HUNTSVILLE — Presenting and solving a sewage problem in the state’s Black Belt proved to be a winning challenge for Alabama A&M engineering students.
The group won the competition at this month’s seventh annual AMIE Design Challenge and Black Engineer of the Year Awards in Washington, D.C.
In the Design Challenge, the AAMU squad competed against 12 teams from other Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). As part of the competition, the team considered this problem: “How can we provide clean water for low-income residents in Alabama’s black belt region who lack access to adequate wastewater treatment?”
The students presented a solution to a water sewage problem in the Black Belt area of Alabama. As a result, their presentation and demo won first place.
“I’m excited for their win (first time for this challenge) and proud of how passionate they were about the cause and how they pushed through in a short time frame to submit an outstanding solution,” said Terry Miller of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, who served as the team’s faculty advisor. “The judges were very impressed and stated that the team covered every aspect of a proposed solution, leaving them speechless with no questions.”
The students offered the following solutions: establish a centralized sewer system; establish manholes for maintenance; and send sewage to pumping stations. The system allows water to be cleansed using a process of chlorination and dichlorination, effectively sending clean water back into the environment and utilizing waste to be converted to fertilizer using an anaerobic process.
Members of the design team are Da’Quandalon Daniel, sophomore, a computer science; Eyerusalem Girma, sophomore, computer science; Opeyeoluwa Olanipekun, sophomore, electrical engineering; Lyric Sampson, sophomore, computer science; Bre’Zhane Walker, senior, mechanical engineering; DeTavien Walker, sophomore, computer science; Terry Miller, faculty advisor; Sharde’ Estep, technical advisor from Leidos; and Anthony Steele, technical advisor from Dynetics.
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