The Ozone Disinfection Team was an extension of the Global Engineering Colombia Water Project Team, and worked under Drs. Howarter and Jafvert. Their objective was to design, construct, and test an ozone generator to be used in the disinfection process to provide clean drinking water for a school system in rural Colombia.

The Urban Digestion Team, advised by Drs. Engelberth and Nies, paired with a facility in Chicago called The Plant, which is a net-zero energy vertical farm and food business operation. The team’s objective was to find a use for the effluent produced by the on-site anaerobic digester in order to maximize profitability and sustainability.

Working under the direction of Dr. Hua, the WERC team competed in the New Mexico State University’s Institute for Energy and the Environment’s WERC: A Consortium for Environmental Education and Technology Development competition. The senior design project team evaluated typical treatment approaches for the oxidation of dissolved organics and devised a test system that can be used to perform a bench scale test for a variety of organic streams.

The Dunes team, in cooperation with Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and directed by Drs. Nies and Zhao, worked to rehabilitate a historic home while outfitting it with green energy to achieve net-zero status. Rebuilding an old wind turbine, implementing solar energy, and improving the efficiency of the home were aspects that were addressed in this design project.