Ronald Sims

College of Engineering

Biological Engineering

Ron Sims has served the College of Engineering as a research mentor for undergraduate students since he began at USU 33 years ago.

As Co-Director of the Sustainable Waste to Bioproducts Engineering Center since 2010, he currently involves more than 15 undergraduate students in sponsored research projects. Ron has mentored 16 undergraduate researchers from 2012- present in areas of bioremediation and waste-to-value engineering. Three undergraduate students are co-authors on refereed publications, and six professional presentations have been given by four students since 2014.

He involved undergraduate students in his research projects in the Environmental Engineering Division (CEE department, 1982-1996), as Director of the Utah Water Research Laboratory (1997-2003), and in the Biological & Irrigation Engineering Department and then the Biological Engineering Department from 2003-present. His research projects have financially sponsored undergraduates to obtain hands-on experiences in laboratory and field research projects, and to travel to professional meetings across the U.S. to present their research.

His research areas include sustainability engineering, bioremediation of contaminated water and soil, and the production of value bioproducts from industrial, municipal, and agricultural wastes.  Ron was the College of Engineering nominee for the Wynn Thorne Research Award in 2010, is a recipient of the Utah Governor’s Medal for Science and Technology (1993), and was the College Outstanding Researcher in 1987.

He also served as president of the national Institute of Biological Engineering in 2012. It’s obvious that undergraduate students play a critical function in research in the BE Department at USU.