This session showcases real-world applications of AI in stormwater, landfill, and wastewater engineering. Attendees will experience the concept in action: live, AI-assisted engineering that promotes circular economies, enhances climate resilience and protects vital natural systems like wetlands.

Join veteran environmental engineer John O. Smith, P.E., BCEE, and AI strategist Davar Ardalan of The BAI Group, as they demonstrate the next frontier of innovation in waste and landfill management: human-AI collaboration. Smith will demo a dialogue with his own AI assistant, John Smith GPT, a beta-generative AI model designed by Ardalan to reflect Smith's 40+ years of civil and environmental engineering experience from Hong Kong to Maryland. Their collaboration reflects a practical, human-centered approach to leveraging AI by augmenting expertise, not replacing it.

Developed using generative AI tools, this session offers a hands-on look at how engineers can responsibly use AI to enhance decision-making, write proposals, calculate project feasibility, and manage compliance. The presenters will explain the key considerations in deploying trustworthy AI. These include ethical frameworks, data governance, the risks of proprietary data exposure, and the significant energy and resource footprint of AI systems.

Attendees will learn about the importance of transparency, user accountability, ethics and environmental awareness in AI-assisted workflows. Learning objectives include identifying use cases for AI in sustainable landfill and wastewater infrastructure planning; understanding best practices for trustworthy and ethical AI deployment like transparency and energy awareness; and observing live AI-assisted engineering scenarios that demonstrate workflow efficiencies and risk mitigation.

About the Speakers

John Oliver Smith, P.E., BCEE
Director of Operations | The BAI Group LLC

John Oliver Smith, P.E., BCEE, is Director of Operations at The BAI Group and a Board-Certified Environmental Engineer with decades of experience in civil and environmental engineering. At BAI Group, Smith leads operational strategy and research on cutting-edge AI systems and tools relevant to civil, environmental, and infrastructure engineering. He promotes the responsible integration of trustworthy, secure, and transparent AI to enhance professional practice and decision-making. Over his distinguished career, Smith has led engineering programs for the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, and Department of Defense, and managed major infrastructure and environmental projects in Washington D.C., Maryland, Pennsylvania, Hong Kong, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, and Indonesia. His technical expertise includes landfill design, solid waste management, wastewater systems, and sustainable infrastructure development in diverse settings. Smith has presented on the applications and limitations of AI in engineering at the Florida Engineering Summit in Miami and the Chesapeake TriCon Pre-Event Workshop, engaging with engineers on practical, ethical AI use. A long-standing member of SWANA, AWWA, and ASCE, he continues to champion data-informed, collaborative, and resilient engineering practices worldwide.

Davar Ardalan
AI Strategist, Project Manager | The BAI Group LLC

Davar Ardalan is an AI Strategist and Project Manager at The BAI Group, where she leads efforts to advance the responsible, secure, and transparent adoption of AI in civil and environmental engineering. At BAI, she develops frameworks and training programs that help engineers understand the applications and limitations of AI, emphasizing governance, data ethics, and trustworthy deployment. Earlier in her career, Ardalan served as Deputy Director of the White House Presidential Innovation Fellows Program at GSA, where she championed an AI Health Sprint recognized in the U.S. National AI R&D Strategic Plan. She later worked as an AI Strategist at Booz Allen Hamilton, advancing digital transformation, AI readiness, and a multilingual computer vision demo. Ardalan previously held leadership roles at National Geographic and NPR, where she developed emerging storytelling campaigns that inform her AI leadership today. Ardalan has spoken at the Florida Engineering Summit in Miami and the Chesapeake TriCon Pre-Event Workshop, inspiring engineers to engage thoughtfully with emerging AI tools. Her book, AI for Community: Preserving Culture and Tradition (Taylor & Francis, 2025), has been featured at the London AI Summit, Frankfurt Book Fair, and will appear at the New York AI Summit in December 2025. Ardalan continues to advance human-centered, ethical AI leadership in engineering and beyond.