Education History
- BS, Mechanical Engineering, University of Wisconsin
- MS, Agricultural Engineering, University of Wisconsin
- Army Command and General Staff Certificate, Army Command Policy, Staff Functions and Force Structure, Army Command and General Staff College
- Air Force War College Graduate (with distingtion), Air Force Leadership, Strategy and Strategic Direction, Air Force War College
- Federal Senior Executive Service Certification, Federal Government Leadership, Policy Development and Strategic Direction, US Office of Personnel Management, SES Division
- Senior Managers in Gvernment Program, Executive Leadership and Management, Harvard University
- PhD, Environmental Engineering, Michigan State University
Work Experience
Professor and Chair of Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, (Retired), George Washington University
Publications
Refereed Journal Papers:
Alfonso Blanco, John J. Qu, William E. Roper, (2012) Spectral signatures of hydrilla from a tank and field setting, Front. Earth Sci., DOI 10.1007/s11707-012-0330-2, Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
Roper, William E., and Newby, Carl, (2010) Evaluation of resource recovery through a Waste-to-Energy plant operation with municipal solid waste, Int. J. Environmental Technology and Management, Vol. No. 1, pages 96-112
Zong Woo Geem, William E. Roper, (2009), various continuous harmony search algorithms for web-based hydrologic parameter optimization, International Journal Mathematical Modeling and Numerical Optimization, Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 675-689
Zong Woo Geem, William E. Roper, (2009) Energy Demand Estimation of South Korea using Artificial Neural Network, Elsevier, Energy Policy 37, pages 4049-4054
Roper, W, E.(2008) Waste Management Policy Revisions: Lessons Learned from the Katrina Disaster, Int. J. Environmental Technology and Management, Vol. 8, Nos. 2/3, pp. 275-309
Roper, W, E., Weiss, K., J., Wheeler, J., F., (2008) Water Quality Monitoring in New Orleans Following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Int. J. Environmental Technology and Management, Vol. 8, Nos. 2/3, pp. 210-228
Roper, W. and Campeau, N. (2006) Renewable Energy Production Issues with the Cape Cod Offshore Wind Energy Programme, Int. J. Environmental Technology and Management, Vol. 6, Nos. ¾. Pp. 405-420
Roper, W.E., (2006) Strategies for Building Material Reuse and Recycle, Int. J. Technology Transfer and Commercialization, Vol. 6, Nos.3/4, pp 313-345
Roper, W.E., (2005), Environmental indicator Assessment for Smart Growth, Int. J. Environmental Technology and Management, Vol. 5, Nos. 2/3, pp. 300-317.
Roper, W.E. and Gomez, J., (2005), Environmental Assessment Process for the AES Parana Power Plant Development Project in Argentina, Int. J. Environmental Technology and Management, Vol. 5, Nos. 2/3, pp. 162-182.
Roper, W.E. (2005), Geospatial Informatics Applications for Assessment of Pipeline Safety and Security, Int. J. Technology Transfer and Commercialization, Vol. 4, No. 3, pp. 401-420.
Roper, W.E. (2005), Spatial Multi-database Integration for Emergency Operations Support, Int. J. Technology Transfer and Commercialization, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 3-30.
