Photo by Mark Lambie/El Paso Times Thomas A. Davis, director of the new Center for Inland Desalination Systems, spoke October 23 as Texas Gov. Rick Perry looked on. Dr. Thomas A. Davis of Columbia has been appointed director of the Center for Inland Desalination Systems at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). Texas Gov. Rick Perry announced the appointment October 23, 2008. A $2 million investment from the Texas Emerging Technology Fund was used to create the center through UTEP. The center is designed to explore more- efficient methods of treating water and ways to recycle mineral byproducts extracted from brackish water.

The investment from the Emerging Technology Fund will be matched with $2 million from the UT System and UTEP. The university is expected to raise another $2 million in sponsored research from industry partners to bring the total funding to $6 million.

UTEP also will partner with El Paso Water Utilities and the U.S. Army, which with the City of El Paso developed the Kay Bailey Hutchison Desalination Plant in East El Paso. That $87 million plant can produce 27.5 million gallons of drinkable water a day.

Dr. Davis, a desalination expert and research professor at the University of South Carolina, will begin at the university in January. He said his research priority would be to reduce the amount of water wasted in a concentrate formed when minerals and salty deposits are extracted during the desalination process. Davis also will seek productive uses for the salty concentrate left behind in the desalination process. Minerals and other deposits could have value in commercial enterprises which could help develop jobs and wealth.

"I'm excited to be a part of this visionary endeavor, and I pledge my best efforts to make this program a success," Davis said.

Davis, a native of Columbia and a 1957 graduate of Dreher High School, received his Ph.D. in chemical engineering from USC. He has worked for Graver Water, Exxon Corporate Research Laboratories, Southern Research Institute, and Deering Milliken. He and his wife, Pollyana, have three children.