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Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science Research Report
In Memorium
Dr. Tahir Husain Dr. Tahir Husain, Professor of Environmental Engineering in
When the Gulf War started and eleven million barrels of oil
the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science at Memorial,
spilled in the Persian Gulf, Dr. Husain was called upon to
obtained his Ph.D. in Civil Engineering (Water Resources and
apply his expertise to deal with oil well fires, air quality and
Environment) at the University of British Columbia in 1979.
pollution control.
Dr. Husain’s studies took him all over the world. In 1975, he
“During the Gulf War, he was invited by the United Nations to
completed a UNESCO Postgraduate Certificate in Water
help advise and handle the oil well fires and pollution from the
Resources Management at the Research Institute for Water
oil spills,” said friend and colleague, Dr. Bing Chen. “He
Resources Development (VITUKI) in Budapest, Hungary; in
published a book and several papers which significantly
1972, his master’s in Systems Engineering and Management at
contributed to air pollution control and oil spill technologies.”
the Asian Institute of Technology in Bangkok; and in 1969, his bachelor’s (Hons.) in Civil Engineering at Aligarh Muslim University in Aligarh, UP, India. Since he joined Memorial University in 1995, Dr. Husain’s research output was unrivalled with worldwide collaborations from Saudi Arabia to Australia. One glance at his resume shows how prolific Dr. Husain was as a researcher; he was principal investigator on more than 70 research projects, presented at 157 conferences and was published in 140 journals and five magazines including International Oil & Gas Engineer and Enviro-News. He also authored 65 technical reports ranging in topics from Water Filtration Technology and Pulp and Paper Mill Waste Management to using Activated Carbon from Fly Ash for Pollution Control. Internationally, Dr. Husain is perhaps best known for his work on environmental modelling and management. Previous to joining Memorial, he worked as a supervisor and senior research engineer (in North America, this would be equivalent to a professor) in the Water Resources and Environment Division of King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia from 1979 to 1995.
That book, Kuwaiti Oil Fires: Regional Environmental Perspectives, published in March 1995 in the UK by Pergamon Press, ran 293 pages and led Dr. Husain to the Harvard School of Public Health, as a visiting scientist from 1995 to 1996. It was during his year at Harvard that Dr. Husain accepted a position at Memorial as chair of the environmental engineering program and continued his innovative research from air pollution control to water and wastewater treatment. He remained at Memorial for the rest of his career. Not only was Dr. Husain a prolific researcher, he was also a popular teacher, explained Dr. Chen, who is chair, professor, associate dean of graduate studies (acting) and former head of the Department of Civil Engineering and director of the Northern Region Persistent Organic Pollution Control (NRPOP) Laboratory where he worked closely with Dr. Husain for almost sixteen years. “Tahir did a lot of work in risk analysis, turning research into teaching and making sure his stories got in touch with the most frontier in the field,” said Dr. Chen. “His grad course, environmental risk assessment (ENGI 9609), was one of the most popular courses in the faculty, designed and taught by
