Posted on January 09, 2020
Dr. Kevin Mumford, an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering, is this year’s recipient of the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science (FEAS) Excellence in Research Award.
The award recognizes outstanding contributions by faculty members to the research environment in the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science (FEAS) at Queen’s University. Winners of the award receive a grant of $10,000 to be used to support their research. The award is intended to reward faculty for their research leadership and for fostering collaborative growth at the graduate level within the Faculty. Only Assistant and Associate Professors from the five engineering departments are eligible and are to be nominated by heads of departments or by other faculty members.
“It’s a real honour to be selected for this award, particularly because there are so many bright, creative, young researchers in Engineering at Queen’s,” says Dr. Mumford. “I’m constantly meeting researchers and students who are doing really interesting and important work, and it’s nice to be recognized as being in that group.”
Dr. Mumford is interested in the movement of multiple fluid phases (water, oil, gas) in porous media, and the mass transfer between those phases. These processes are relevant to many important environmental systems. For example, soil and groundwater can be contaminated by the accidental release or improper disposal of hazardous industrial liquids including petroleum fuels (gasoline, diesel fuel), chlorinated solvents (dry cleaning chemicals, degreasers), and coal tar. Groundwater can also be impacted during energy resource development, including by stray gas migration. Groundwater contamination can jeopardize drinking water sources and limit the redevelopment of urban areas. The remediation of sites contaminated by these chemicals is a significant scientific and engineering challenge. An understanding of how these chemicals are distributed, and how they are transferred to the surrounding groundwater, is required to assess potential risk and design appropriate remediation strategies. Dr. Mumford’s research uses a combination of laboratory experiments and numerical modelling to identify and quantify fundamental behaviour, and apply new insights to remediation scenarios.
“The subsurface is an interesting place, and understanding the processes going on there is important to a whole host of problems,” says Dr. Mumford. “My group is interested in how contaminants move and transform, with the overall goal of finding better ways to investigate and remediate contaminated sites to protect human and ecosystem health.”
Learn more about Dr. Mumford's research group and see this on Dr. Cole Van De Ven who recently completed his PhD under Dr. Mumford's supervision.