Two teams of our chemical engineering students won 1st place in their respective tasks at the 2005 WERC competition in April at New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, N.M. The students had to provide a written report, an oral presentation to the judges, a poster representation of their work, and finally a fully functional bench scale model that they demonstrated on-site at NMSU.  It was not all work and no play for the students, though it seems as if they wore out one of their advisors in the process.

The 'Semiconductor Team' of Adam Ekenseair, Mark E. Ferguson, Christina Haley, Thane Krile, John Nivens and Long G. Tran completed task #3, which was to develop and demonstrate a cost-effective, energy-efficient treatment technology for semiconductor wastewater.

The 'Sprouts Team' of Emily Damron, Carrie L. Klein, Melissa M. Leach, Jordon Mourot, Thomas W. Murphy, Amy T. Seamans and Ryan W. Wilson completed task #2, which was to develop a simple and practical system to use calcium hypochlorite (sanitizer), or an equally efficient alternative, to treat sprout seeds.

The 'Sprouts Team' won the USDA Award of Excellence, which gave them the opportunity to present their bench model to the USDA in Washington, D.C. in June.

Congressman John Boozman attended the ‘Sprouts Team’ presentation to the USDA on June 29, 2005. Afterwards, the students and their advisors were given a personal tour of the Capitol Building by Boozman, which for most people would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

These activities are supported by the Ralph E. Martin Academic Enrichment Fund and the Kate Hadley and Grace Baker Academic Enrichment Fund.