Spring Break
Engineering students work to find fixes
OSU students present green solutions to engineering design show at New Mexico State
Aleks Cherednichenko
Issue date: 4/4/07 Section: News
Eight OSU students are competing in the 17th Annual International Environmental Design Contest at New Mexico State University.
The competition, an international event, is hosted by WERC: A Consortium for Environmental Education and Technology Development at NMSU.
The competition seeks to solve real-world environmental problems through practical engineering solutions.
This is the 14th year in which OSU has participated in the international competition.
"This is an integrated experience where students can learn about real-life problems," said Goran Jovanovic, the students' faculty advisor for the group.
Jovanovic recruited students for the contest in the beginning of fall term.
"By the beginning of winter term we already knew who would be participating and what we wanted to do," Jovanovic said.
The eight participating OSU students, a mix of freshmen and upperclassmen, include Katie Bruce, Laura Dennis, Megan Massa, Emily Thornley, Nathaniel Coussens, Alison Petti, Mike Reitmajer and Kaylan Smyth.
Katie Bruce, a freshman majoring in pre-environmental engineering, is part of the team working on the conversion of biomass resources.
The team used a process to extract cellulose and produce bio-ethanol, an alternative fuel.
"It's really neat to see how these different processes summon up different solution," Bruce said.
Private and public entities such as the American Water Works Association, Intel and Department of Energy sponsor the annual event.
Mike Reitmajer, along with several other students, was given the task of cleaning up contaminated pond water.
"A professor mentioned this contest in class, and this is a great real-life engineering experience," Reitmajer said.
"We've had students from the Arab Emirates enter the competition a few years back, and last year students from Hungary participated in the event," said Rose Thompson, project manager for the contest.
"This event actually began when the DOE contacted us about waste management problems that they were having," Thompson said. "We received a grant from DOE and put on this contest for them."
The competition, an international event, is hosted by WERC: A Consortium for Environmental Education and Technology Development at NMSU.
The competition seeks to solve real-world environmental problems through practical engineering solutions.
This is the 14th year in which OSU has participated in the international competition.
"This is an integrated experience where students can learn about real-life problems," said Goran Jovanovic, the students' faculty advisor for the group.
Jovanovic recruited students for the contest in the beginning of fall term.
"By the beginning of winter term we already knew who would be participating and what we wanted to do," Jovanovic said.
The eight participating OSU students, a mix of freshmen and upperclassmen, include Katie Bruce, Laura Dennis, Megan Massa, Emily Thornley, Nathaniel Coussens, Alison Petti, Mike Reitmajer and Kaylan Smyth.
Katie Bruce, a freshman majoring in pre-environmental engineering, is part of the team working on the conversion of biomass resources.
The team used a process to extract cellulose and produce bio-ethanol, an alternative fuel.
"It's really neat to see how these different processes summon up different solution," Bruce said.
Private and public entities such as the American Water Works Association, Intel and Department of Energy sponsor the annual event.
Mike Reitmajer, along with several other students, was given the task of cleaning up contaminated pond water.
"A professor mentioned this contest in class, and this is a great real-life engineering experience," Reitmajer said.
"We've had students from the Arab Emirates enter the competition a few years back, and last year students from Hungary participated in the event," said Rose Thompson, project manager for the contest.
"This event actually began when the DOE contacted us about waste management problems that they were having," Thompson said. "We received a grant from DOE and put on this contest for them."
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