(Written by Marla Kale for the University of Idaho Register, May 17, 1996)
The Waste Management Education and Research Consortium (WERC) competition invited students to design solutions for three environmental problems, and the UI Environmental Design Team chose to work on two of the tasks. Aaron Newton and Abbie Parker in Task I prepared a proposal for the remediation of leaking underground storage tanks containing radioactive and hazardous waste. Christopher Doten and Jennifer Meehan in Task III developed a proposal for the removal and treatment of radioactive vegetation.
Newton and Parker are seniors in chemical engineering. Doten will graduate this week with a degree in chemical engineering. Meehan this week will earn a bachelor's degree in chemistry and earned a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from UI in 1995.
UI faculty advisers invited the students to participate last November, and project work began in December. For each task, students prepared a poster, both written and oral presentations, and a bench scale demonstration of their proposal. In addition to applying their technical knowledge, teams were required to demonstrate compliance with regulatory and legal considerations and to develop business, health and safety, and community relations plans for their projects.
The four-member team won a total of $15,000 in cash awards. In addition to winning first prize for their overall performance at the competition, the UI Environmental Design Team earned the following honors: first place for Task III; first place for Task III bench demonstration; outstanding approach, Task III; outstanding technical merit, Task III; second place, Task I; and best presentation, Task I.
Judges included industry representatives from, among others, the Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, INEL in Idaho Falls, and Savannah River in South Carolina.
It was the third year the UI Environmental Design Team participated in the international event. Meehan has participated each year.
Faculty advisers for the team are Wudneh Admassu, associate professor of chemical engineering, and Ron Crawford, director of the Institute for Molecular and Agricultural Genetic Engineering (IMAGE). Technical support was provided by: Randy Swift, instrument maker, Barry King, associate engineer, and Judy Kidd, senior secretary, all of Chemical Engineering; Kim Farbo, administrative secretary, IMAGE; and David Gover, scientific glass blower, University Research Office.
"These environmental problems are real," Admassu said. "We give the students advice, but they do the work themselves. "The win says something about our university. We've competed with colleges two to three times our size. Our curriculum really does prepare the students for what's out there in the world," Admassu said. "These four students are just representatives of all our students. They show tenacity, creativity, perseverance and knowledge."
Sponsors this year were IMAGE and the UI Chemical Engineering Department.