Civil and environmental engineering students at UH Mānoa took top poster award honors at the annual Pacific Water Conference held February 6–8, in Honolulu. The three-day conference has become the premier event promoting best practices in water resources management across Hawaiʻi.
The annual meeting attracted more than 400 people, including environmental engineers, wastewater system operators and other personnel in water, wastewater and water quality fields. Topics focusing on drinking water, wastewater, water reuse and recycling and stormwater challenges were uniquely addressed for the state of Hawaiʻi.
“The Pacific Water Conference brings water experts in various fields such as government, industry and academia to share their new findings and unique experiences. Diminishing water resources is a pressing and urgent worry in Hawaiʻi due to population growth and accelerated development,” said UH Mānoa Civil and Environmental Engineering Associate Professor Albert S. Kim. “Future climate change may cause noticeable rises in sea levels which our infrastructure need to adapt to. Discussions highlight that there is a move toward alternative solutions integrating desalination, stormwater recovery, water reuse and water conservation to meet our current and future demand for water by 2030.”
Programs included industry talks, trade shows and scientific symposia. Kim also gave a perspective talk titled “Future Desalination in Hawaiʻi.” The conference had professional sessions specifically tailored to support young professionals at each transition stage of their careers for their future water stewardship and leadership.
The poster session provides an opportunity for students and potential employers to exchange information and credentials, according to UH Mānoa Civil and Environmental Engineering Professor and poster session chair Roger Babcock.
The 2018 Conference Presentation Awardees
Hawaiʻi Water Environment Association poster awards
- First place: Lelemia Irvine, PhD candidate
Title: A CFD study: Performance estimation of transport phenomena in a biofiltration process using OpenFOAM - Second place: Sara Lin, BS BE student
Title: Anaerobic – Aerobic Biofilm Digestion of Chemical Contaminants and Pathogen Indicators in Synthetic Wastewater - Third place: Sheldon Milan, MS CEE student
Title: Bench-scale Carbon Diversion of Raw Wastewater Using Biosorption/Flotation
American Water Works Association poster awards
- First place: Kacie Niimoto, BS BE student
Title: Design of Small-scale Water Treatment Systems for the Ala Wai Canal - Second place: Shelby Fillinger, MS CEE student
Title: Can we model root water uptake phenomena in biofiltration swales? - Third place: Sara Lin, BS BE student
Title: Anaerobic – Aerobic Biofilm Digestion of Chemical Contaminants and Pathogen Indicators in Synthetic Wastewater
