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Lyles College of Engineering

William Wright

Professor

Civil Engineering

wfwright@csufresno.edu

Education

  • Ph.D. Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of California, Davis, 2000
  • M.S.  Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of California, Davis, 1995
  • B.S.   Civil Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, 1986
  • A.S.   Chemistry, Yuba Community College, Marysville, California, June 1982.

Courses Taught

Dr. William Wright began his career with Black & Veatch Consulting Engineers in 1986 after earning a BS degree in Civil Engineering at UC Berkeley, obtained a license to practice Civil Engineering (CA), and then earned MS and PhD degrees in Civil and Environmental Engineering at UC Davis in 1995 and 2000, respectively. He joined the Civil Engineering faculty at Fresno State in 1999 and his responsibilities currently include instruction in civil and environmental engineering and coordination of the graduate program. His research interests include water and wastewater treatment, conversion of food wastes to marketable products (e.g., bioplastics and activated carbon), manure management, digestion/ fermentation, salinity management, and biofiltration. Recent work has focused on the production of water and fertigation nutrients from nontraditional water sources using ion exchange and membrane technologies.
  • Ion exchange softening of agricultural tailwater as pretreatment to desalination.
  • Recovery of plant nutrients from agricultural tailwater
  • Desalination of municipal wastewater effluent.
  • Conversion of agricultural waste to marketable products (activated carbon, bioplastics, and biochar)
  • Manure management including digestion/ fermentation and production of low-carbon biogas.
  • Removal of taste and odor compounds, nitrate, and salinity from drinking water sources.
  • Vapor-phase biofiltration (an air pollution control technology that utilizes microorganisms).
Proffesional Experience:
  • Registered Civil Engineer, State of California, License No. 46361.
  • Certified Master Modeler using WaterCAD software for water distribution systems.
  • Certified Emergency Services Safety Assessment Evaluator – Civil Engineer (water & wastewater systems) -- California. ID # 77784.

Employment:

Department of Civil & Geomatics Engineering, California State University, Fresno
  • Professor, Water Resources and Environmental Engineering (2015 – present)
  • Associate Professor, Water Resources and Environmental Engineering (2006 – 2014)
  • Lecturer, Water Resources and Environmental Engineering (1999 – 2000)
  • Coordinator, Civil Engineering Graduate Program (2009 – present)
Black & Veatch Consulting Engineers (1986 – 1991)

