Carlos Ruiz

Affiliation

ERDC-WES

Track

Biography

Carlos E. Ruiz, Ph.D. Research Civil Engineer Research Interests/Expertise • Dredged material fate and effects • Cap Design • Contaminant fate and transport • Water quality and contaminant modeling of surface water Technical Background: Dr. Ruiz has been a Research Civil Engineer with the U.S. Army Engineering Research and Development Center (ERDC) at the Waterways Experiment Station since 1989. He is responsible for developing mathematical models for water quality and contaminant transport. He has worked in a variety of problems of significant importance to the US Army Corp of Engineers (CE) and others in the areas of contaminant fate and transport to assess the potential impact of nutrients, explosives and priority pollutants. Modified and further developed RECOVERY, a screening model for addressing the impact of contaminated sediment on surface waters. RECOVERY was further modified to address soil/sediment compaction, desiccation, and groundwater flow. Dr. Ruiz established the Sediment Research Laboratory in 2007 to develop algorithms in the laboratory to be incorporate into our cap design mathematical models; estimate parameters and/or coefficients in the laboratory used in our mathematical models; and a testing ground to test proof of concept remediation technologies. The laboratory serves as a near field scale testing of large columns and tanks. He has conducted capping research for EPA's superfund program and bioavailability reduction and remediation for EPA’s Great Lakes Research Program (GLNPO)and ExxonMobil. Led several SERDP bioavailability reduction projects to reduce contaminant uptake using thin layer capping and mobile amendments. Currently developing a series of laboratory experiments to evaluate effectiveness of thin layer capping technologies for reducing the availability of sediment-associated contaminants, its technical feasibility, cost, design, and construction.