You are invited to attend a lunchtime brown-bag seminar on Tuesday, April 21, 2026 at 12:45–1:45 p.m. in Kaplan Institute, room 211 (Steelcase East). The talk, titled “Advancing Circular Economy in Bali: From Resource Recovery to Sustainable Practice,” will be delivered by Dr. I Made Wahyu Wijaya is Associate Professor of Environmental Engineering and Head of the Research Center at Universitas Mahasaraswati Denpasar in Bali. He is currently a visiting Fulbright US-ASEAN Scholar at Illinois Tech.
Abstract
Waste is not a problem to be disposed of — it is a resource waiting to be redesigned.
This seminar presents applied research at the intersection of circular economy principles, environmental engineering, and community-based practice, using Bali, Indonesia as a living laboratory. Two complementary lines of work are examined. The first investigates activated biochar derived from temple ceremonial waste as an adsorbent for nutrient recovery from wastewater, with recovered nutrients reintegrated as organic fertilizer — closing a material loop that is both technically grounded and locally meaningful. The second draws on community-level solid waste management assessments, analyzing how circular economy strategies can be implemented across diverse social and infrastructural contexts.
Together, these cases raise questions central to sustainable development: How are material flows redesigned when resources are scarce and institutions are limited? What does it take for an engineering solution to work at community scale? The seminar is designed to speak across disciplines — whether your background is in engineering, design, business, or the social sciences. Opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration and international partnership, particularly between Southeast Asia and the U.S., will also be discussed.
