Featured Researcher: Hosein Foroutan, Civil and Environmental Engineering

Recent Awards: 2022-National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development award

Hosein Foroutan, an assistant professor in the Charles E. Via, Jr. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, applies mechanical engineering to research in fluid mechanics, specifically, applied research in air and water pollutants. In his Applied Interdisciplinary Research on Flow Systems (AIRFlowS) Lab, Foroutan and his students focus on understanding how air and water pollutants are emitted, and transported, with a specific focus on contaminants that may harm the human body.

Foroutan’s research investigates emerging contaminants, such as microplastics, viruses, and microorganisms. In addition to determining their origins, and establishing methods of monitoring, the AIRFlowS Lab considers the types of federal environmental policies and regulations that could potentially limit emerging contaminants. In 2022, Foroutan received an NSF CAREER award to study how microplastics are aerosolized in the environment. Foroutan earned his Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering at Iran University, and his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Penn State University. He worked as a postdoc at EPA in North Carolina before coming to Virginia Tech.

Foroutan’s advice to student researchers and future professors: Focus on becoming a T-shaped researcher – the vertical arm is your own specialized research, and the horizontal is broad research topics – so that you can understand how your research connects to other fields and gain a better understanding of who you can collaborate with and who else might benefit from your research.

Published papers by Foroutan can be found at Google Scholar. You can also hear directly from Foroutan about his research on possible hazards in ocean air in this short video.