When it comes to biotechnology and environmental engineering Prof. Bruce Rittmann wrote the book — literally.
Rittman, who received a doctorate from Stanford University, co-wrote a textbook on Environmental Biotechnology with his advisor at Stanford, Perry McCarty.
“We decided that we had a message that people ought to hear,” Rittmann said. “We’ve created a new field that brings together engineering and science disciplines in a totally new way.”
But Rittman, who received one of the highest honors in the field of engineering in February, is reluctant to boast about his successes.
“Yeah, it’s a pretty big deal,” he said about his February election to the National Academy of Engineering, “(But) it’s not like it was a lightning bolt.”
Rittmann’s co-workers agree that his tenacity has helped him succeed professionally.
“He is very thorough and he doesn’t let things pass,” said Rittmann’s long-time colleague Barbara-Ann Lewis, professor of civil and environmental engineering. “He demands excellence from himself and from his students.”
Rittmann said he realized that he wanted to teach while he was working on his doctorate degree.
“Two or three years into the Ph.D. program, I realized, ‘Gee, I like the university. I could be a professor,'” he said.
After completing his degree, he joined the faculty of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he stayed for 12 years. However, he said he left in 1992 because the university’s fiscal situation was limiting his research. Northwestern, on the other hand, “had money and big ideas,” he said.
Lewis said Rittmann was a welcome addition to the staff.
“He knows very much about his field but about other fields also,” she said. “He can make connections between what happens in one field and another and can use his knowledge about one field to solve problems in another.”
One of the problems that Rittmann recently addressed was the Army’s efforts to destroy nerve agents that it had produced in the last 50 years. One highly toxic agent, called VX, is stored in Newport, Ind.
“VX is a chemical designed to kill people almost instantly in extraordinarily minute exposures,” Rittmann said.
The Army announced a year ago that it would break VX down to form a highly caustic compound, which emitted a skunk-like odor. The toxic waste was shipped to Dayton, Ohio. It was further reconstructed and tested there and then released into the municipal sewage system. When residents and local governments became concerned about the problem, they called Rittmann to investigate.
“I evaluated what they had done in the testing program,” said Rittmann. “I identified the risks and I identified further work that they would do to really understand what (was) going on.”
Rittmann suggested that VX undergo an additional step to remove its thiolamine, the source of the foul odor, before it was shipped to Dayton, Ohio. During the current process, the chemical is reduced from VX to VXH. If the Army could eliminate thiolamine, they would not have to keep the pH level in VXH so high.
Unfortunately, Dayton, Ohio, stopped receiving the VXH compound before Rittmann could improve its operations, he said. Now the Army ships the VXH to a plant in Delaware, and Rittmann said he already has begun receiving phone calls from local governments there.
Rittmann said he also is working on developing an alternate form of energy, called the microbial fuel cell.
“We’re taking waste material and we’re going to find a way to directly convert them into electricity,” he said.
When Rittmann is not solving toxic waste problems or winning awards, he said he tries to lead a healthy lifestyle. He works out every day. and also loves to travel with his wife, Marylee MacDonald. Their favorite destination is France, he said, and they have visited the country so many times that Rittmann now speaks the language.
Rittmann’s walls attest to his successes — they’re covered with plaques and awards. Surrounded by reminders of how far he’s come, Rittmann has every right to kick back and enjoy the view.
Extra Credit Questions
Q:If you were an element on the periodic table, what would you be and why?
A: I would be Tin because the symbol for Tin is Sn. So the symbol is not like the name of the chemical!
Q: What is your favorite place to eat in Evanston?
A: Chef’s Station. You can get the tasting menu, so you get to taste a lot of different things. (My wife and I) also like it because it barely survived construction (around it by the Davis Street El stop). We would go in and commiserate with the owner, Peter.
Q: How did you meet your wife?
