Lecturer
Office: CEME 2013
Email: zeina.baalbaki@ubc.ca
Research Summary
Water Management, Water Technology, Contaminants of Emerging Concern, Engineering Education, Interactive Learning, Educational Technology
Education
McGill University, 2016, Ph.D
American University of Sharjah, 2013, BSc
Research interests + projects
My educational research interests have focused on interactive learning, problem-based learning, critical thinking in education as well as the implementation of innovative technology in education. During my Ph.D., I have worked on an educational research project that aimed at developing and experimenting with various active learning strategies. During my two years as a Sessional Lecturer, I have studied the effectiveness of various strategies and tools through anonymous evaluations and monitoring of student performance.
My technical doctoral research had a focus on evaluating the fate of contaminants of emerging concern, also called micropollutants, in municipal wastewater treatment systems prior to discharge into the environment. My work involved data collection at full-scale wastewater plants, as well as the development of predictive fate models.
Throughout my consulting career since 2017, I worked on industrial water management projects where I worked with various oil and gas producers, as well as mining companies to improve their water reuse and disposal practices. My work focused on managing challenging industrial wastes and, therefore, combined a research component. My role involved evaluating emerging water technologies, designing and conducting laboratory and pilot-scale studies, developing water quality models and treatment simulations, as well as the design and optimization of water treatment systems.
Awards and honours
McGill Engineering Doctoral Award, Faculty of Engineering, McGill University 2013 – , 2016
Chair’s Discretionary Award, Department of Chemical Engineering, McGill University , 2016
Distinguished Student Scholarship, Ministry of Presidential Affairs, UAE , 2009
Al Fahim Prize for Academic Excellence, AlFahim Group, UAE , 2009
Scholarly and professional activities + affiliations
EGBC
APEGA
Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC)
Selected publications + presentations
Baalbaki, Z., Torfs, E., Yargeau, V., Vanrolleghem, P. “Predicting the fate of micropollutants during wastewater treatment: Calibration and sensitivity analysis”, Science of the Total Environment, 601:874-885, 2017
Baalbaki, Z., Torfs, E., Maere, T., Yargeau, V., Baalbaki, Z., Sultana, T., Metcalfe, C., Yargeau, V. “Estimating removals of contaminants of emerging concern from wastewater treatment plants: The critical role of wastewater hydrodynamics”, Chemosphere, 178:439-448, 2017
Baalbaki, Z., Sultana, T., Maere, T., Vanrolleghem, P., Metcalfe, C., Yargeau, V. “Fate and mass balance of contaminants of emerging concern during wastewater treatment determined using the fractionated approach”, Science of the Total Environment 573:1147-1158, 2016
Baalbaki, Z., Torfs, E., Maere, T., Yargeau, V., Vanrolleghem, P. “Dynamic modeling of solids in a full-scale activated sludge plant preceded by CEPT as a preliminary step for micropollutant removal modeling”, Bioprocess and Biosystems Engineering, 40:499-510, 2016
Baalbaki, Z., Maere, T., Vanrolleghem, P., Torfs, E., Yargeau, V. “Removal of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) during primary, secondary and tertiary wastewater treatment steps”, SETAC Europe 26th Annual Meeting, Nantes, France, May 2016.