Hampton University Chair:

Dr. Adeyinka Adeyiga

Dr. Adeyiga received his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering in 1980 with supporting fields in Physics and Applied Mathematics. His experience spans more than 25 years in Chemical Engineering practice and Engineering education. Research includes vapor-liquid equilibrium for acid gas constituents in natural gas, oil, and coal-derived fluids; and mathematical modeling of chemical processes and heat transfer, catalytic and non-catalytic gas-solid reactions, environmental and waste management. He has authored and/or co-authored over 45 publications in this field. He has held research engineering positions with E.I. DuPont and De Nemours Company, reservoir engineer with Shell Petroleum (International), and was Chief Consultant for Padson Engineering in Nigeria. Dr. Adeyiga was the founding Chair of the Department of Engineering at Hampton University where he has spent the last eighteen years and has been awarded more than 10 research projects exceeding $4 million dollars since coming to the University in 1985. He also has performed research for the Department of Energy, NASA, and the National Science Foundation. During his tenure as the Department Head, he oversaw construction of a new 5.2 million dollar Olin Engineering Building with state-of-the-art facilities for Engineering instruction and research. He led the Hampton Engineering programs to hosting the first ABET/EAC visit, which resulted in receiving the first accreditation for all of Hampton University's engineering programs in 1992. Accreditation for all engineering programs has been maintained since then. Dr. Adeyiga was featured in the Summer 1995 issue of U.S. Black Engineers Magazine. His memberships in professional organizations include American Institute of Chemical Engineers, American Society for Engineering Education, and the American Chemical Society, among others with listings in Who's Who Among African Americans, Who's Who in America South and Southwest 26th Edition, Who's Who! in American Science and Engineering, and Who's Who in America 54th Edition.

A Discussion with Dr. Adeyiga on Program Goals

"The establishment of the DOE-EM Dr. Samuel P. Massie Chair of Excellence provides an excellent opportunity for Hampton University to be involved in cutting edge environmental issues in the 21st Century. The Hampton University Massie Program focuses on:

Coal gasification with respect to pollution prevention and reduction
Solid waste treatment through bioremediation technology
Industrial wastewater treatment

At the initial stage of the development of this program, work was conducted in the area of how formic acid recovery from waste streams could be accomplished effectively. The last several years have been spent on the removal of priority metal ions such as cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, mercury, nickel, silver, thallium, zinc, etc., from industrial and municipal wastewater by using natural wastes. The process uses tree leaves to adsorb the metal ions in the wastewater. The ultimate goal is to develop inexpensive, highly available, effective metal ion adsorbents from natural wastes as an alternative to existing commercial adsorbents, and also to explain the possible adsorption mechanism that is taking place.

This technology uses natural wastes to eliminate other wastes. Obviously, there are several advantages: (1) the negative impact on environment is eliminated, (2) the complicated regeneration step is not needed, and (3) the procedure saves money and energy.

The research work in the area of wastewater treatment will continue extending into organics. For the immediate future, Hampton plans to expand investigations in the following areas:

Removal of arsenic from wastewater by natural wastes.
Removal of organic contaminations from wastewater by natural wastes.
Removal of organic chemicals from wastewater by surfactant technology
Development of Attrition Resistant Iron-Based Fischer-Tropsch Catalysts
Development of Attrition Resistant Iron-Based Fischer-Tropsch Catalysts for Slurry Bubble Column

The Program will strategize involvement of more U.S. companies with similar research interests.

Environmental Justice

Hampton University has formed partnerships with the City of Portsmouth and the City of Chesapeake, the only two cities with black mayors in the Tidewater of Virginia (Mayor James Holley and Mayor William Ward). Over the years, several areas of the City of Portsmouth have had dilemmas with lead contamination. The Program with the Cities focused attention on the need to more actively ensure equitable environmental protection for all, and to empower those most often disenfranchised from the decision making process - the blacks."

Recent Publications in Refereed Journals

Professional Organizations/Accomplishments

( Updated 07/09/2011 )