Special Reports
Roper, William E., and Mendoza, Franklin, Study on Energy Efficiency for the Basic Sanitation Company of the State of Sao Paulo, Prepared for the Japan International Cooperation Agency, 2011
Roper, William E., International Survey on Advance Technology for Monitoring and Ensuring the Safety of Road Slopes, Prepared for the Japan Public Works Research Institute and the Civil Engineering Research Laboratory, 2004
Books
Roper, William E, and Suresh, R, Imagery and Sensor Data Exploitation and Application, International Society of Optical Engineering, SPIE Publishers, Seattle, Washington, (in publication planned for September 2003)
Roper, William E., and Suresh, R., Battlespace Digitization and Network-Centric Warfare II, International Society for Optical Engineering, SPIE Publishers, Seattle, Washington, 2002
Roper, William E., Signal and Image Processing, Communications, and Law Enforcement, Volume 4741, Book on CD, International Society for Optical Engineering, SPIE Publishers, Seattle, Washington, 2002
Roper, William E., Geo-Spatial Image and Data Exploitation: Developments and Applications II, International Society for Optical Engineering, SPIE Publishers, Seattle, Washington, 2001
Roper, William E., Geo-Spatial Image and Data Exploitation: Developments and Applications, International Society for Optical Engineering, 2000
Book Chapters
William E. Roper, Chapter 8, Strategies for Building Material Reuse and recycle, page 162-197,
Building Deconstruction and Reuse Technology: Environmental, Economic and Technological Issues, Editors R. K. Jain, E. D. Smith and S Kaur, TEPC-2004-3, University of the Pacific, 2004
Refereed Conference Papers:
William E. Roper, PhD, P.E. and Kelly P. Rock, Contaminate Removal from Water with a Single Pass Advance Treatment System, National Capital Region Water Quality Symposium, April 2014
William E. Roper, Kelly P. Rock, and Howard E. Sorber III, Innovative Removal of Nitrates and Nitrites from Contaminated Well Water, National Capital Region Water Quality Symposium, April 2014
B. Ayalew , J.J Qu and W.E. Roper, Drought Assessment and Monitoring for Sustainable Production of Tef Crop and Land Management in Ethiopia Using Geoinformation Science, High Level Meeting on National Drought Policy, United Nations World Food Organization, Geneva, March 2013
A.F. Blanco, J.J Qu, F. Salem and W.E. Roper, Identification of hydrilla using hyperspectral image analysis and field spectroscopy, NASA HyspIRI Science Symposium, Washington D.C., Oct 2012
F. Salem and W.E. Roper, Hyperspectral Remote Sensing: A New Approach for Oil Spill Detection and Analysis, NASA HyspIRI Science Symposium, Washington D.C., Oct 2012
Roper, William E., and Rigby, David J., Electro-Catalytic Flux Technology Research, Development and Application, National Water Security Summit, University of the Pacific, School of Engineering and Computer Science, San Francisco, CA, November 2011
Roper, William E., “green tourism project as part of smart urban growth class”, Proceedings of the American Society of Engineering Education, National Conference, Louisville, KY, June 2010.
Roper, William E., “watershed impervious surface storm water assessment ”, Proceedings of the American Society of Engineering Education, National Conference, Louisville, KY, June 2010.
Roper, W. E., U.S.-Japan Experience on Extending Bridge Service Life Using Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composite Bridge Decks and Composite Coatings, Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) Composites for Infrastructure Applications Conference Proceedings, University of the Pacific, School of Engineering and Computer Science, pages 422-449, March 2010
Roper, William, Morrill, John, Kelsch, Joan and Geem, Zong Woo, Implementation Strategy to Reduce Carbon Emissions, Improve Air and Water Quality in an Urban Environment, US-Korean Conference on Science, Technology, and Entrepreneurship, Raleigh, North Carolina, June 2009
Roper, William, Blanco, Alfonso, Cheng, Mow-Soung and Geem, Zong Woo, Low Impact Development Applications for Urban Retrofit and Decentralized Wastewater Treatment Systems, US-Korean Conference on Science, Technology, and Entrepreneurship, Raleigh, North Carolina, June 2009
Alfonso Blanco, William E. Roper and Mow-Soung Cheng, Integrated Water Management Demonstration Project for Low Impact Development Urban Retrofit and Decentralized Wastewater Treatment Systems in the Upper Patuxent River Watershed, Prince George’s County Maryland, American Society of Civil Engineers, Sustainable Development Conference, Seattle, WA, November 2008
Blanco, and W.E. Roper, Identification of Failing Onsite Treatment Systems using Remote Sensing, Water Environment Foundation Annual Conference, WEFTEC® 2008, Chicago, Il., October 2008.
