Stormwater technology summit October 5

Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner Jim Nash, in partnership with Pure Oakland Water and Lawrence Technological University, will host the sixth annual Stormwater Summit at Lawrence Tech on Friday, October 5, beginning at 9 a.m.

Southeast Michigan has experienced an increase in stormwater events. In response, Nash, Pure Oakland Water and Lawrence Tech have created an annual Stormwater Summit to educate and provide information on improved stormwater management and engineering improvements.

“In our sixth year, we are bringing new technologies and cutting-edge research to our stakeholders. Together we will solve our stormwater issues throughout southeast Michigan,” said Nash.

The Oakland County Water Resources Commission said the stormwater summit will feature keynote speaker, Branko Kerkez, Ph.D., who serves as an assistant professor at the University of Michigan. He is a civil and environmental engineering department faculty member. The co-presenter, Brandon Wong, Ph.D., who is a faculty member in the University of Michigan Engineering department, will join him. They will be presenting on the topic, “Real-time Stormwater Monitoring.”

Kerkez said that "Learning from stakeholders helps us align our research and our educational initiatives with real needs. We are really excited and grateful to be given the opportunity to share our research on sensing, real-time control, and smart water systems. We believe that opportunities like the Stormwater Summit will help to accelerate the adoption of research and make it a common practice. It will stimulate broader conversations around the role of technology in the management of water resources."

Additional presentations will cover low impact development technologies, green infrastructure champions, stormwater standards, and non-profit updates. At 3 p.m., a free learning session entitled, “Next Generation Real-time Water Sensor Integrated with High Power Miniaturized Batteries” will be led by Dr. Leela Arava, chief executive officer of Microbuoy Inc., and three Wayne State University students. The summit is designed to end at 4 p.m.

The summit will take place at Lawrence Technological University, 21000 W. Ten Mile Road, in Southfield. There is a $25 registration fee. Participants will be provided with a continental breakfast and box lunch at the summit. For more information, go to pureoaklandwater.org/stormwater-summit.