The spring 2020 semester presented challenges for college students all over the world, with universities closing campuses, transitioning to online instruction and rescheduling or even canceling graduations. Nevertheless, students in Citizens Energy Group’s Partnership for Excellence in Research and Learning (PERL) program persevered, completing projects that not only enriched their education but also have the potential to make a real-life impact down the road.
University of Evansville
A senior design team from the University of Evansville was tasked with performing a feasibility assessment to determine whether it is cost-effective for Citizens to construct solar arrays at each of our eight water facilities. Engineering Project Manager Dave Clark served as Citizens’ point of contact for the students and was impressed by how they persisted through adversity and produced practical recommendations.
Clark said, “The University closed its doors to students at the same time Citizens began implementing a remote workforce. Dr. Swenty, University of Evansville Professor of Mechanical and Civil Engineering, and the senior design team mobilized and established a way to operate and remain safe as they continued to advance the project. With continued guidance from Dr. Swenty and Citizens’ PERL staff, and the team’s resolve to continue moving forward under a new norm, the University of Evansville team completed their year-long project. Truly amazing!”
Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)
Engineer I Joe Nagy collaborated with two groups of IUPUI students on a capital programs benchmarking and dashboard project and a gravity belt thickener (GBT) guard project.
“Both groups of students did a great job of adapting quickly and resourcefully to ensure progress was not delayed,” Nagy said. “I was most impressed with the group working on the GBT guard project because they were able to take a very hands-on project and convert it into an almost entirely virtual workspace using computer aided design.”
Purdue University
Students from Purdue University worked on two projects: one studying the flooding impact of the removal of two levees along the White River in Noblesville and another examining potential modification of advanced wastewater treatment (AWT) oxygen nitrification systems (ONS).
Daphne Chiu, Manager, Resource Recovery, worked with the AWT ONS group, which was her fourth collaboration with Purdue’s Environmental Ecological Engineering senior design program.
Chiu said, “The consistent characteristic of this program I most enjoy is observing the students’ drive to solve a problem. They understand the projects are not just ideas but real-life challenges wastewater treatment plants face. The design concept recommendation from this year’s group gives us detailed analytics of different technologies that the Capital Improvements team will use to move forward.”
University of Indianapolis
The University of Indianapolis team unfortunately was unable to finish their project, but they laid a strong foundation for students who may have the opportunity to continue the project next semester. The group focused on developing a small model of home plumbing that could be used to demonstrate to customers the dynamic relationship between their water use and their home water pressure. The project was initiated in response to customer complaints about low water pressure in their homes.
Steve Berube, Manager, Water System Control and Planning, said, “One positive effect of the unusual spring semester is that it forced the students to shift their focus from a trial-and-error approach with prototyping to first developing a theoretical model using engineering calculations. These sophomore students were able to learn higher-level engineering concepts and apply them to their design as a result of not being able to physically work on their project.”
Citizens congratulates all the students who worked hard on PERL projects this past year and sends best wishes to graduating college seniors everywhere.
