BLACKSBURG, Va. — Three Mercer University student teams brought home awards from a recent American Society of Engineering Education Southeastern Section Student Poster Competition held at Virginia Tech. In all, five teams of Mercer environmental engineering students participated in the event, which was attended by students and faculty from engineering programs in the Southeast.
“We were excited to have so many of our students participate in the poster competition and demonstrate their achievements to our faculty colleagues and their peers,” said Dr. Philip McCreanor, associate professor of environmental engineering who led the group. “All of the teams benefited from the presentation of their work to faculty from other engineering institutions.”
Junior Jessica Pippard received a first place award in the Undergraduate Research Division for her poster, titled “Time Domain Reflectometry and Water Level Measurement in Porous Media.” The poster highlighted her research into a new technology to remotely measure liquid levels in landfills.
Sophomores Andrew J. Simms and Kristen N. Wyckoff won a first place award in the First/Second Year Design Division for their poster, titled “The Effect of Sample Storage Time and Temperature on Oxygen Uptake Rate Measurement.” The poster highlighted their efforts to measure water sample degradation, with the hope of developing more accurate techniques for measuring water samples that are not immediately tested.
Seniors Leah Moore and Jamie Joyner earned a third place award in the Junior/Senior Design Division for their poster, titled “Microbial Fuel Cell Wastewater Treatment for Developing Nations.” They highlighted their work on a bench-scale fuel cell that treats waste water while creating electricity, which could have numerous real world applications
The following posters were also presented at the competition: “Open Channel Flow Apparatus: V-notch Weir and Hydraulic Jump Experiments” by Timothy C. Dinkins and Drew R. Hammett and “The Use of Sand Filters for On-site Sewage Management in Georgia” by Sarah Dorminy, Ryan Peters and Jacqueline Lagratta. In addition, Beth Hyde, a graduate student in environmental engineering, presented a paper titled, “Engineering Education as a Pathway to Sustainable Solutions,” as part of the regular conference sessions. Hyde co-authored the paper with Dr. Laura Lackey, professor and chair of Mercer’s Department of Environmental Engineering.
About Mercer University
Founded in 1833, Mercer University is a dynamic and comprehensive center of undergraduate, graduate and professional education. The University enrolls more than 8,000 students in 11 schools and colleges – liberal arts, law, pharmacy, medicine, business, engineering, education, theology, music, nursing and continuing and professional studies – on major campuses in Macon, Atlanta and Savannah and at three regional academic centers across the state. Mercer is affiliated with two teaching hospitals — Memorial University Medical Center in Savannah and the Medical Center of Central Georgia in Macon, and has educational partnerships with Warner Robins Air Logistics Center in Warner Robins and Piedmont Healthcare in Atlanta. The University operates an academic press and a performing arts center in Macon and an engineering research center in Warner Robins. Mercer is the only private university in Georgia to field an NCAA Division I athletic program. For more information, visit www.mercer.edu.
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