Water and the Environment Research (WATER) Center at Texas Tech University fosters student involvement through two prominent student organizations: the Society of Environmental Professionals (SEP) and Engineers for a Sustainable World (ESW). These organizations provide platforms for students to engage in impactful projects, professional networking, and leadership opportunities related to water resources. Additionally, the center annually facilitates a design-build team from the Environmental Engineering Capstone course, allowing students to apply their skills in innovative solutions for real-world challenges in water management and conservation. Explore these avenues to enrich your educational journey and prepare for a rewarding career in water resources engineering and management.

Society of Environmental Professionals (SEP)

Engineers for a Sustainable World (ESW)

Student Design Competition Team (WEAT)

 

SEP:

The purpose of the Society of Environmental Professionals is to foster and promote, among the members of the society, interest in all matters pertaining to environmental science, encourage cooperation among the members in major projects related to environmental science, promote social events, develop leadership, and provide programs for the professional development and entertainment of the members.

Request SEP membership at TechConnect

Connect with them on Instagram @ttu_sep to learn about their events and achievements.

 

ESW:

Engineers For A Sustainable World (ESW) is dedicated to local & international efforts to address the challenges of sustainability in the modern world through education, outreach (volunteering) and technical projects.

They invite students from all majors and disciplines who are interested in hands-on, project based activities. 

Request ESW membership at Techconnect

Follow them on Facebook @Engineers for a Sustainable World at TTU and at Instagram @esw_ttu to stay updates with their events and achievements.

 

 Student Design Competition Team (WEAT)

The Water Environment Association of Texas (WEAT) hosts a student design competition involving a real-world wastewater treatment plant. Students are given the current plant schematics and design considerations and are asked to upgrade the plant. Typical plant upgrades are to increase capacity and modify unit processes based on problems or issues that the current plant operators address. Every fifth year ENVE students are split into groups to work on this project as part of their senior design class. However, only one group of five gets to compete in the state-wide competition. 

TTU's team has won:

• State competitions in 2019 and 2021
• State and National competitions in Spring and Fall 2023 respectively
• After winning State competition in Spring 2024, they are all set to compete in National competition in Fall 2024.

About Fall 2023 national competition's winning project:

The team developed a plant expansion for the Walnut Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP). This is the largest wastewater treatment plant in Austin. They designed an expansion from servicing twenty-five million gallons per day (MGD) to 100 MGD of influent wastewater. They were also tasked with changing from a conventional activated sludge to a biological nutrient removal system. This step in the treatment train removes Carbon, Nitrogen, and Phosphorous. These nutrients need to be removed to avoid eutrophication and other negative environmental health outcomes when the wastewater is released back into the environment. 

Images below: (left to right) WEAT team at Regionals 2023, Nationals 2023, and Regionals 2024