Design Team

CONGRATULATIONS
TO THE
2008 MONTANA TECH DESIGN TEAM

The 2008 Montana Tech Environmental Design Team won an EPA Travel Award to present their work at the 2008 EPA Forum in Washington DC at the WERC International Design Team competition held in Las Cruses, New Mexico. There were about 15 other teams competing in the task: Inland Desalination Operation and Disposal in Rural, Isolated Communities.

WERC is a consortium of universities and scientific labs researching energy. Federally funded, with a mandate to educate as well as perform research, consisting of 20-25 colleges and universities:  Mesa Community College to MIT, Stanford, Cal-Poly. Tasks are distributed in September with reports due mid-March. The contest, held early April, requires:

• Bench scale model
• Oral presentation
• Poster presentation prepared by students from the Professional & Technical Communications Dept.
• Bench scale model resonation to the judges
• Safety appraisal prepared by students from the Safety, Health and Industrial Hygiene Departments
• Report

Teams are made up of undergraduates and graduates—usually juniors, seniors, and grads. A Butte resident is always included. This is an interdisciplinary team of problem solvers from Chemistry, Environmental and General Engineering, Mining, Petroleum, Technical Communications, Metallurgy, Occupational Safety and Health, and Industrial Hygiene disciplines. Students use non-academic skill such as welding, machinist, computer graphics, and AutoCAD as well as academic theories.

The Design Team adheres to the following development process:

• Research problems and current solutions
• Interact with faculty and community scientists
• Brainstorm within the team
• Plan and build bench scale models
• Raise funds for the tasks and trip

Click for more information on:

• 2006 Design Team
• 2007 Design Team
• 2008 Design Team
• 2009 Design Team

Environmental Engineering Questions or Comments:
Shelley Reed • 406-496-4115 • Faculty Contact Information