Team Members | waterengineering2030

Catrin Williams

I am currently in year twelve and am studying Physics, Further Maths, Chemistry and English Literature.

I wanted to enter this competition because I am fascinated by the engineering, socio-economic, geographical and political factors that affect the distribution of water, and find it deeply shocking that in the 21st Century, given all our scientific achievements, millions of people still live without adequate sanitation and clean drinking water.

For this project I worked on setting up the website and researching and evaluating solutions for preventing and coping with the consequences of drought, specifically in the developing world.

Completing this work has really emphasised to me that we can make a difference; anyone can be an engineer; as long as we are using innovation to search for solutions to problems that we face.

Unni Tolkien

I am currently in year 12 and am studying Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Chemistry. In the future I would love to go into reasearch to look at renewable fuels and work on developing inovatitive solutions to the current world energy crisis. When I heard about this competition, I thought this would be a great way to explore my passion for eco-science.

It is vitally important that we make significant changes to how we utilise the Earth's finite resources. This led me onto the design of an ecological water filtration system, where my design is powered by a solar panel. This is a long-term solution which provides clean water for drinking and sanitary needs. Clean water from the water filter empowers people in third world countries by preventing the spread of water borne diseases. Thus young people can go to school and learn, whilst the older people can work and earn money to provide for their families without the constant reliance on high income countries. I strongly feel that helping the developing world become more independent should be the richer countries' aim.

This exciting research topic, in addition to learning new techniques like how to develop a website, has made being part of this project very fulfilling for me.

Jenna Elliott

I am in year twelve and aim to be an engineer. I am especially interested in environmental and civil engineering. This year I am studying Physics, Further Maths, History and Spanish.

I wanted to enter this competition because I believe that tackling world problems is a must and that in the next decade engineers will have to find solutions to the worldwide problems that climate change could cause. By starting with the basic need for water we can help develop these solutions and save many lives.

For this project I worked on designing and building the portable filter design, and uploaded these sections onto the website.

I have thoroughly enjoyed working on this project and it has taught me how, by investigating an idea and adapting what doesn't work, a design can be improved and built successfully.

Emily Hacking

I am a year twelve student and am currently studying Chemistry, Physics, Maths and Further Maths. I wanted to be involved in the competition because I love physics and and very interested in researching ideas for renewable energy.
I feel that this is a key topic that should be addressed, as fossil fuels are quickly running out and making renewable energy sources a viable reality ought to be the first priority for many engineers today. We have the basic technology, but in order to reduce the effects of climate change we must seriously cut down our use of fossil fuels. Politicians and the public will only agree to this if their is an affordable, simple, efficient alternative in a renewable energy source, and I believe that hydropower dams that power filters to produce clean water could be the answer to both our need for fresh clean water and our ever increasing energy requirements.
Within this project I worked on researching the current, past and potential use of hydroelectricity and hydropower, including researching the famous example of the Hoover Dam. I enjoyed combining ideas; for example, how water can be used as a source of energy but could also be filtered to provide clean water.