Jim Park, Ph.D., is an emeritus professor of civil and environmental engineering whose work spans wastewater treatment, water infrastructure, process control, environmental remediation, and beneficial reuse of waste materials.
His current work focuses on the application of artificial intelligence to wastewater treatment-plant operations and the management of large, complex datasets generated by critical water infrastructure. Through the Engineering Intelligence Platform and AerationAI, he is developing governed, facility-specific systems that combine sensor validation, machine learning, pattern recognition, statistical analysis, empirical engineering relationships, and process knowledge to support reliable operational decisions. AerationAI is a real-time aeration optimization and control system designed to anticipate biological process demand and reduce unnecessary aeration energy consumption, with potential energy savings of approximately 30–50% under suitable operating conditions.
His recent research also includes the use of deep learning to predict water-transmission-pipe failures and the integration of those predictions into an expert system for developing optimal management strategies for multi-regional water-supply facilities. This work combines predictive analytics with engineering judgment, risk assessment, asset-management principles, and operational constraints.
Another major research focus is the removal of phosphorus, toxic organic compounds, and heavy metals from urban and agricultural runoff using tire-derived aggregate (TDA). His findings indicate that properly prepared shredded tires can serve as an effective reactive medium for removing selected contaminants. This concept has been extended to several applications, including the use of shredded tires as media in landfill leachate-collection systems and as a buffer-zone material for reducing pesticide transport from golf courses.
His research has also addressed the systematic determination of optimal operating conditions for maximizing biological phosphorus removal from high-phosphorus industrial wastewater, including dairy wastewater. Earlier work examined the biological treatment of toxic compounds, wastewater-treatment processes, biological phosphorus-removal mechanisms, development of reactive media for contaminant removal, river restoration, river-water-quality modeling, and the beneficial reuse of waste products.
Across these areas, his work emphasizes the integration of engineering fundamentals, environmental science, data-driven analysis, and practical operational strategies to develop reliable and sustainable solutions for critical infrastructure.