FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 3, 2006
FY06-31
ORAU Grants $5,000 to Universities Participating in Annual Environmental Design Contest
OAK RIDGE, Tenn.—Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) recently awarded six universities a total of $5,000 as part of the organization’s sponsorship of the annual WERC (Waste-management, Education and Research Consortium) Environmental Design Contest held at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, N.M.
Clemson University in South Carolina, under the team name “Clemson Treatment Tigers,” received $2,500 from ORAU for winning the 2006 Environmental Improvement Realization Award for Achievement and Technical Communication. The school was honored for developing and demonstrating a cost-effective, energy-efficient treatment method that reduced arsenic levels in drinking water.
Pictured L to R: Clemson University Professor Jim Navratil and Brian Pool, first-year graduate student in Environmental Engineering and Science and the Clemson University Treatment Tiger Student Leader, receive a $2,500 grant for their school from ORAU Vice President for Partnership Development John C. Nemeth, Ph.D. The university team won the 2006 Environmental Improvement Realization Award for Achievement and Technical Communication at the annual WERC Environmental Design Contest held at New Mexico State University in April.
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ORAU also awarded $500 grants to each of the following universities: University of Missouri, Rolla; Louisiana State University; Michigan Technological University, Houghton; and University of Arkansas. The grants were meant to help offset the cost of travel expenses and materials for the contest.
Each year, WERC: A Consortium for Environmental Education and Technology Development conducts the contest that gives university student teams an opportunity to compete on an international level for the design and development of an environmental control process. Each team designed a full-scale procedure, prepared a written report, delivered presentations to judges and proved the concept using small-scale, fully-functioning models of the proposed systems.
The competition, now in its 16th year, is held annually at the New Mexico State University campus. This was ORAU’s first year to sponsor the program.
For more information on the WERC Environmental Design Contest, visit www.werc.net.
Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) is a university consortium leveraging the scientific strength of 96 major research institutions to advance science and education by partnering with national laboratories, government agencies, and private industry. ORAU manages the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education for the U.S. Department of Energy.