ABOUT THE SPEAKER

He received his B. Tech degree in chemical engineering in 1986 from Anna University, India after which he worked briefly for Asian Paints in Madras before moving to the United States for higher education. He earned his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in chemical engineering from the University of Iowa, in 1989 and 1996, respectively. He has worked as a visiting scientist at IBM’s Bergen Scientific Centre in Norway and as a research associate with the State University of New York at Albany and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. In 1995, he started his academic career with Texas A&M University – Kingsville (TAMUK), where he rose to be a professor of environmental engineering. He also served as the associate dean and interim dean of the Frank H. Dotterweich College of Engineering at TAMUK.In 2009, he joined the University of North Texas and served as the Associate Dean of Research and Graduate Studies for the College of Engineering until 2016. From 2016 through 2021, Prof. John served as the chair for the second largest department within the college of engineering at UNT.His research interests are in the area of environmental sustainability with a focus on air quality monitoring, modeling and assessment. He has served as principal investigator and project director of a National Science Foundation (NSF) funded center for research excellence in science and technology.With his students, Prof. John has authored over 85 peer-reviewed journal papers, reports, book chapters and conference papers. He has co-edited a book titled “The Changing Climate of South Texas 1900-2100: Problems and Prospects, Impacts and Implications”.