Meeting – Ken Rainwater, Ph.D., P.E., BCEE, D.WRE, CFM

Dr. Ken Rainwater is a Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Texas Tech University. He also served as the Director of the Texas Tech University Water Resources Center from 2002-12.  He is a licensed Professional Engineer in Texas, a Board Certified Environmental Engineer (AAEE), a Diplomate Water Resources Engineer (AAWRE), and a Certified Floodplain Manager.  He received his B.S. from Rice University (1979), and M.S. (1982) and Ph.D. (1985) in Civil Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin.

Rainwater has 30 years of experience in water resources and environmental engineering.  He teaches courses in fluid mechanics, environmental engineering, engineering hydrology, water systems design, groundwater hydrology, groundwater contaminant transport, and water resources management.  His research expertise is in problems of groundwater quantity and quality, remediation of soil and groundwater contamination, and water resources management.  His research has been funded by the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Energy, Department of Defense, Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Reclamation, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board, and Texas Water Development Board.  He has been honored with several teaching awards at Texas Tech, including with the Abell Faculty Teaching Award and the President’s Excellence in Teaching Award.  He was named the Whitacre College of Engineering Researcher of the Year in 2011. He served as the co-faculty advisor of the J.H. Murdough Student Chapter of ASCE from 1985 to 2004. He also served various roles in the Texas Section of ASCE, including Vice President for Education and President. He is currently a Region 6 Governor and chair of the Committee on Student Members. His daughter Janice has both BSCE and MSCE degrees, and she works in Denver for Amec Foster Wheeler while her husband Scott with BSCE and MSCE degrees works for the Colorado Department of Transportation. His son Kirk is completing his BSME degree this spring. His wife Kathryn feels outnumbered by the engineers in the family and tries to keep them connected to the rest of society.

Reservation deadline is 12:00 PM Tuesday, March 24, 2015. Persons who RSVP will be responsible for meal cost whether they attend or not.