Roper, W., and Winquist, A., Environmental Quality in Public Education and Outreach Focused on Green Practices for Energy Conservation, Clean Water and Storm Water Reduction, Virginia Water Federation Water Jam Conference, Virginia Beach, September 2008
Blanco, Alfonso, and Roper, William E., Remote Sensing Techniques to detect Surface Water Quality Constituents in Coastal and Inland Water Bodies from Point and Non-Point Sources, presented at the National Water Quality Monitoring Conference, Washington, D.C., August 2008
Roper, William E., Morrill, John, Kelsch, Joan, Program Design and Implementation to Reduce Arlington County Carbon Emissions and Improve Air and Water Quality, selected for publication and presentation at the Water Environment Foundation Sustainability Conference, National Harbor, Maryland, June 2008
Morrill, John, Kelsch, Joan, Roper, William E., Creating Fresh AIRE – the Arlington Initiative to Reduce Emissions, presented and to be published in the proceedings of the Transforming Local Government Conference, Greenville, South Carolina, June, 2008
Roper, William E., Greenfield, Victoria and Grabowsky, Erik, Optimizing Solid Waste Resource Conservation through source reduction, reuse and recycling strategies in Arlington Virginia, solid waste management focusing on sustainability leadership and innovation conference, San Francisco, California, May 2008
Roper, William E., and Fletcher, Mary Beth, Project Application using a Fully Integrated County Web Based GIS System, selected for publication and presentation at the Geospatial Infrastructure Solutions Conference, Seattle, Washington, February 2008
Roper, William E., and Blanco, Alfonso, Remote Sensing and GIS Analysis of Phytoplankton Blooms, Selected for Publication and Presentation at the ESRI International Users Conference, San Diego, CA, June 2007
Fletcher, Mary Beth and Roper, William E., Implementation of a Fully Integrated Web-GIS Solution, Selected for Publication and Presentation at the ESRI International Users Conference, San Diego, CA, June 2007
Roper, William E., “State of the Art Review for Sustainable Building Design and Innovation Technologies”, published in proceedings U. S. / Japan Natural Resources Program, Wind and Seismic Panel, Tuesuba, Japan, May 2007
Roper, William E., Energy, Environmental and Sustainability Considerations For Next Generation Buildings, International Workshop for the development of next generation Buildings, National Science Foundation, Honolulu, Hawaii, February 2007
Roper, William E., Weiss, Kevin J., Wheeler, James F. W., Water Quality Issues in New Orleans during Katrina Recovery Operations, TRB Paper 07-3376, Transportation Research Board Conference, National Academies, Washington, D.C., January 2007
Roper, William E., and Blanco, Alfonso, Color Infrared Survey for Identification of Failing Onsite Septic Treatment Systems, Selected for Publication and Presentation at the ESRI International Users Conference, San Diego, CA, August 2006
Roper, William E., Weiss, Kevin J., Wheeler, James F. W., Water Quality Management during the pump out of New Orleans following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, US-Japan Wind and Seismic Panel Meeting, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, May 2006
Roper, William E., Weiss, Kevin J., Wheeler, James F. W., Recovery and Monitoring Challenges with Water Quality Issues in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina Recovery Operations, National Water Quality Monitoring Conference, San Jose, CA, May 2006
Roper, William E., and Dutta, Subijoy, The Use of Geo-informatics and Remote Sensing Techniques for the Assessment of Oil and Gas Pipeline Spills, National Water Quality Monitoring Conference, San Jose, CA, May 2006
Roper, William E., Weiss, Kevin J., Wheeler, James F. W., Water Quality Assessment and Monitoring in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina, Sixth Biennial Fresh Water Spill Symposium, Portland, OR, May 2006
Roper, William E., and Dutta, Subijoy, Oil Spill and Pipeline Condition Assessment Using Remote Sensing and Data Visualization Management Systems, Sixth Biennial Fresh Water Spill Symposium, Portland, OR, May 2006
Roper, William E., Disaster Debris Management for Reuse and Recycle of Material in Louisiana Following Hurricane Katrina, Demolition and Construction Material Reuse and Recycle Workshop, San Francisco, CA, April 2006
Roper, William E., Bridge and Tunnel Monitoring and Assessment Systems for Security Protection, National Research Council, Transportation Research Board, Annual Conference, Washington, DC, January, 2006
Roper, William E., Reference Document: Metals in Wastewater and Associated Issues, EPA Office of Wastewater Management, Permits Division, October, 2005
Roper, W.E. and Kohli, V. K., Critical Transportation Infrastructure Monitoring, Assessment & Protection, Department of Homeland Security R&D Homeland Security Conference, Boston, MA, April 26, 2005
