R. D. Cusick

For more information

• Cusick Lab

Education

• Ph.D. Environmental Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, 2013
• M.S. Environmental Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, 2010
• B.S. Environmental Engineering, University of California, Riverside, 2005

Biography

Roland Cusick earned his B.S. in Environmental Engineering from the University of California, Riverside (2005), and holds an M.S. (2010) and Ph.D. (2013) in Environmental Engineering, both from the Pennsylvania State University. Their honors include receiving the W. Wesley Eckenfelder Graduate Research Award from the American Association of Environmental Engineers and Scientists (2013), the Penn State Alumni Association Dissertation Award (2013), and the Dow Sustainability Student Challenge Award (2012).

Dr. Cusick teaches CEE 443 Environmental Engineering Principles, Chemical and CEE 437, Water Quality Engineering, and CEE 449, Environmental Engineering Lab

Academic Positions

• Assistant Professor, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2013-present

Major Consulting Activities

• Island Water Technology, Prince Edward Island, Canada, 2014 - present: Consult on R&D of a bioactivity sensor for autonomous wastewater treatment systems
• Aquapod, Calgary, Ontario, Canada, 2013 - present: Serve on scientific advisory board for advanced treatment septic system development
• Cambrian Innovation, Cambridge, MA, 2011: State of the art survey of high rate anaerobic digestion systems.
• Envinity, State College, PA, 2010: Energy and economic assessment of MSW co-digestion and CHP at Williamsport wastewater treatment plant.

Professional Registrations

• Engineer in Training, California, 2005

Research Statement

Dr. Cusick has research interests in resource recovery from waste streams and the development of novel technologies for sustainable water and wastewater treatment. His primary research areas include electrochemical separations with energy storage materials as well as nutrient and energy recovery from wastewater.

Research Interests

• Process modeling
• Biological wastewater treatment
• Microbial electrochemical technologies
• Resource recovery from wastewater
• Capacitive deionization
• Electrochemical pollutant removal
• Chemical Phosphorus Recovery

