University of Colorado-Boulder, University of Florida Teams Win WEF Student Design Competition

The Water Environment Federation (WEF) announced the University of Colorado-Boulder and the University of Florida as winners of the 2009 Student Design Competition. The eighth annual competition took place earlier this month at WEFTEC.09, WEF's 82nd annual technical exhibition and conference in Orlando, Fla.

The University of Colorado-Boulder team’s project, “Robert W. Hite Treatment Facility: South Complex Secondary Treatment Upgrade, Denver, CO” won in wastewater design category. The University of Florida (UF) team's project, "Green Infrastructure and LID Design for a Florida Constructed Environs Subject to Rainfall-Runoff Loadings” won in the environmental design category. This was the first entry and win for the University of Colorado-Boulder, and the fourth win for the University of Florida in eight years.

A program of the WEF Students & Young Professionals Committee, the competition promotes “real world” design experience for students interested in pursuing an education and/or career in water/wastewater engineering and sciences. It tasks individuals or teams of students within a WEF student chapter to prepare a design to help solve a local water quality issue. Teams evaluate alternatives, perform calculations and recommend the most feasible solution based on experience, economics and feasibility.

Source: WEF