David Sanchez

David V.P. Sanchez is an Associate Professor in the Swanson School of Engineering’s Civil & Environmental Engineering department and the Associate Director for the Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation at the University of Pittsburgh. He was appointed a Provost Faculty Fellow in 2025. He serves on the ASEE-Engineering for One Planet Advisory Board, the Board for the Environmental Engineering Division, and as Past-Chair for the North Central section. He is currently an National STEM Teaching Fellow 

 

At the Mascaro Center he serve as the Program Director for the Master’s in Sustainable Engineering, the Undergraduate Certificate in Sustainability, and the John C. Mascaro Faculty Fellows. He is the faculty co-lead for the University Honors College Happiness and Human Flourishing Scholar Community and the Appalachia Collegiate Research Initiative 

 

Dr. Sanchez is responsible for building research and scholarly initiatives around Sustainable Water and Sustainable Innovation. Dr. Sanchez continues to expand our network of positive working relationships with faculty, administration, students, and external partners (e.g. NGOs, Government agencies, Startups, and Fortune 500 companies) that support our broad education and research agenda. He also oversees the undergraduate and graduate sustainability curriculum. 

Dr. Sanchez is the recipient of several awards including a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, IGERT Traineeship, Alfred P. Sloan Scholarship, Pittsburgh Business Time Energy Award, Best Mentor Award for Pitt’s Excel program, Chancellor's Distinguished Teaching Award and Public Service, and the Soska Wilds Outreach and Engagement Leadership award. Dr. Sanchez has lead international engineering trips on behalf of the Swanson School of Engineering. 

  • Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors – Outstanding Teaching in Environmental Engineering and Science.

  • Demirel, E., Nawaz, H., Sanchez, D.V.P., & Chen, Y. (2026). Minus technologies revolutionizing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances removal: Strategies for safe drinking water. Sci Total Environ, 1014, 181343.Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2025.181343.
  • Nawaz, H., Ibrahim, M., Anjum, H., Mahmood, A., & Sanchez, D.V.P. (2025). Low-Level Arsenic Removal from Drinking and Wastewater Using La@MOF-808 in Lahore, Pakistan. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH, 19(5).Springer Nature. doi: 10.1007/s41742-025-00822-7.
  • Nawaz, H., Ibrahim, M., Mahmood, A., Kotchey, G.P., & Sanchez, D.V.P. (2023). An efficient synthesis and characterization of La@MOF-808: A promising strategy for effective arsenic ion removal from water. Heliyon, 9(11), e21572.Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e21572.
  • Liu, P., Huang, J., Sanchez, D.V.P., Schwartzman, D., Lee, S.H., & Yun, M. (2016). High yield two-dimensional (2-D) polyaniline layer and its application in detection of B-type natriuretic peptide in human serum. SENSORS AND ACTUATORS B-CHEMICAL, 230, 184-190.Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/j.snb.2016.02.051.
  • Sanchez, D.V.P., Jacobs, D., Gregory, K., Huang, J., Hu, Y., Vidic, R., & Yun, M. (2015). Changes in Carbon Electrode Morphology Affect Microbial Fuel Cell Performance with Shewanella oneidensis MR-1. In Amidon, T.E. (Ed.). ENERGIES, 8(3), 1817-1829.MDPI. doi: 10.3390/en8031817.
  • Sanchez, D.V.P., Huynh, P., Kozlov, M.E., Baughman, R.H., Vidic, R.D., & Yun, M. (2010). Carbon Nanotube/Platinum (Pt) Sheet as an Improved Cathode for Microbial Fuel Cells. ENERGY & FUELS, 24(11), 5897-5902.American Chemical Society (ACS). doi: 10.1021/ef100825h.
  • Xuyen, N.T., Sanchez, D.P.V., Kim, T.H., Park, H.I., Yun, M., & Lee, Y.H. (2010). Diffusion-limited reduction of organometallic compound on carbon nanofiber mat for catalytic applications. JOURNAL OF MATERIALS CHEMISTRY, 20(26), 5468-5473.Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). doi: 10.1039/c000654h.
  • Park, H.I., Sanchez, D., Cho, S.K., & Yun, M. (2008). Bacterial communities on electron-beam Pt-deposited electrodes in a mediator-less microbial fuel cell. Environ Sci Technol, 42(16), 6243-6249.American Chemical Society (ACS). doi: 10.1021/es8006468.

