They are the best of the best — the next generation of engineers whose innovation, leadership skills, and commitment to excellence are helping to better our world and inspire young people to consider a career in engineering. Among them is Laura Christianson, a graduate student in Iowa State’s agricultural and biosystems engineering program.
Christianson is among 14 engineers who were selected as one of this year’s New Faces of Engineering by the National Engineers Week Foundation. She studies how to mitigate water pollution through natural process and was nominated for the award by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers.
The National Engineers Week Foundation is a coalition of engineering societies, major corporations, and government agencies, and it asks its members to nominate colleagues 30 years old and younger for consideration as one of the New Faces of Engineering. The work of the 2011 class reflects many of the most pressing issues that engineers are endeavoring to solve on a global scale, including energy resources, infrastructure renewal, technological advancement, and national security.
The announcement of this year’s New Faces of Engineering class of 2011 coincides with the launch of Engineers Week, which takes place February 20-26. Later in 2011, National Engineers Week Foundation will announce the launch of a new student initiative, New Faces of Engineering: College Edition.
I am a 1972 graduate of ISU with a BSEE. My wife is a graduate also. It is wonderful to see the work that Laura Christianson is doing to help our water quality. My family owns property on a 450 acre lake in southern Iowa, Lake Sundown. The lake is quickly silting in and who knows what chemicals are polluting the lake. The fishing was excellent in the past, but I fear that it is deteriorating. I am wondering if ISU can provide some ideas on what can be done to reduce the siltation of the lake and improve the water quality. The lake owners control all of the shore line, but not the stream that feeds into the lake. The stream runs adjacent to the sewage treatment plant of Moravia, IA and runs through farm fields. Any informaiton that you can provide to aid us in improving this situation would be appreciated.
Thank you,
Mike Faber
Mike –
Thanks for the comment! It sounds like the situation at Lake Sundown is quite complex with many factors and multiple groups involved. I really applaud your concern about water quality and encourage you to check out some of the ISU Extension water quality publications, most of which are available for free in .pdf format from the website: https://www.extension.iastate.edu/store/ListItems.aspx?CategoryID=100 . From a brief glimpse, the third factsheet listed on the website (“Agriculture and Water Quality”) provides a basic overview and the first factsheet (“A Targeted Conservation Approach for Improving Environmental Quality”) is a more comprehensive look at conservation practices that can benefit our waters.
There is also this Iowa State website for Iowa lakes: http://www.card.iastate.edu/lakes/lake_general.aspx?id=97. I thought there was some good information on here about many of our lakes and their water quality and usage. Unfortunately, I don’t think Lake Sundown was listed, but this could be interesting comparison information. I hope this is helpful!
Best wishes, Laura Christianson
Thanks for providing this information.
Wishing you the best, Mike Faber
Congratulations Laura….wishing you the very best in your career….IMO Iowa State Engineering prepares students for success…..