prepare for the future with Senior Design

At Mercer's School of Engineering, we believe in the philosophy "learning by doing." As such, all engineers participate in hands-on projects during their undergraduate careers, including a senior design project spanning their last two semesters at Mercer. Within this project, students are encouraged to work on interdisciplinary teams to design, build, and test a realistic engineering system with a substantial environmental component or focus. Students combine the knowledge they have gained through classes taken in various specialties to produce a comprehensive final project.

For a listing of student projects and a schedule of presentation times for the current semester, click here. To see an example project, check out the project highlighted below which is indicative of a successful project within the environmental specialization.

Senior Design Spotlight

Murchison and Northenor designed two systems to compare sludge ozonation to aerobic sludge digestion.

EVE students Mitchell Murchison and Brett Northenor collaborated to modify, design, and operate a pilot scale waste water treatment plant. Under the technical advisement of Dr. Richard Mines and Dr. Laura Lackey, Murchison and Northenor developed a parallel bench-scale sludge ozonator and an aerobic sludge digestor and then compared the two systems based upon solids destruction, sludge stability, and settling characteristics.

Murchison and Northenor's experiments yielded the following conclusions. Considering the amounts of oxidant applied, the ozonated sludge surpassed the aerated sludge in meeting the experiment objectives. In regards to solids destruction, the ozonated sludge yielded higher total solids and volatile solids reduction. In regards to sludge stability, the ozonated sludge reduced total coliforms, with a higher rate of fecal coliform destruction. Finally, the ozonated sludge settled more quickly with a denser solids volume. At higher flow rates, the aerobic digestor reduced SOUR to below the stable rate, thus accomplishing experimental objectives; however, objectives were not accomplished to the same degree as the ozonated sludge.