Research Grants:
  • USDA-NIFA (2021) “Sustaining Groundwater and Irrigated Agriculture in the Southwestern United States under a Changing Climate (SW Water CAP)” ($1,041,355) – awarded as a partnering institution with UC Davis, PI Sankha Banerjee, Co-P.I.’s Charles Hillyer, Karl Longley, Sharon Benes, William Wright, and Water Mizuno; 2021-2026.
  • California State University Agricultural Research Institute “Reclamation of agricultural drainage water with innovative nutrient recovery for agriculture.” ($290,404) P.I. William Wright; Co-P.I.’s Karl Longley, Water Mizuno, Sankha Banerjee, Mike Waite (Agua DB, UK), & Eric Hoek (UCLA); Project Advisor William Stringfellow (Stringfellow & Associates, Berkeley, CA). 2021 – 2024.
  • California Dept. of Water Resources, Proposition 204 Proposition 204 Drainage Reuse Grant Program. “Optimization of Ion Exchange Pretreatment for the Desalination of Agricultural Drainage Water.” ($280,404) P.I. William Wright; Co-P.I.’s Karl Longley and Water Mizuno; Project Advisor Mike Waite. 2021 – 2023.   https://water.ca.gov/Work-With-Us/Grants-And-Loans/AgDrainage-204
  • USDA via Ohio State University. “Creation of the Consortium for Advanced Bioeconomy Leadership Education (CABLE).” ($40,000 to Fresno State). Global P.I. Dennis Hall (OSU), partnering university P.I. William Wright. 2017 – 2020.
  • Dept. of Water Resources. “Ion Exchange Resin Research.” ($7,500 Sub-award). P.I. William Wright. 2016 –  2017.
  • City of Fresno. “Solar-Based Saline Water Reclamation Project.” ($26,475) P.I. Walter Mizuno, Co-P.I.’s Riadh Munjy, Lubo Liu, Fayzul Pasha, Ajith Weerasinghe, Sankha Banerjee and William Wright. 2016 – 2017.
  • Full Cycle Bioplastics (formerly Back2Earth) L.L.C. “Investigation of PHA Bio-Plastic Resin.” ($166,000 – original contract plus 5 amendments) P.I. William Wright. 2013 – 2015.
  • Fresno State Division of Graduate Studies, Recruitment Mini-Grant titled “Graduate Student Recruitment Support Materials.” ($500). P.I. William Wright. 2015 – 2016.
  • Agricultural Research Institute (Calif. State University), Wawona Frozen Foods and the Lyles College of Engineering, “Production of Volatile Fatty Acids at Pilot-Scale” Awarded May 2015 ($14,763 from ARI;  plus $14,763 the match by Full Cycle Bioplastics, LLC was declined due to change of research focus) P.I. William Wright.
  • Lyles College of Engineering, Faculty Fellows in Civil Engineering Grant to develop a new graduate course titled “Management of Agricultural Byproducts.” ($5,000). P.I. William Wright. AY 2014 – 2015.
  • Fresno State Division of Graduate Studies, Recruitment Mini-Grant titled “Graduate Student Recruitment Support Materials.” ($500). P.I. William Wright. AY 2014-2015
  • Lyles College of Engineering, Research Proposal-Writing Grant titled “Investigation of Agriculture Food Waste Used in the Production of Bio-Based, Degradable PHA Bio-Plastic Resins.” (3 WTU release from teaching, valued at $5,000). P.I. William Wright. AY 2014-2015.
  • CSU Fresno, Undergraduate Student Research Grant. “Investigation of PHA Bio-Plastic Resin Generated from Agricultural Food Production,” 5/13 to 6/14 ($1,000 student funding). P.I. William Wright.
  • Agricultural Research Institute (Calif. State University), Wawona Frozen Foods and the Lyles College of Engineering, “Investigation of PHA Bio-Plastic Resin Generated from Agricultural Food Production Waste.” 9/13 to 6/14 ($12,430 from ARI plus $12,430 match from WFF & LCOE) P.I. William Wright.
  • CSU Fresno, Lyles College of Engineering, “Creation of Water-Related Teaching and Research Laboratory Infrastructure in the Lyles College of Engineering.” 2//1/11, Equipment purchased in AY2011-12, ($180,000). P.I.’s William F. Wright & Lubo Liu; Contributors Ming Xiao & Jesus Larralde
  • Water Resources Policy Initiative (CSU), Research Proposal-Writing Grant (3 WTU release from teaching) titled “Physical, biological, cultural and economic impacts of metering residential water use in Fresno, CA.” Sep 6, 2011 ($5,000). P.I. William Wright.
  • CSU Fresno, Undergraduate Student Research Grant. “Providing Wastewater Treatment for Small, Rural Disadvantaged Communities,” 6/10 to 5/11 ($1,000 student funding). P.I. William Wright.
  • CSU Fresno, Graduate Student Research Grant. “Providing Safe Drinking Water for Small Rural Economically Disadvantaged Communities,” 8/10 to 6/12 ($2,000 student funding). P.I. William Wright.
  • 2007-08 CSU Awards For Research, Scholarships, & Creative Activities on the subject " Origins and Management of Odiferous Micropollutants in Potable and Non-Potable Domestic Water Supplies," funded for summer 2009 ($5,000). P.I. William Wright.
  • Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts. “Monitoring, Sampling, and Testing at the L.A. County JWPCP Composting Research Facility,” funded from 10/05 to 10/06 ($19,796). P.I. William Wright.
  • Subcontract with Provost & Pritchard Engineering Group on a grant from the city of Clovis, CA on the subject "City of Clovis Surface Water Treatment Plant Taste and Odor Study," funded from 7/05 to 6/06 ($38,092). Subcontract P.I. William Wright.
  • Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts. “Monitoring, Sampling, and Testing at the L.A. County JWPCP Composting Research Facility,” funded from 10/04 to 9/05 ($12,220). P.I. William Wright.
  • Subcontract with Applied Process Technology, Inc. on a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR) Phase I on the subject "Economical Nitrate Reduction From Drinking Water Sources," funded from 5/04 to 10/04 ($7,000). Subcontract P.I. William Wright.
  • 2003-04 CSU Awards For Research, Scholarships, & Creative Activities on the subject "Reduction of livestock-generated air pollution using biofiltration technology," funded from 7/04 to 6/05 ($5,000). P.I. William Wright.
  • California Water Institute "Investigate the Nature of Dairy Manure Particles, Their Impact on Treatability, Treatment Design, and Fate of Residual Constituents of Concern," funded from 7/02 to 6/03 ($10,000). P.I. William Wright.
  • 2000-01 CSU Awards For Research, Scholarships, & Creative Activities on the subject "Characterization of dairy operation manure stream particle size distribution and volatile solid fraction," funded from 7/02 to 6/03 ($5,000). P.I. William Wright.