NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Urban Drainage

Industrial Research Chairs program

Senior Chairholder since 2017

Modern societies require efficient and sustainable urban drainage systems to reliably handle stormwater and sanitary/wastewater without causing urban flooding or negative impacts on daily life activities and aquatic environments. Major Canadian municipalities are currently facing the challenges of rapid urban development at the same time as their urban drainage systems are aging. In addition, climate change has led to more frequent and intense storms, generating further pressure on drainage systems. Many municipalities are also facing significant challenges in their efforts to deal with sewer odour complaints and sewer corrosion problems, given the complexity of the physical, chemical and biological processes involved in sewers. More stringent environmental regulations regarding the discharge of stormwater add an additional layer of complexity for municipalities. The NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Urban Drainage at the University of Alberta intends to address these pressing issues and to assist municipalities in tackling these challenges.

This five-year Chair program will focus on the following important issues:

• developing/updating sewer hydraulics design guidelines;
• improving sediment management in storm sewers;
• developing emergent and innovative technologies for trunk sewer inspection, monitoring and sinkhole prevention.

The Chair holder, Dr. David Z. Zhu, is an international leader in the modernization of urban sewer design and operations. He has significantly advanced our knowledge of air/water and sand/water multiphase flows and made numerous contributions to the design and operations of urban drainage systems. The Chair program is expected to train three PhD candidates, nine Master’s students and three postdoctoral fellows during its five-year program. These graduate students will provide the municipalities and industry with the talent they urgently need to manage their urban drainage system projects.

The Chair program will allow the participating municipalities and engineering firms to collaboratively conduct and integrate interdisciplinary research that will deliver tools and guidelines for drainage planning, design and construction, and will optimize the operations and maintenance of drainage systems. It will bring new and innovative solutions to the research partners and assist them in setting their short- and long-term directions in urban drainage. Through this Chair program, the partners will develop world-leading expertise in urban drainage, which will allow Canadian companies to expand their services internationally. This will directly contribute to the building of a knowledge-based economy, as well as providing novel products and better services to Canadians through their municipal infrastructure. This Chair program will increase public safety and asset management, develop technologies that increase the enhanced and sustainable operation of urban drainage systems, and provide cost savings to taxpayers.

• City of Edmonton
• City of Calgary
• Stantec Consulting Ltd.

Email: dzhu@ualberta.ca