  • Kerzmann, T., Sanchez, D., & Rahim, S. (2025). From Self-Perception to Team Success: Analyzing Collaborative Team Dynamics and Interdisciplinary Teamwork in a Sustainability Capstone Course. In 2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition Proceedings.American Society for Engineering Education. doi: 10.18260/1-2--56617.
  • Landis, A., Kerestes, R., Sanchez, D., & Kerzmann, T. (2024). Creating Interdisciplinary Sustainability Focused Projects for Engineering Students Through Industry Partnerships. In 2024 ASEE North Central Section Conference Proceedings.American Society for Engineering Education. doi: 10.18260/1-2--45602.
  • Rodriguez, J., Dukes, A., Keith, J., & Sanchez, D. (2023). Diversity Index: A New Perspective on Engineering Capstone Projects. In 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition Proceedings.American Society for Engineering Education. doi: 10.18260/1-2--43188.
  • Tobey, D., Kerzmann, T., Roth, V., & Sanchez, D. (2023). Agrivoltaics: A Team-Based Analysis of Solar Energy and Agricultural Modeling. In 2023 ASEE North Central Section Conference Proceedings.American Society for Engineering Education. doi: 10.18260/1-2--44910.
  • Rodriguez Alonso, J., & Sanchez, D. (2022). Gobal Projects: An Initiative to Train Chemical Engineering Students in Global Awareness. In ASEE 2022 Annual Conference.Minneapolis, Minnesota.
  • Kerzmann, T., Sanchez, D., & Chouinard, C. (2021). Understanding Key Student Perspectives in an Interdisciplinary Flex-model Sustainability Course as Compared to a Traditional In-person Course. In 2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access Proceedings.American Society for Engineering Education.Virtual Conference. doi: 10.18260/1-2--37960.
  • Sanchez, D., Kerzmann, T., Chouinard, C., & Kotchey, G. (2021). Assessing the Effectiveness of a Flex Model for a Sustainability Course in the COVID-19 Learning Environment. In 2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access Proceedings.American Society for Engineering Education. doi: 10.18260/1-2--36712.
  • Mahboobin, A., & Sanchez, D.V.P. (2020). Incorporating sustainability into a bioethics course - A case study. In ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Conference Proceedings, 2020-June.
  • Greene, M.L., Nguyen, C., & Sanchez, D.V.P. (2019). Identifying phenomena and developing educational modules that integrate engineering, sustainability and next generation science standards for middle school science teachers (resource exchange). In ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Conference Proceedings.
  • Mena, I.B., & Sanchez, D.V.P. (2017). Perceptions of academic integrity of students in a first-year engineering program. In ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Conference Proceedings, 2017-June.
  • Schmidt, D., Sanchez, D., & Dickerson, S. (2017). Increasing Student Engagement and Motivation by Replacing Homework with Assignment-Quizzes. In 2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition Proceedings, 2017-June.American Society for Engineering Education. doi: 10.18260/1-2--28519.
  • Budny, D., Arjmand, S., & Sanchez, D.V.P. (2016). Comparison of students' outcome to different types of project based service learning experiences for CEE senior design. In ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Conference Proceedings, 2016-June.
  • Dickerson, S.J., Jacobs, S.P., Garcia, A.M., & Sanchez, D.V.P. (2016). Joint assessment and evaluation of senior design projects by faculty and industry. In 2016 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE), 2016-November, (pp. 1-7).Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). doi: 10.1109/fie.2016.7757395.
  • Kerzmann, T., Walker, J., & Sanchez, D. (2016). Evaluation of an Energy and Engineering Outreach Program for High School and Middle School Students. In 2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition Proceedings, 2016-June.American Society for Engineering Education. doi: 10.18260/p.26775.
  • Budny, D., Arjmand, S., & Sanchez, D.V.P. (2015). Adding an international senior design component into the civil curriculum. In ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Conference Proceedings, 122nd ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition: Making Value for Society(122nd ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition: Making Value for Society).
Research Interests
Environmentally sustainable engineering Sustainable design Water treatment processes Metal organic frameworks Engineering education Peoples innovation Environmental engineering Nanotechnology Chemical engineering