Michigan Tech earned 1st and 2nd places at the WERC 13th Annual Environmental Design Contest, held April 6-10, 2003 at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces (www.werc.net). Michigan Tech's team, comprised of ten environmental engineering seniors, entered solutions to three of nine available engineering problems: Arsenic Treatment for Small Water Delivery and Domestic Water Systems, Water Recovery from the Operation of Brick Kilns in the Desert Southwest, and Reduction of Fecal Bacterial Load in Produce Irrigation Water.

Working in groups of 3-4 students, these seniors undertook the tasks as two-semester senior design projects beginning in August and culminating in the April competition. "It was such a good opportunity for all of us to have the chance to go down to New Mexico and participate competitively," commented environmental engineering senior Eric Nellis.

Michigan Tech successfully competed against 52 teams from 28 universities in the United States, Canada, Mexico, India, and China. Perhaps as a final challenge to their engineering skills, the team encountered several problems upon arrival at the competition, but "despite leaky pipes, a broken sand filter, and cracks in our wooden cabinets, all three of our teams performed well," said senior Christina Robinson.

The Tech team earned first place for their novel and appropriate technology design to the brick kiln water recovery project, and second place for their cutting-edge adsorption system for the arsenic treatment problem. Each entry was judged on the merits of a 21-page engineering report, oral presentation, poster, and fully functional bench-scale unit whose performance was evaluated under simulated influent conditions over a 48-hour period in Las Cruces.

The team's engineered solutions addressed the technical, business, safety, environmental, and social aspects of a full-scale implementation. As Kurt Paterson, one of the team's advisors, summarized, "The WERC contest is an extremely demanding competition, and Michigan Tech's environmental engineering team proved themselves ready for the challenges.

The team had some of the finest engineering solutions at the competition, and our students clearly demonstrated mastery of the technical, communication, economic, safety, and social aspects of their work. Plus they showed some amazing problem-solving savvy in the face of several problems with the bench-scale units at the competition. These students proved they are ready to be engineers."

Due to their successes in designing a water recovery system, the students were invited to spend some time visiting brick-makers in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. There they were able to more completely understand the harsh constraints involved in implementing any solution to the problem, as well as learn some unplanned lessons about the cultures and conditions of the US-Mexico border region.

Team member Alexis Troschinetz commented that, "Until our trip to Ciudad Juárez, I don't think that we fully understood the need for a water recovery system and also the poverty in the area." The team also spent some downtime hiking Bandelier National Monument, White Sands National Monument, and the Organ Mountains; along the way a greater appreciation for the unique history, geology, climate, and water resource issues of the desert southwest was gained.

The team members included Bridget Cannon, Rebecca Dugopolski, Randy Gardner, Ryan Kilgren, Ryan Mattson, Eric Nellis, Christina Robinson, Casey Talento, Alexis Troschinetz, and Ed Verhamme. The faculty advisors were James Mihelcic and Kurt Paterson (Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering) and John Sandell (School of Technology). Plans are currently underway to assemble a new team of seniors to compete in next year's competition.

Click on the snapshot for a larger image.


Team members (l to r) Christina Robinson, Eric Nellis, Randy Gardner, and Casey Talento stand by their poster during evaluation of their arsenic treatment bench-scale process. (Photo by K.G. Paterson)


Team members (l to r) Ryan Kilgren, Rebecca Dugopolski, and Ed Verhamme pose by their sand filter and UV disinfection bench-scale design for treatment of fecal coliform bacteria in irrigation water. (Photo by K.G. Paterson)

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