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The WERC Environmental Design Contest

An Educational Opportunity of a Lifetime

The contest focuses on workforce development and is modeled after the engineering RFP. Students work on real-world tasks designed by our partners in industry and government. Teams build a working bench-scale apparatus, develop written and oral presentation skills, hone their teamwork skills, and discuss their designs with professional engineers.

2024 Tasks:

  • Environmental Justice: Stormwater Solutions
  • Toward Net-Zero: DERMS for Electrical Grid
  • Environmental Justice: Beneficial Use of Sodium Sulfate
  • Toward Net-Zero: Modular CO2 Removal for Communities
  • Using SRA Water for Hydrogen Electrolysis
  • Open Task

Students participating in the last 33 years of the contest have gone on to work at the EPA, become university professors, manage engineering firms and government agencies, and much more. Their memories of the WERC Environmental Design Contest bring them back as consultants, judges, and sponsors. 

Bench-scale Project

The 45-minute webinar introduces you to the WERC Environmental Design Contest.

  • Faculty will share with you the "whys" and "hows" of getting involved with the contest.
  • Government and industry partners describe how the real-world tasks are developed and how teams are mentored by top professional engineers.

Webinar Speakers (start times in parentheses):

  • WERC's Lead Judge: Mike Hightower (3:00)
  • EPA Office of R&D: Michael Jahne (9:20)
  • Faculty:
    • Louisiana State University: John Pardue (12:25)
    • Michigan Technological University: Audra Morse (21:20)
    • Ohio University: Darin Ridgway (25.55)
    • University of Idaho: Matt Bernards (32:31)

 

 

See https://linktr.ee/wercnm for up-to-date list of our videos