Two student teams from CEE will represent Georgia in an international competition after taking top billing at the annual Georgia Association of Water Professionals (GAWP) Student Design Competition.
GAWP’s Student Design Competition promotes real-world design experience for students interested in pursuing education and a career in the water and wastewater field. The student teams submit a written report of their project and follow it up with an oral presentation at GAWP’s spring conference.
Six teams from Georgia Tech participated in the competition on April 15 in Columbus, Ga., where they were questioned by a panel of four judges from the water industry.
Environmental capstone teams from Georgia Tech earned first place in the water and wastewater divisions.
Harrison Baro, Caroline Fjeran, Martin Lachev, and Alison Rooks pose with Professor of the Practice Sharon Just.
They will now advance to the international student design competition held at the annual Water Environment Federation's Technical Exhibition and Conference (WEFTEC), which is the largest water quality conference in North America.
Harrison Baro, Caroline Fjeran, Martin Lachev, and Alison Rooks presented “Erosion Control and Watershed Improvements at Postal Pond, Decatur, Georgia.”
They won first place overall and first place in the water division, earning a $5,500 travel award to compete at WEFTEC in the fall.
The team was sponsored by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to complete a project for the City of Decatur. Postal Pond, located within Legacy Park, has high levels of sediment accumulation as well as a deteriorated earthen dam. The team designed stream interventions, tracked down unknown sewer connections, and coordinated with park officials regarding the presence of multiple beavers, to provide improvements for Legacy Park.
Aidan Jensen, Earl Harris, Gavin Hurn, and Joshua Guthrie presented “Wastewater Treatment Plant Optimization for EPA Superfund Site: Exide Baton Rouge.”
Natanel Ha presented a project on “Leachate Treatability Testing and Wastewater System Design” that took third place.
Aidan Jensen, Earl Harris, Gavin Hurn, and Joshua Guthrie presented “Wastewater Treatment Plant Optimization for EPA Superfund Site: Exide Baton Rouge.”
The team won first place in the wastewater division and second place overall. The students modeled runoff, developed various capping approaches, and designed a new wastewater treatment plant facility from scratch for the resulting various flow scenarios for an EPA Superfund site near Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
A project presented by Natanel Ha on “Leachate Treatability Testing and Wastewater System Design” took third place. The design was prepared by Natanel Ha, Nandika Girish, and Camila Sanchez based on treatability testing conducted as part of a new "Hands-On Treatability” course in the fall. Multiple rounds of treatability tests were conducted by the class to remove Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Fluorides at the Mississippi Phosphates EPA Superfund site.
“The GAWP SDC is a great opportunity for students to have a chance to present their designs, in front of conference attendees, other students, and a judging panel of practicing engineers," said Professor of the Practice Sharon Just, who mentored the teams. "Each student was responsible for speaking to present their portion of each project, and all of them did a fantastic job. Working with such talented students is a wonderful experience.”