Selected Articles in Journals

• Cusick, R. D.; Bryan, B.; Parker, D.S.; Merrill, M.D.; Mehanna, M.; Kiely, P.D.; Liu, G.; Logan, B.E. (2011). Performance of a pilot-scale continuous flow microbial electrolysis cell fed winery wastewater. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology 89(6): 2053-2063.
• Cusick, R. D.; Kim, Y.; Logan, B. E. (2012). Energy capture from thermolytic solutions in microbial reverse-electrodialysis cells. Science 335(6075): 1474-1477.
• Yates, M. D.; Cusick, R.D.; Logan, B.E. (2013). Extracellular palladium nanoparticle production using Geobacter sulfurreducens. ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering. 1 (9), 1165-1171.
• Cusick, R.D.;, Hatzell, M.C.; Zhang, F.; Logan, B.E. (2013). Minimal RED cell pairs markedly improve electrode kinetics and power production in microbial reverse electrodialysis cells. Environmental Science & Technology, 47(24), 14518-14524
• Hatzell, M.C.; Cusick, R.D.; Logan, B.E. (2014). Capacitive mixing power production form salinity gradient energy enhanced through exoelectrogen-generated ionic currents. Energy & Environmental Science, 7, 1159-1165.
• Hatzell, M.C.; Ivanov, I.; Cusick, R.D.; Zhu, X.; Logan, B.E. (2014). Comparison of hydrogen production and electrical power generation for energy capture in closed-Loop ammonium bicarbonate reverse electrodialysis systems. Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics 16(4), 1632–38.
• Cusick, R. D.; Ullery, M. L.; Dempsey, B. A.; Logan, B.E. (2014). Electrochemical struvite precipitation from digestate with a fluidized bed cathode microbial electrolysis cell. Water Research, 54, 297-306.
• Shoener, B.D.; Bradley, I.M.; Cusick, R.D.; Guest, J.S. Energy positive domestic wastewater treatment: The roles of anaerobic and phototrophic technologies. Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts, 2014, 16(6): 1204-1222.
• Yates, M.D.; Cusick, R.D.; Ivanov, I.; Logan, B.E. (2014). Exoelectrogenic biofilm as a template for sustainable formation of a catalytic mesoporous structure. Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 111 (11), 2349-2354
• Trimmer, J.T.; Cusick, R.D.; Guest, J.S. Amplifying progress toward multiple development goals through resource recovery from sanitation. Environmental Science & Technology, 2017, 51(18): 10765-10776.
• Hand, S.; Cusick, R.D. (2017). Characterizing the Impacts of Deposition Techniques on the Performance of MnO2 Cathodes for Sodium Electrosorption in Hybrid Capacitive Deionization. Environmental Science & Technology, 51 (20), 12027-12034.
• Shang, X.; Cusick, R.D.; Smith, K. C. (2017). A combined modeling and experimental study assessing the impact of fluid pulsation on charge and energy efficiency in capacitive deionization. Journal of the Electrochemical Society, 161 (14), E536-E547.
• Agrawal, S.; Guest, J.S.; Cusick, R. D. (2018). Elucidating the impacts of initial supersaturation and seed crystal loading on struvite precipitation kinetics, fines production, and crystal growth. Water Research, 132, 252-259.
• Kim, M., del Cerro, M., Hand, S.; Cusick, R.D. (2019). Enhancing capacitive deionization performance with charged structural polysaccharide electrode binders. Water Research, 148, 388 - 397.
• Junjea, A.; Sharma, N.; Cusick, R. D.; Singh, V. (2019). Techno-economic Feasibility of Phosphorus Recovery as a Coproduct from Corn Wet Milling Plants. Cereal Chemistry, 96 (2), 380-390.
• Bhat, A. P..; Reale, E. R.; del Cerro, M.; Smith, K.C.; Cusick, R.D. (2019). Reducing Impedance to Ionic Flux in Capacitive Deionization with Bi-tortuous Activated Carbon Electrodes Coated with Asymmetrically Charged Polyelectrolytes. Water Research X, 100027
• Hand, S.; Shang, X.; Guest, J.S.; Smith, K.C.; Cusick, R.D. (2019) Global sensitivity analysis to characterize operational limits and prioritize performance goals of capacitive deionization technologies. Environmental Science & Technology, 53 (7): 3748-3756.
• Trimmer, J.T.; Margenot, A.J.; Cusick, R.D.; Guest, J.S. (2019) Aligning product chemistry and soil context for agronomic reuse of human-derived resources. Environmental Science & Technology, 53 (11), 6501-6510.
• Margenot, A. J., Kitt, D.; Gramig, B. M.; Berkshire, T. B.; Chatterjee, N.; Hertzberger, A. J.; Aguiar, S.; Furneaux, A.; Sharma, N.; Cusick, R.D. (2019) Toward a regional phosphorus (re)cycle in the U.S. Midwest, Journal of Environmental Quality (invited paper), 48 (5), 1397-1413.
• Hand, S.; Guest, J. S.; Cusick, R.D. (2019) Technoeconomic Analysis of Brackish Water Capacitive Deionization: Navigating Tradeoffs Between Performance, Lifetime, and Material Costs. Environmental Science & Technology, 53 (22), 13353-13363.
• Aguiar, S.; Sharma, N.; Yang, L.; Zhang, M.; Singh, V.; Cusick, R.D. (2020) Phosphorus fractionation and protein content control chemical phosphorus removal from corn biorefinery streams. Journal of Environmental Quality, 49 (1), 220-227.
• Hand, S.; Cusick, R.D. (2020) Emerging Investigator Series: Capacitive Deionization for Selective Removal of Nitrate and Perchlorate: Impacts of Ion Selectivity and Operating Constraints on Treatment Costs. Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology (Cover Article) 6 (4), 925-934.
• Junjea, A.; Cusick, R. D.; Singh, V. (2020) Recovering Phosphorus as a Coproduct from Corn Dry Grind Plants: A Techno-economic Evaluation. Cereal Chemistry, 97 (2), 449-458.
• Hertzberger, A. J.; Cusick, R. D.; Margenot, A. J. (2020) Agricultural potential of struvite as a phosphorus fertilizer: a review. Soil Science Society of America Journal (invited paper), 84 (3), 653-671
• Lohman, H.A.C.; Trimmer, J.T.; Katende, D.; Mubasira, M.; Nagirinya, M.; Nsereko, F.; Banadda, N.; Cusick, R.D.; Guest, J.S. (2020) Advancing sustainable sanitation and agriculture through investments in human-derived nutrient systems. Environmental Science & Technology, 54 (15), 9217-9227
• Trimmer, J.T., Miller, D.C., Byrne, D.M., Lohman, H.A.C., Banadda, N., Baylis, K., Cook, S.M., Cusick, R.D., Jjuuko, F., Margenot, A.J., Zerai, A., & Guest, J.S. (2020) Re-envisioning sanitation as a human-derived resource system. Environmental Science & Technology, 54 (17) 10446–10459
• Kim, K.; Baldaguez Medina, P; Elbert, J; Kayiwa, E.; Cusick, R.D.; Men, Y.; Su, X. (2020) Molecular control of redox-copolymers for the selective electrochemical separation of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Advanced Functional Materials, 52 (30), 2070346
• Hand, S.; Cusick, R.D. (2021) Electrochemical disinfection in water and wastewater treatment: Identifying impacts of water quality and operating conditions on performance, Environmental Science & Technology 55 (6), 3470–3482
• Gu, C., Zhou, Q., Cusick, R.D., Margenot, A.J. (2021) Evaluating agronomic soil tests for struvite as an emerging renewable and slow-release phosphorus fertilizer, Geoderma (399) 1, 115093
• Li, S., Cai, X.; Emaminejad, S. A.; Juneja, A.; Niroula, S.; Oh, S.; Wallington, K.; Cusick, R. D.; Gramig, B. M.; John, S.; McIsaac, G. F.; Singh, V. (2021) Developing an integrated technology-environment-economics model to simulate food-energy-water systems in Corn Belt watersheds, Environmental Modeling & Software (143) 105083
• Echevarria, D.; Trimmer, J.; Cusick, R. D.; Guest, J.S. (2021) Defining nutrient co-location typologies for human-derived supply and crop demand to advance resource recovery, Environmental Science & Technology 55 (15) 10704–10713
• Li, S.; Emaminejad, S. A. ; Aguiar, S.; Furneaux, A.; Cai, X.; Cusick, R. D. (2021) Evaluating long-term treatment performance and cost of nutrient removal at water resource recovery facilities under stochastic influent characteristics using artificial neural networks as surrogates for plant-wide modeling, ACS ES&T Engineering 1 (11), 1517-1529

