Bagley civil engineering team awarded EPA grant
March 22, 2016
STARKVILLE, Miss. — A group of Bagley College civil engineering students and a faculty adviser were recently awarded a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency for a desalination project they have been developing.
With a project focused on water desalination, the MSU team was one of only 38 teams across the nation to be awarded a grant as a part of the EPA’s People, Prosperity, and the Planet program. Recipient selections are made by the EPA and based on how the design promotes a more sustainable future.
Veera Gnaneswar Gude, the principal investigator and a CEE assistant professor, said he is proud of the students’ work and initiative throughout the grant competition.
“It’s a highly competitive process,” said Gude. “Many other major universities were awarded, so we are glad to be among them.”
In anticipation of the competition, the team has been working for seven months to develop a water desalination system using solar energy. Team lead Edith Martinez-Guerra said each team member served a different role in the process, whether they were building the frame, developing the design, working with electrical parts and connections, or computing data.
“We wanted a team with a diverse skill set,” Martinez-Guerra said. “Engineering is very complicated if you only learn it from books. That is why we have the undergraduate students on the team, so that they can gain the different hands-on experiences.”
The project could impact both national and international communities as an energy efficient way to convert salt water to fresh water. Whether in an Arizona desert or on an African coast, there are communities worldwide in need of converting available salt water into usable fresh water.
The team’s goal for the system is to produce as much water as possible, while being as energy-efficient as possible. The Bagley team’s unique design uses solar panels, enabling access to fresh water for communities that do not have power sources.
Gude said he hopes the project inspires more civil engineering students to focus on work related to environmental sustainability.
“I want the students to realize the importance of working in environmental engineering projects with renewable resources and sustainable processes,” said Gude.
In April, the team will present its design at the National Sustainable Design Expo in the second phase of the competition. The expo allows university students and their faculty advisers to present innovative technologies they have developed and to learn how organizations and government agencies are advancing sustainability.
The Bagley team is comprised of the six students listed below (by hometown):
COAHUILA, Mexico — Victor Hugo Guerra, a graduate student
ELLISVILLE, Miss. — Jeffrey Steinwinder, a senior civil engineering major
NEW ALBANY, Miss. — Maria Solis, a senior civil engineering major
PETAL, Miss. — Benjamin Spiller, a sophomore civil engineering major
SAN MIGUEL, El Salvador — Team lead Edith Martinez-Guerra, a graduate student
WESSON, Miss. — Crystal Byrd, a senior civil engineering major
For more information on the P3 program, visit www.epa.gov/P3.
The Bagley College of Engineering is online at www.bagley.msstate.edu.
By: Emile Creel