion of Irrigated Agriculture and Horticulture in Northern Adelaide Corridor ED-17-01, Goyder Institute for Water Research, 01/03/2017 - 31/03/2019
Research
Research outputs for the last seven years are shown below. Some long-standing staff members may have older outputs included. To see earlier years visit ORCID, ResearcherID or Scopus
Open access indicates that an output is open access.
| Year | Output |
|---|---|
| 2022 |
3
3
|
| 2018 |
Open access
9
9
|
| 2017 |
Open access
25
22
1
|
| 2016 |
Open access
30
25
|
| 2015 |
Open access
15
15
|
| Year | Output |
|---|---|
| 2022 |
|
| 2019 |
|
| Year | Output |
|---|---|
| 2024 |
2
|
| 2024 |
Open access
|
| 2023 |
1
1
1
|
| 2023 |
3
|
| 2023 |
Open access
1
|
| 2023 |
4
3
1
|
| 2022 |
Open access
39
34
86
|
| 2022 |
Open access
6
5
|
| 2022 |
3
3
|
| 2022 |
3
3
|
| 2022 |
Open access
11
10
2
|
| 2021 |
Open access
1
1
|
| 2019 |
Open access
3
4
|
| 2019 |
19
14
|
| 2019 |
Open access
63
51
|
| 2019 |
60
55
|
| 2019 |
Open access
32
28
|
| 2018 |
Open access
9
8
|
| 2018 |
Open access
2
2
|
| 2018 |
Open access
9
9
|
| 2018 |
Open access
12
10
|
| 2018 |
Open access
29
27
|
| 2017 |
Open access
25
22
1
|
| 2016 |
Open access
30
25
|
| 2016 |
Open access
6
5
|
| 2015 |
Open access
|
| 2015 |
Open access
15
15
|
| Year | Output |
|---|---|
| 2019 |
Open access
1
|
| 2019 |
Open access
5
|
| 2019 |
Open access
1
|
| 2015 |
Open access
|
| Year | Output |
|---|---|
| 2019 |
Open access
|
| 2019 |
Open access
|
| 2018 |
Open access
|
External engagement & recognition
| Organisation | Country |
|---|---|
| Australian National University | AUSTRALIA |
| Australian Water Quality Centre | AUSTRALIA |
| CCS Haryana Agricultural University | INDIA |
| CSIRO Australia (Commonwealth Scientific Industrial Research organisation) | AUSTRALIA |
| CSIRO Land and Water, Glen Osmond, SA | AUSTRALIA |
| Flinders University | AUSTRALIA |
| Griffith University | AUSTRALIA |
| Kangaroo Island Landscape Board | AUSTRALIA |
| La Trobe University | AUSTRALIA |
| Land and Water - CSIRO | AUSTRALIA |
| Melbourne Water Corporation | AUSTRALIA |
| SA Water Corporation | AUSTRALIA |
| Seqwater | AUSTRALIA |
| South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI) | AUSTRALIA |
| TRILITY | AUSTRALIA |
| University of Adelaide | AUSTRALIA |
| University of California | UNITED STATES |
| University of New South Wales | AUSTRALIA |
| University of Newcastle | AUSTRALIA |
| University of South Australia | AUSTRALIA |
| University of Western Australia | AUSTRALIA |
| Water Corporation | AUSTRALIA |
| Xylem Analytics Australia | AUSTRALIA |
Teaching & student supervision
Supervisions from 2010 shown
| Thesis title | Student status |
|---|---|
| A study of utilizing construction and demolition waste materials as a growing medium for floating wetland plants to remove pollutants from urban water sources | Current |
| Remediation of PFAS contaminated waters with Constructed Floating Wetlands (CFWs) | Current |
| Semi-Arid Urban Environments: Evaluation of parameters used in hydrological and water quality modelling and the role of Local Government policy to mitigate environmental impacts on receiving waters. | Current |
| A study of the potential of AFI planted with grasses for removal of nutrients from paper industry and domestic wastewaters | Completed |
| Development of a model-based aluminium dose control for targeted removals of DOM from source waters of wide-ranging qualities used for drinking water supply | Completed |
| Distribution and co-occurrence of environmental antimicrobial-resistant bacteria and genetic resistance elements of rivers and coastal ecosystems | Completed |
| Investigation of the presence and control of cyanobacteria in paper mill wastewaters | Completed |
| Optimization of drinking water treatment processes during extreme events | Completed |
| Removal mechanisms of DOM from surface waters using metal (aluminium, titanium and zirconium) salts, and Fuller¿s Earth | Completed |
| Study of microbiologically mediated monochloramine decay in an experimental in-field pilot-scale drinking water distribution system and investigation into the potential of zinc for decay control | Completed |