Roper, W., E., Geospatial Informatics Applications for Disaster Management, US-Japan Panel on Wind and Seismic Effects, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland, May 17, 2004,
Roper, W., E., Sensor information collection, analysis and network systems for home security, Proceedings of International Society for Optical Engineering, accepted for publication January 2003 [5097B 18], SPIE Publishers, Seattle, Washington
Nahidi, A., Roper, W., E., Gomez, R., B., Hyperspectral systems role in understanding the composition of atmospheric air pollution, Proceedings of International Society for Optical Engineering, accepted for publication January 2003 [5097B 28], SPIE Publishers, Seattle, Washington
Blanco, A., Roper, W., E, Gomez, R., B., Hyperspectral imagery for surface water quality assessment along the New River in California, Proceedings of International Society for Optical Engineering, accepted for publication January 2003 [5097B 29], SPIE Publishers, Seattle, Washington
Blanco, A., Roper, W., E., Precision Farming Applications of Hyperspectral Imagery Technology, Proceedings of International Society for Optical Engineering, accepted for publication January 2003 [5097B 30], SPIE Publishers, Seattle, Washington
Barona, M., Roper, W., E., Gomez, R. B., Wetland Characterization Using Hyperspectral Sensor Applications, Proceedings of International Society for Optical Engineering, accepted for publication January 2003 [5097B 31], SPIE Publishers, Seattle, Washington
Roper, W., E., Ayalew, B., Gomez, R., B., Pavement management and data extraction using hyperspectral imagery, Proceedings of International Society for Optical Engineering, accepted for publication January 2003 [5097B 32], SPIE Publishers, Seattle, Washington
Carrasco, O., Roper, W., E., Gomez, R., B., Hyperspectral Imaging for Illness Prevention and Detection, Proceedings of International Society for Optical Engineering, accepted for publication January 2003 [5097B 33], SPIE Publishers, Seattle, Washington
Harrison, J., F., Roper, W., E., Gomez, R., B., Earth-Observing Hyperspectral Imaging Systems: A 2003 Survey Proceedings of International Society for Optical Engineering, accepted for publication January 2003 [5097B 34], SPIE Publishers, Seattle, Washington
Sanchez, G., Roper, W., E., Gomez, R. B., Use of Hyperspectral imagery to detect oil spills, Proceedings of International Society for Optical Engineering, accepted for publication January 2003 [5097B 35], SPIE Publishers, Seattle, Washington
Dutta, S., Roper, W., E., A Multi-Faceted Watershed Management Plan for the Delmarva Area, Proceedings of Coastal Zone 2003, Baltimore, MD, July 13 – 17, 2003, Accepted for publication, March 2003
Roper, W., E., Remote Sensing and Geospatial Analysis for Pipeline Safety and Security Applications, Proceedings of the 2003 International Conference on Energy and the Environment, Shanghai, China, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology Press, Accepted for publication January 2003
Campeau, N., Roper, W., E., Off Shore Wind Energy Production: A United States Case Study at Cape Cod, Mass., Proceedings of the 2003 International Conference on Energy and the Environment, Shanghai, China, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology Press, Accepted for publication January 2003
Gomez, J., Roper, W., E., Environmental Assessment Case Study: AES Parana Power Plant Development Project in San Nicolas, Argentina, Proceedings of the 2003 International Conference on Energy and the Environment, Shanghai, China, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology Press, Accepted for publication January 2003
Dutta, Subijoy, and Roper, William, E., Application of Remote Sensing and GIS Tools in Delineating Sensitive Waterbodies and Watersheds, International Conference on Water Security in the 21st Century, American Society of Civil Engineers, Washington, D. C., Accepted for publication February, 2003
Roper, William E., Spatial Multi-Database Integration for Emergency Operations Support, International Journal of Technology Transfer and Commercialization, Interscience Enterprises Ltd., Geneve, Switzerland, Accepted for Publication, February, 2003
Harrison, J., F., Harrison, J., G., Kliman, D., H., Roper, W., E., The Distributed Urban Terrain Information System: A Geoprocessing Approach, Proceedings of the International Military Geography and Geology Conference, West Point, New York, Accepted for publication January 2003
Jens, J., Roper, W., E., Geospatial Investigation of the 1855 Overland Route from Fort Pierre to Fort Kearny, Proceedings of the International Military Geography and Geology Conference, West Point, New York, Accepted for publication January 2003
Roper, William, E., Application Challenges for Geospatial Technology: A September 11th World Trade Center Case Study, International Conference on Technology Transfer, Kauia, Hawaii, July 2002.
