Draft:Nickolas J. Themelis

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Nickolas J. Themelis is the Stanley Thompson Professor Emeritus of Chemical Metallurgy and the Director of the Earth Engineering Center at Columbia University.[1] His research interests primarily revolve around technology, policy, and economic tools aimed at reducing landfilling in the United States, Latin America, and Asia, where approximately 90% of post-recycling wastes are currently disposed of in landfills.[2]

In 1983, he was elected as a member to National Academy of Engineering.[3]

Education[edit]

Themelis earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering and later obtained his PhD in Chemical Metallurgy from McGill University in 1961.[4]

Career[edit]

Throughout his career, he has held various positions, including Vice President of Technology at Kennecott Copper Corp in New York City, Vice President of Research, Engineering, and Computing at the Metal Mining Division of Kennecott Copper Corp. in both New York City and Salt Lake City, and associate director at the Noranda Research Center in Pointe Claire, Quebec, Canada.[5]

At Columbia University, Themelis served as the Chair of the School of Mines and later became the first chair of the newly established Department of Earth and Environmental Engineering.[6] He is the founder and Director of Columbia's Earth Engineering Center and the Global WTERT Council (GWC), which has sister organizations in fourteen nations, including China and India. Currently, Themelis is a professor of Metallurgical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, and Earth and Environmental Engineering at Columbia University.[7] He has also received awards by the Materials and Energy Recovery Division of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) in 2011 and the Confederation of European Waste to Energy Plants (CEWEP) in 2016.[8] In recognition of his contributions to the field, he was elected as a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering.

Research[edit]

Themelis directs graduate research focusing on sustainable waste management practices.[9] His research encompasses various methods such as reducing material usage, recycling, composting, combustion with energy recovery, and sanitary landfilling of non-recyclable and non-combustible materials.[10] He is the author or co-author of numerous papers and books on waste management, including publications for the International Panel for Climate Change (IPCC), the Encyclopedia of Sustainability of Science and Technology (Springer pub.), and Renewable Energy Sources (Springer pub).[11]

Noranda Process[edit]

In the first part of his career, Themelis was Director of the Engineering Division of the Noranda Research Center, Montreal, Canada where he invented and helped build the first continuous smelting and converting process, called the Noranda Process.[12]

Awards[edit]

He has received awards and honors including the Phoenix Award of the Confederation of European WTE Plants (CEWEP) in 2016 and the Environmental Conservation Distinguished Service Award of the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineers (AIME) in 2004.[13]

Selected publications[edit]

  • Themelis, Nickolas J.; Ulloa, Priscilla A. (2007-06-01). "Methane generation in landfills". Renewable Energy. 32 (7): 1243–1257. doi:10.1016/j.renene.2006.04.020. ISSN 0960-1481.
  • Levis, J. W.; Barlaz, M. A.; Themelis, N. J.; Ulloa, P. (2010-08-01). "Assessment of the state of food waste treatment in the United States and Canada". Waste Management. 30 (8): 1486–1494. Bibcode:2010WaMan..30.1486L. doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2010.01.031. ISSN 0956-053X. PMID 20171867.
  • Ling, Hoe I.; Yue, Dongyi; Kaliakin, Victor N.; Themelis, Nickolas J. (2002). "Anisotropic Elastoplastic Bounding Surface Model for Cohesive Soils". Journal of Engineering Mechanics. 128 (7): 748–758. doi:10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9399(2002)128:7(748). ISSN 0733-9399.
  • Wang, Wanli; Themelis, Nickolas J.; Sun, Kai; Bourtsalas, Athanasios C.; Huang, Qunxing; Zhang, Yunhe; Wu, Zhaohui (2019-05-01). "Current influence of China's ban on plastic waste imports". Waste Disposal & Sustainable Energy. 1 (1): 67–78. Bibcode:2019WDSE....1...67W. doi:10.1007/s42768-019-00005-z. ISSN 2524-7891.
  • Nzihou, Ange; Themelis, Nickolas J.; Kemiha, Mohammed; Benhamou, Yohan (2012-12-01). "Dioxin emissions from municipal solid waste incinerators (MSWIs) in France". Waste Management. 32 (12): 2273–2277. Bibcode:2012WaMan..32.2273N. doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2012.06.016. ISSN 0956-053X. PMID 22819593.
  • Lu, Peng; Huang, Qunxing; Bourtsalas, A. C. (Thanos); Themelis, Nickolas J.; Chi, Yong; Yan, Jianhua (2019-04-01). "Review on fate of chlorine during thermal processing of solid wastes". Journal of Environmental Sciences. 78: 13–28. doi:10.1016/j.jes.2018.09.003. ISSN 1001-0742. PMID 30665632.

References[edit]

  1. ^ Witkin, Jim (2011-02-16). "Skiing Your Way to 'Hedonistic Sustainability'". Green Blog. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
  2. ^ "Nickolas J. Themelis". Earth and Environmental Engineering. 13 June 2017.
  3. ^ "Mining Engineering Online". me.smenet.org.
  4. ^ "WtERT | Waste to Energy Research Technology". www.wtert.net.
  5. ^ "Nickolas J. Themelis". Earth and Environmental Engineering. 13 June 2017.
  6. ^ "Nickolas J. Themelis | The American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers". aimehq.org.
  7. ^ "Should the U.S. Burn or Bury Its Trash?". New York Times. 13 April 2010.
  8. ^ "Tennis ball wasteland? Game grapples with a fuzzy yellow recycling problem". toronto.citynews.ca. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
  9. ^ "Does Burning Garbage for Electricity Make Sense?". WSJ.
  10. ^ "Dr. Nickolas J. Themelis". NAE Website.
  11. ^ "Does Burning Garbage for Electricity Make Sense?". WSJ. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
  12. ^ Tarassoff, P. (1984-09-01). "Process R & D—the noranda process". Metallurgical Transactions B. 15 (3): 411–432. Bibcode:1984MTB....15..411T. doi:10.1007/BF02657372. ISSN 2379-0229.
  13. ^ "Nickolas J. Themelis | The American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers". aimehq.org. Retrieved 2024-02-16.

External links[edit]



Category:American engineers Category:Living people

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)

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