Walter Den has over 20 years of experience developing air quality control and water purification technologies spanning across electro-chemical and electro-physical processes, membrane filtration processes, and bioactive oxidation-adsorption processes. He has also been active in working with industry to help boost water efficiency in various manufacturing sectors. Recently, he has focused on investigating the water-energy nexus and uses the concept to optimize industrial process water networks. He has served as a member of a consulting panel to help the semiconductor industry in Taiwan and Singapore identify the potential opportunities to reduce water consumption. His goal is to provide a holistic view of water treatment and reclamation by considering important factors such as cost, energy intensity, greenhouse gas emission, solid waste generation, and toxicity. In addition, Dr. Den’s works have involved the air quality control of various types of environments, such as industrial exhausts, airborne molecular contamination (AMC) in semiconductor cleanrooms and hospital-acquired infections (HAI) in medical settings.

Dr. Den joined Texas A&M University-San Antonio in 2018 and is responsible for building a new academic program of Water Resources Science and Technology. He received his doctoral degree in Environmental Engineering from the University of Southern California, and had previously worked in Taiwan as a faculty at Tunghai University and National Nano Device Laboratory.