Luke Gurtowski, a research chemical engineer with the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s Environmental Laboratory, was recently recognized for his research and development achievement and teamwork with ERDC’s Construction Engineering Research Laboratory in Champaign, Illinois.
Gurtowski and his CERL project teammates were awarded the ERDC-CERL 2016 L.R. Shaffer Research and Development Achievement Award for their pilot-scale validation of the Gray Water Treatment and Reuse System.
“I was brought into this project because of my work with water treatment of environmental contaminants,” Gurtowski explained.
Although the award is not typically awarded to non-CERL employees, Luke was honored with this award because of his significant contribution to the success of the project.
The team, consisting of Gurtowski, Dr. Martin Page as lead principal investigator, Bruce MacAllister, Ashley Boyd and Benjamin Masters, went to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, in June 2016, to validate the performance of the G-WTRS under field-relevant conditions.
The validation results and successful demonstration by the team positions ERDC as a leader in the development of water sustainment technologies and systems.
“Models predict that many areas will face water scarcity in the next 50-100 years if we don’t start cutting down on water usage or find other ways to reuse water,” Gurtowski said. “Our research and development makes certain technologies more sustainable, provides for more sustainable living for the future, and contributes to a safer, better world.”