Roper, William E., “Information Systems for Infrastructure Management and Emergency Response”, published in proceedings U. S. / Japan Natural Resources Program, Wind and Seismic Panel, Washington, DC, May 2002
Harrison, Joseph, F., Kliman, Douglas, H., and Roper, William, E., “Dynamic Visualization of Urban Terrain: Movement to Navigation in 4D Virtual Worlds”, published in proceedings, International Society for Optical Engineering, AERO Sense Conference, Orlando, FL, April 2002
Roper, William E., “Geo-spatial technology applications in the World Trade Center recovery”, published in proceedings, International Society for Optical Engineering, AERO Sense Conference, Orlando, FL, April 2002
Roper, William E., “Intelligent Home Risk Assessment Systems and Integration with Biometric Identification”, published in proceedings, International Society for Optical Engineering, AERO Sense Conference, Orlando, FL, April 2002
Richa, G., and Roper, William E., “Video imagery applications for intelligent home condition assessment”, published in proceedings, International Society for Optical Engineering, AERO Sense Conference, Orlando, FL, April 2002
Roper, William E., ”Transfer and Integration of Geo-Spatial Information and Technology“, published in proceedings of the International Conference on Technology Transfer Challenges for Environmental Engineering, Maui, Hawaii, August 2001
Roper, William E., Environmental Engineering Research and Development Activities, published in the proceedings of the Electric Power Research Institute’s Bio-Mass Working Group, Washington, DC, July 2001
Roper, W. E., “Web-Base Geographic Information System Support to Disaster Response”, published in the proceedings, The Second Civil Engineering Conference in the Asian Region, pages 347 to 352, Tokyo, Japan, April 16-19, 2001
Honors and Awards
- Outstanding Teacher Award, Johns Hopkins University, College of Engineering (2014)
- Appointed to the national academies of science and engineering, transportation research board committee on critical transportation infrastructure protection. (2005)
- Selected as chair of the TRB subcommittee on technology development, demonstration and deployment (2004)
- Appointed US chair, US – Japan joint task committee on advanced information technology for disaster response (2003)
- Received appointment to the international Association for Bridge maintenance, safety and management, committee for health monitoring (2003)
- Selected for membership on the United States/Japan wind and seismic panel under the authority of the UJNR Bi-Lateral Agreement (2002)
- Selected to America’s Registry of outstanding professionals (2002)
- Army civilian superior service award (2000)
- Army research and development Center career service award (2000)
- National award from the Sec. of the Army research and development office for innovative research programs (1999)
- Laboratory of the year award from the Sec. of the Army (highest research organizational award in the Army) (1998)
- Special citation from the Sec. of the Interior for activities implementing the invasive species act (1995)
- Outstanding service award for public – private partnership in Adopt-a-School Programs, Dunbar high school, Washington DC (1994)
- Inducted into the directory of distinguished Americans (1994)
- Appointed to the national science foundation advisory Board (1993)
- Elected to the Research Board of the American Public Works Association (1992)
- Selected as Cmdr., 160th research and development detachment, 80th division US Army reserve, Fort Belvoir, VA (1992)
- Appointed to the Army’s career management executive Board for engineers and scientists (1991)
- Elected to the New York Academy of sciences (1989)
- Selected to “who’s who” In the East (1983)
- 1 of 2 people selected by EPA to the federal executive development program (1978)
- EPA Silver medal for outstanding service (1977)
Professional Organizations
American Society of Civil Engineers
Military Officers Association of America