Utah State University’s new Water Design Team in the College of Engineering is heading for an all-expenses paid trip to Orlando, Fla., after it took top honors at an engineering competition recently. Not bad for a team not yet one year old.

 

The team, based in USU’s Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, is sponsored by the Water Environment Association of Utah. The team is working on a project with the city of Coalville, Utah, to develop safe and economical treatment and disposal of its wastewater.

 

The project provides students with open-ended design experience in the wastewater engineering discipline, and it represents a real-life problem that a Utah community is struggling with, according to Ryan Dupont, a professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering Department and the team’s advisor.

 

“The team allows students to interact with real communities that have real problems and to work with environmental engineers practicing in the real world,” Dupont said.

 

Team lead Andrew Hobson said the problem statements are challenging and give students interested in water and wastewater engineering some real-world exposure to current municipal projects. The experience has taught him the importance of teamwork, evaluating team members’ skills and assigning tasks accordingly.

 

“We have freshmen preparing presentations and conducting research, graduate students integrating their research into our design and students from different departments and levels filling the gaps in-between,” Hobson said.

 

Team member Anna Gentry said the experience has given her real-world experience and one-on-one learning opportunities from professors and professionals. It has helped her learn more about her major, environmental engineering, and what her job may entail once she graduates.

 

Team members won the Water Environmental Association of Utah competition at the group’s conference recently in St. George, Utah. At the St. George competition, a paper and presentation were required. The Coalville Design Team’s paper focused on a wastewater treatment plant design for the city of Coalville, Utah. The team won by meeting specific requirements set forth in the problem statement and design criteria given by WEAU such as increased phosphorus removal requirements, using existing infrastructure and land and complying with city budget restrictions. 

 

“Our motto was that as long as we all grow together as a team, it doesn’t matter what the outcome is,” Hobson said about the team’s goals at the competition. “We were in it to tackle the unknown. We wanted to see what Utah State University engineers had to offer the real world.”

 

As a result of its win, the team received a four-day, all expense paid trip to Orlando next month, to compete in the national competition along with 24,000 others in the industry.

 

“The team’s focus is on providing a diverse experience across all engineering disciplines,” Hobson said. “We develop true success as we dig in and get our hands dirty!”

 

Team members are: Andrew Hobson, Anna Gentry, Ariel Nunez, Brigham Moore, Oscar Marquina, Dustin Hansen, Jon Farrell, Allia Abu-Ramaileh, Lonnie Brown, Kathita Chittaladakorn, Nakita Horrell, Renn Lambert, Seth Lamb and Lindsey Stevens.  

 

 

Writer: Todd Heaps, 435-797-1356, todd.heaps@aggiemail.usu.edu