Six members of the Georgia Tech chapter of the Association of Environmental Engineers and Scientists (AEES) got an invaluable opportunity to network and learn more about their future careers at the Water Environment Federation's Technical Exhibition and Conference (WEFTEC), held in Chicago, Illinois, October 6-8.
Sponsored by the Georgia Association of Water Professionals (GAWP) and two other groups, the AEES contingent included environmental engineering students from both the graduate and undergraduate programs, as well as AEES faculty advisor, Dr. John Koon.
"This was a great experience," said Rashi Goel, a masters student. "I got to network with people from several companies in the water industry and I also attended technical sessions related to watershed management and green infrastructure. In the exhibition hall, I was introduced to a lot of the latest equipment such as mixers, UV lamps, water meters, aerators and filter presses."
Students attended workshops on a wide variety of topics, including biogas, desalination techniques, green street initiatives, and stream restoration. They also attended the "Operations Challenge" exhibition, in which teams competed to quickly fix pump systems or to rescue victims in chemical spill.
"We were able to speak with recruiters from around the world," said graduate student Nicole Caruso. "We saw how valuable this area of study will be to their careers."
The AEES-GT hopes to send an even larger group to next year's conference, in New Orleans. Find out more.