2015 Student Design Competition Guidelines and Info Packet
My name is John Beacham and I am the Students and Young Professionals Committee Chair for the Pacific Northwest Clean Water Association (PNCWA). PNCWA is a member association of the Water Environment Federation (WEF). WEF is a national and international wastewater professional organization committed to increasing the awareness of the value of water. As part of WEF’s mission, the Students and Young Professionals Committee provides programs for students to be involved and gain knowledge about the water sector. This can be an excellent springboard into the wastewater profession.
PNCWA holds an annual conference focused on bringing together the area’s water/wastewater professionals as well as students interested in the clean water industry for enriching professional development and networking through technical programs, operational challenges, equipment exhibitions, and poster presentations. The location of the annual conference rotates every year between the member states of Idaho, Oregon and Washington.
The PNCWA2015 Annual Conference will be held in Boise, Idaho from October 25–28. Prior to this conference, we are hosting the inaugural PNCWA Student Design Competition. The competition will be held in April 2015. Submissions will include a design notebook and a prerecorded presentation to meet the requirements of the national competition. The intent of the prerecorded presentation is to allow teams to participate without needing to travel toward the end of the semester/quarter for a regional competition. The organizers do not intend for these prerecorded presentations to have any production value; thus, editing of the presentations prior to submission will be discouraged or potentially penalized, as the rules dictate.
Winners of this regional design competition will receive partial funding to compete in the national competition at WEFTEC—WEF’s annual conference drawing over 20,000 water professionals each year—scheduled for September 26–30, 2015 in Chicago, Illinois (competition date September 27 ). Design teams may be up to 8 people; however, only a maximum of 4 will receive travel funding. The regional participants will also have an opportunity to showcase their design project and presentation at the PNCWA2015 conference. Teams with submitted projects will receive a monetary participation prize that can be used to start up or support their WEF student chapter.
The national competition began in 2002 and was developed to provide a forum at WEFTEC to showcase the capabilities of students studying environmental engineering. This design competition is intended to promote “real world” design experience for students interested in pursuing a career in water/wastewater engineering and sciences. The student design competition is based around problems such as collection system design, wastewater treatment plant expansions, biological nutrient removal, reclamation and reuse, natural treatment systems and more. The competition will not have a specific design problem as the intention is for students to be able to submit “capstone class” type design projects.
If your students choose to compete, they will have the opportunity to present to other professionals in our industry while developing their technical and leadership skills. Additionally, the competition provides a means for students to distinguish themselves in an increasingly competitive job market.
We are extremely excited to hold the inaugural PNCWA Student Design Competition and look forward to your university’s involvement. If you or your students have any questions, please feel free to contact me at 208-457-3374 or jbeacham@postfallsidaho.org.