Faculty Profile for Dr. San Hwang

profile photo for Dr. San Hwang
Dr. San Hwang
Associate Professor — Ingram School of Engineering
IGRM 5312
phone: (512) 245-3858
Scholarly/Creative Work
Awards
Grants
Service

Biography Section

Biography and Education

 Sangchul Hwang is an associate professor of Civil / Environmental Engineering in Ingram School of Engineering at Texas State University. He joined the faculty in 2020 after serving for 16 years as a professor at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez. He is a licensed professional engineer in Texas. He did two post-doctoral appointments: one was at the US EPA National Risk Management Research Laboratory (OK) and the other at the US Army ERDC Environmental Laboratory (MS). He acquired a PhD degree from the University of Akron (OH).

Teaching Interests

 Dr. Hwang is interested in teaching various environmental and water resources engineering courses: Water Treatment, Solid & Hazardous Waste Management, Low Impact Development, Soil & Groundwater Remediation, and Material Engineering.

Research Interests

 Dr. Hwang’s research expertise is broadly in nature-inspired civil and environmental engineering. His current research focus is on (1) the fate, transport, and remediation of environmental contaminants (e.g., PFAS, microplastics, chlorinated solvents) under changing climate; (2) the upcycling of plant biomass to produce advanced materials for the improvement of water quality, sanitation, public health, and agricultural productivity; and (3) designing, optimizing, and implementing Green Stormwater Infrastructure for Low Impact Development.

Selected Scholarly/Creative Work

  • Mandal, S., Gurav, R., & Hwang, S. S. (2024). Seed gum-based polysaccharides hydrogels for sustainable agriculture: A review. International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, 263, 130339. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.130339
  • Hwang, S. S., Johnson, C. M., Charles, J. S. J., & Biediger-Friedman, L. M. (2024). Food Delivery Apps and Their Potential to Address Food Insecurity in Older Adults: A Review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 21, 1197. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph21091197
  • Mandal, S., & Hwang, S. S. (2023). Guar gum, a low-cost sustainable biopolymer, for wastewater treatment: A review. International Journal of Biological Macromolecules. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2022.12.039
  • Mandal, S., Hwang, S. S., Marpu, S. B., Omary, M. A., Prybutok, V., & Shi, S. (2023). Bioinspired synthesis of silver nanoparticles for the remediation of toxic pollutants and enhanced antibacterial activity. Biomolecules, 13, 1054. https://doi.org/http://doi.org/10.3390/biom13071054
  • Gurav, R., Mandal, S., Smith, L., Shi, S., & Hwang, S. S. (2023). The potential of self-activated carbon for adsorptive removal of toxic phenoxyacetic acid herbicide from water. Chemosphere, 339, 139715. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.139715

Selected Awards

  • Award / Honor Recipient: Professional Engineer, Texas Board of Professional Engineer. July 9, 2018 - Present
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Certified Pervious Concrete Technician, NRMCA. March 6, 2016 - Present
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Tau Beta Pi, Tau Beta Pi, The Engineering Honor Society. December 2001 - Present
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Brain Korea Award, Hanyang University, Korea. December 7, 2024 - December 21, 2024
  • Award / Honor Recipient: CoSE Research Millionaire (FY2022-2024), CoSE, TXST. October 14, 2024

Selected Grants

  • Hwang, Sangchul Scott (Principal), Song, In-Hyouk (Co-Principal), Kim, Namwon (Co-Principal). VOC Remediation by Permeable Reactive Barrier and VOC Sensor Development for Site Safety, DOE, Federal, $350000. (Funded: March 2025 - March 2026). Grant.
  • Speed, Jennifer (Principal), Hwang, Sangchul Scott (Co-Principal), Ptak, Thomas Walter (Co-Principal), Yeon, Jung Heum (Co-Principal), Pemberton, Sue Ann (Co-Principal). Wilson Historic District Energy and Water Conservation Study, Meadows Foundation, Private / Foundation / Corporate, $150000. (Funded: December 10, 2024 - May 31, 2025). Grant.
  • Hwang, Sangchul Scott (Principal), Cho, Eunsang (Co-Principal), Kim, Namwon (Co-Principal), Mandal, Sujata (Co-Principal). Multidisciplinary Research and Workforce Development on Fate and Transport of PFAS, DOE, Federal, $3520000. (Funded: April 2024 - March 2027). Grant.
  • Hwang, Sangchul Scott (Principal), Gurav, Ranjit (Co-Principal), Minifie, Jana Roberta (Co-Principal). Biologically Active Pervious Structure for Stormwater Management, NSF, Federal, $50000. (Submitted: October 2023, Funded: February 2024 - January 2025). Grant.
  • Hwang, Sangchul Scott (Principal), Song, In-Hyouk (Co-Principal), Ji, Chang (Co-Principal), Mandal, Sujata (Co-Principal). Climate impact on resiliency and safety of in-situ remediation for recalcitrant contaminants, Department of Energy, Federal, $350000. (Submitted: July 2023, Funded: January 2024 - April 2025). Grant.

Selected Service Activities

Editor
Aqua - Water Infrastructure, Ecosystems and Society
December 2022-Present
Member
ISoE Annual Review Committee
September 2022-Present
Member
Plum Creek Watershed Partnership Steering Committee
December 2021-Present
Member
Plum Creek Wetlands Preserve Planning Committee
July 2021-Present
Editorial Review Board Member
Revista Internacional de Desastres Naturales, Accidentes e Infraestructura Civil (RIDNAIC)
September 2020-Present