Magazine Articles

• Recovering phosphorus from corn ethanol waste, Chemical & Engineering News, March 26, 2018
• Giving wastewater the power to clean itself, Nature News, March 1 2012
• Hybrid energy technology could treat wastewater for free, IEEE Spectrun, March 1, 2012

Professional Societies

• Member, American Chemical Society
• Member, Electrochemical Society
• Member, Water Environment Federation
• Member of the International Working Group for Capacitive Deionization & Electrosorption, Fall 2017 - present. This working group is an international collection of Engineers (Chemical, Mechanical, Environmental) and Materials Scientists focused on advancing electrification of water treatment through selective separations and resource recovery. I am currently Co-chair of the organizing committee for the next Capacitive Deionization Workshop, Fall 2019 - May 2021
• Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors: AEESP is the primary professional society for environmental engineering and I am currently serving on the Demographics Committee Member (2020-present) and MS Thesis Award Committee (2021-2022). These service assignments are stepping stones toward Officer and Board member status in the society.

Service on Department Committees

• Energy-Water-Environment Sustainability Program Chair (2021 - 2023)
• Environmental Engineering and Science Admissions and Fellowship Committee (2014 - 2017)
• Energy-Water-Environment Sustainability Admission and Fellowship Committee (2015 - 2018)
• Environmental Engineering and Science Governance Committee (2015, 2017, 2021 EES Coordinator election cycles)

Recent Courses Taught

• CEE 437 - Water Quality Engineering
• CEE 443 - Env Eng Principles, Chemical
• CEE 595 AG (CEE 595 G) - Environmental Engr Seminar