OzoneLite Revisited or Who is Prof. Goswami

[Guest guest]

Steve Temes, Stuart McCallum, OK you guys.... you just about had me convinced I'd lost my marbles.... but I kind of enjoy a challenge... so here goes... Yo'all have been making fun over my enthusiasm of the OzoneLite and the principle of photocatalytic oxidation and pooh poohed it in a dozen different ways. Then Jeff May referenced the medical journal "Lancet" and commented on a successful study in Montreal where UV energy was successfully demonstrated to significantly reduce a microbial situation. I took an interest in Jeff's comments as I've been aware that Canada has been considerably more innovative in its approach to bettering the environment. After all they have the strictest control on devices which use ozone ---- and that is a good thing--- as it has forced industry to develop alternate and more appropriate methods such as photocatalytic oxidation --- which generates next to no ozone and does greater job of disinfecting the environment. Well I obtained the full article Jeff had referenced and found it most interesting. I then did a search for similar past articles from this periodical and found from an issue two months after the 9-11 terrorist attack the following: "At a special session held on November 11—"Technology vs. Terrorism: Designing Against the Threat of Assault"—at ASME's International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition in New York City, eight technologists and safety experts talked about how some gee-whiz technology could very soon keep the world safer from terrorist attacks. For our sake, the technology cannot be implemented soon enough. Mechanical engineering professor D. Yogi Goswami spoke about a photocatalytic technology that destroys airborne bio-agents. Hightower, a Sandia engineer, told of a program to shield water supplies from terrorist attack." OK, if its good enough for the American Society of Mechanical Engineers its good enough for me. Then the name Goswami caught my eye as I had seen it mentioned somewhere before... Yes it was from the OzoneLite website. and then I remembered he was the professor who had something to do with the bulb... the photocatalytic process... and a couple of the patents. So who is Goswami?? It turns out he is a member of the board of directors of the ASME and then a quick search gave the following: "Dr. D. Yogi Goswami is a Professor of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering and Director of the Solar Energy and Energy Conversion Laboratory at the University of Florida. He is internationally known for his research in fundamental and applied areas of renewable energy. Dr. Goswami is the Editor-in-Chief of the Solar Energy international journal, and a prestigious annual publication in solar energy, Advances in Solar Energy: Annual Review of Research and Development. As an author or editor, he has published 8 books, 10 book chapters, 4 conference proceedings and more than 160 refereed technical papers. He also holds 5 US patents and 1 worldwide patent. He is a registered professional engineer.Dr. Goswami is a recognized leader in professional scientific and technical societies. At present, he is a Governor of ASME-International (2003-2006), and the President of the International Solar Energy Society (ISES, 2004-2005). In the past he has served as a Senior Vice President of ASME, Vice President of ISES and President of the International Association for Solar Energy Education (IASEE, 2000-2002).. He has also served as a Vice President for Energy Resources Board of ASME-International (1989-1993), Vice President of IASEE (1998-2000), a member of the Board of Directors of ISES (2000-2002) and a member of the Board of Directors of the American Solar Energy Society (ASES, 1996-2000).Dr. Goswami is a Fellow of the ASME International, and the American Solar Energy Society. He is a recipient of the Yellott Award for Solar Energy from ASME and the Greely Abbott award of the ASES, and more than 50 awards and certificates from major engineering and scientific societies. Dr. Goswami has chaired a number of task forces to advise the U.S. Congress and the federal administration on energy policy. He has given invited testimonies on energy policy matters to the US Congress and the United Nations. He has also chaired as Conference Chair or Technical Chair a number of International Conferences including the Intersociety Energy Conversion Engineering Conference (1988 and 1995), ASME International Solar Engineering Conference (1984 and 1987) and the ISES Solar World Congress (2005). He has delivered more than 20 Keynote and Plenary lectures at major International conferences.Dr. Goswami has served as an advisor on Energy matters to the US Government, Government of India and the World Bank. He has also worked as a consultant to the US Department of Energy, USAID, World Bank, NIST, and a number of electrical utilities, private corporations and universities in the world."It seems Dr. Goswami is an advocate of Solar Photocatalytic Detoxification and Disinfection of Water and Air. Although the potential of solar radiation for disinfection and environmental mitigation has been known for years, only recently has this technology been scientifically recognized and researched. Solar photocatalytic oxidation has been demonstrated to effectively treat groundwater, drinking water, and industrial wastewater In some applications such as decoloration and reduction of COD it may be the only effective method of treatment. And the good professor suggests: "Treatment of indoor air by the photocatalytic method has been demonstrated as the most effective technology for that application." So now Steve, Stuart, who has the better credentials? You folks or a professor from India who is a most respected engineer and a leader in the ASME????? You guys really remind me of the Pope who had Galileo jailed for teaching the earth rotated around the sun and not the other way around. In the words of the philosopher..... If you keep on doing what you've always been doing you'll keep on getting what you've always gotten....... And to Jeff May---- thank you for introducing me to the Lancet. Regards, Ken