logo

Student Design Competition

The 2017 FWEA Student Chapter Design Competition 

April 23, 2017

12:00 PM to 6:00 PM
At the Florida Water Resources Conference
Palm Beach County Convention Center
650 Okeechobee Blvd,
West Palm Beach, FL 33401

 

INTRODUCTION

The FWEA Student Design Competition is intended to promote “real world” design experience for students interested in pursuing an education and/or career in water engineering and sciences. This competition tasks teams of student members within FWEA to design and present a program meeting the requirements of a problem statement that they have worked on together as a team.  This competition is intended for both undergraduate and graduate students, typically completing a capstone project. A segment of the Florida Water Resources Conference annual program will be the Student Design Competition. Winning teams from each category will move on to the national competition at WEFTEC.


STUDENT DESIGN COMPETITION

DOWNLOAD THE 2017 SDC GUIDELINES HERE. 
DOWNLOAD PAST JUDGES COMMENTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS HERE.

The student design competition is based on problems relating to the environmental field.  Student design teams will be able to compete in one of two categories, wastewater design or environmental design.  The competition consists of two portions, the written submittal and the presentation.

Examples of wastewater projects include traditional wastewater design projects, e.g. hydraulic capacity design, upgrades to existing systems, biosolids handling, etc.  Examples of environmental projects include the current contemporary engineering topics, e.g. sustainability, water reuse, wetlands construction, etc. The scope and extent of the project should be at the level of a senior or graduate engineering/science student in a design or capstone course. Students are expected to work with little assistance from an advisor and/or professor and the students are expected to work together as a team to recommend a solution. Students may use whatever references or resources they choose.

Students are expected to perform the necessary calculations for the project. This is not intended to be a research project or literature review. Although some initial literature review and/or research will be required, the bulk of the project should incorporate pertinent calculations for the design.

For example if the project involved a wastewater treatment plant expansion, judges should look that each team performed the following:
• Hydraulic profile
• Preliminary sizing of major equipment (aeration basins, clarifiers, chlorine contact chambers, etc.)
• Incorporate information from different manufacturers
• Population analysis to determine design flow rates
• Preliminary cost evaluation and schedule
• Decision matrix (provide why you ended up with that particular process or design)

All of the design work should be submitted in the design documentation, clearly labeled and referenced.  Final determination of project category is at the discretion of the S&YP Chair.

Scoring of the project will be determined through an evaluation by judges of the written and oral presentation skills. Written and oral content will be evaluated separately and the scores will be added for the total score.

Written data (submitted in electronic format) will be evaluated by the judges prior to the oral presentations. Judges’ comments on the written and oral submissions will not be released until the completion of the oral presentations.


ENTRY AND PARTICIPATION FORMS

Each team shall submit an entry form for the competition. One university is permitted to send up to two teams to the competition, one in each category (wastewater and environmental). The team names shall be referred to in the following manner: University-Category. For example, ABC-WW or ABC-ENV. There is no entry fee for the student design competition. Students and other audience members are responsible for their own travel arrangements to attend the SDC. If interested in attending other portions of the conference, registration information may be found at www.fwrc.org.

DOWNLOAD THE 2017 SDC ENTRY FORM HERE. 
DOWNLOAD THE 2017 SDC PARTICIPATION FORM HERE.


PRIZES

The FWEA is providing prizes for the 2017 program. The prizes shown below, which are subject to change each year, will be awarded following the Student Design Competition at FWRC.  Please note that each team participating in the event will receive a participation bonus for their team regardless of placement based upon the presentations and written submittals. On the entry form, the team shall indicate the school’s student organization to whom the checks will be made out (e.g. “ABC University XYZ Department”). Those funds can then be disbursed as scholarships to the individual students or to the student organization. 
 
PRIZE     AWARD MONETARY 
VALUE
First Place
(Wastewater Design)		 Norm Casey Scholarship
WEFTEC 17 Travel Allowance*		 $1,000
$4,000
First Place
(Environmental Design)  		 Norm Casey Scholarship
WEFTEC 17 Travel Allowance*    		 $1,000
$4,000
All other teams     Participation Bonus $500
*The first place teams will be required to present their projects at the National Student Design Competition to be held at WEFTEC 17 in Chicago, Illinois.


SIGNIFICANT SUBMITTAL ITEMS AND DATES
​
  • An official entry form shall be submitted to the S&YP Chair by 11:59 pm on  February 10, 2017. This submittal does not need to identify team members, but must include contact information for each team planning a submittal.
  • A conference call will be held in March 2017 (tentatively scheduled between March 1-11). An exact date/time will be determined in February and a conference call number and passcode will be sent out in late February to each team leader (as listed on the Entry Forms). At least one team member is required to call in.
  • A Participation Form showing final team contact, membership and presentation team information, submitted to the S&YP Chair by 11:59 pm April 14, 2017.
  • Preliminary student resumes shall be submitted to the S&YP Chair by 11:59 pm April 14, 2017. Late resumes will not be accepted.
  • A project written data submittal (the “report”) must be received by the S&YP Chair no later than 11:59 pm on April 14, 2017.
  • The S&YP Chair needs to receive the final presentation prior to the competition to check for technical difficulties. Teams will need to verify that their presentation is on the general laptop before the start of the competition.
  • Teams will also be required to provide 5 copies of their presentation slides (“handouts”) prior to the competition.
  • A/V equipment will be made available, including laptop computer, projector and screen. The presentations will be made on April 23, 2017 in Orlando at the Florida Water Resources Conference.
  • Revised student resumes shall be submitted to the S&YP Chair by 11:59 pm May 5, 2017


SPONSORSHIPS

SDC sponsors are greatly appreciated to ensure the sustainability of this important program. Please contact the S&YP Chair if your organization is interested in being a sponsor. All sponsors will be recognized during the course of the SDC program.


QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS

Please review the program guidelines and contact the Students and Young Professionals Committee Chairperson for any clarification on any of the rules or guidelines of the program. If you are aware of a university student group in Florida that is interested in participating in the SDC for the first time, or have any other questions, please contact:

Tyler Smith
Carollo Engineers
Students & Young Professionals Committee Chair
Phone: 813-906-4606
 

SPONSORS