POTSDAM -- The Association of Environmental Engineering & Science Professors Distinguished Lecturer Bruce E. Logan will speak at Clarkson University on microbial fuel cell technologies.

He will speak on "Microbial Fuel Technologies for Renewable Power and Biofuels Production from Waste Biomass" at 11 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 29, in Clarkson's Moore House Room 1009A.

Logan is an Evan Pugh professor, the Stan & Flora Kappe professor of environmental engineering and director of the Engineering Energy & Environmental Institute at Penn State University. His current research is in bioenergy production and the development of an energy sustainable water infrastructure.

Clarkson Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering Thomas Holsen said Logan is probably most well-known for his pioneering work using wastewater to generate power. Holsen said anyone who attends Logan's lecture will gain a valuable perspective on the future of environmental engineering.

"He's one of the leaders in the environmental engineering field and a member of the National Academy of Engineering," he said.

In his presentation, Logan will discuss the ability of certain microorganisms to transfer electrons outside the cell which has created opportunities for new methods of renewable energy generation based on microbial fuel cells (MFCs) that can be used to produce electrical power, microbial electrolysis cells (MECs) for transforming biologically generated electrical current into transportable fuels such as hydrogen and methane gases, as well as other devices to desalinate water or capture phosphorus. He will highlight recent advances in materials and architectures being developed to make different types of microbial fuel technologies more cost efficient, which leads to them becoming commercially viable technologies.

Logan is visiting 16 environmental engineering and science programs throughout North America as well as China and Saudi Arabia during his AEESP Distinguished Lecture Series tour from fall 2014 to spring 2015. Holsen said Clarkson's inclusion in the series is a testament to the quality of the engineering programs.

"It means Clarkson is recognized as an important place for environmental engineering," he said.