Life as an engineer: a teacher’s view

Contributed by Sarah Nitsche, 7th grade math teacher (Newton,MA)
 


Sarah visiting a Cranston, RI wastewater treatment plant

What was I, a 7th grade math teacher, doing at an engineering firm this summer? Last fall I first heard about the LIFT2 (Leadership Initiatives for Teaching and Technology) program and decided to apply. The program’s mission is to provide teachers with high-quality, rigorous learning opportunities and interactive peer collaboration that will ultimately inspire their students’ awareness, interest, and motivation to pursue science, technology, engineering, and math careers.

As the summer drew near, I was informed that I had been placed in the Westford, Massachusetts office of Stantec. To be honest, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I didn’t know much about engineering, but as a passionate math teacher, I was enthusiastic about enhancing my classroom in any way that I could. 

On the site of the Chelmsford, MA solar farm

Throughout my five weeks at Stantec, there was never a dull moment. I met all the engineers at the Westford office and had the opportunity to see a wide variety of what they do on a daily basis. I went on site visits to various water and wastewater treatment facilities, saw work being done at Hanscom Airport, and even got up to my knees in water to help with stream gauging. I was also exposed to a side of engineering that oftentimes goes unnoticed: I sat in on construction meetings, a bid opening, and a practice interview for a potential job.



Every day that went by, I wrote down pages of ideas that I plan to incorporate into my classroom now that school is back in session, especially for my geometry, proportion, and percent lessons. For example, after going to the water treatment facility and solar farm in Chelmsford, I’ve decided to bring my students on a fieldtrip there to link a real-world concept to what they’re learning in the classroom. Prior to the visit, we’ll talk about solar energy and analyze electric bills to get a better understanding of how much energy an average home in our town uses on a monthly basis.

I am very thankful that I had the opportunity to complete my externship at Stantec. It was a completely eye-opening experience that has changed me as a teacher forever.



How wind power changed my life (or at least my job)

Contributed by Dale Knapp, senior project scientist, Environmental Management (Topsham, Maine)

I grew up in the woods of Maine and to this day do everything in my power to spend as much time out there as I can. I am a wetland and soil scientist by training and profession and have spent nearly five years working on wind power projects in the Northeast.



Wind turbines in the woods of Maine.





The first project I got tossed into was one of the first grid-scale developments proposed in the Northeast. While at that site, I got a phone call that triggered the beginning of an internal transition that has continued to shape who I am today. We had been awarded the resource delineation for a new wind project in northeastern Maine. I pulled out the trusty Delorme and took a look at the ridgeline. Looked like a pretty good spot. As I rampaged around the kitchen of the cabin we were staying in—telling everyone this was going to be big—I had no idea how right I would be.





A hazard of the job--bear tracks!



Through the months that followed, we lived and worked in the community of Lincoln, Maine. We were on a first name basis with many of the service providers who had to handle our presence. Listening to the local country station became commonplace—I think even our wardrobe changed. We built relationships and brought business to a community that really needed it. We even went into the local pool hall (OK, only twice over the course of a few years. Hey, even we aren’t that tough.)

I started to see the benefits of this project on the local community as it moved to construction: it provided local jobs, used the service industries, even gave the old folks in the rocking chairs something to talk about. This really grabbed me. I began to work on more of these projects. Now seeing the final results, I take tremendous pride looking at those turbines along that ridgeline. I mean, we sacrificed a lot of sanity to get that project to completion.





The crew off to their next location



As the project progressed I was amazed at ultimately how little landscape was changed. These projects fit harmoniously and produce power in the cleanest fashion I can imagine. Revisiting the final project was really an amazing experience and made me feel like I was contributing a small piece of moving toward the proverbial greater good.



But more importantly than personal pride or company pride, these projects represent something bigger and more exciting to me, and that is the independent spirit of America. It is a can-do attitude; it is not giving up; it is hard work and overcoming adversity. This industry has made me feel as though I am a part of the next great generation building on these ideals to give my children a more secure and stable place to call home. There is nothing worth more than that. It is easy to work so hard for a cause you believe in.

Wastewater Plants: Sustainable and Educational

“What’s that green stuff?”

Rick (foreground) greets his tour group and prepares them
for the sights, sounds, and smells of a wastewater treatment
plant. Assisting on the tour is John Stahly of the Ann
Arbor Public Schools. Parents often accompany school

tours as well.

That’s the number one question Rick Kangas fields from an entourage of 4th graders touring the Portage Baseline Wastewater Treatment Plant in Dexter, Michigan.

What began as a spur of the moment favor has turned into a labor of love for Rick, a Senior Construction Technician with Stantec’s Ann Arbor, Michigan office. Now gearing up for a new semester, Rick has already hosted more than 750 Ann Arbor 4th graders on a guided tour of a 0.25 million gallon per day (MGD) wastewater treatment plant.

Silly questions, great questions, and off topic questions

such as "How much money do you make?" flow in a

constant stream during the tours.

Rick spends a portion of most of his days monitoring the plant operations and equipment. But since last November, he’s also been a mainstay of the school system’s “Watery Earth” science unit. The course includes a series of field trips to water, and wastewater facilities so students can learn about this particular journey of water.

Their stop at the treatment plant includes a discussion of the source of the wastewater (housing units), the treatment process (primary and secondary treatment lagoons) and the disposition of the byproduct (fertilizer for nearby farmland).

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Rick introduces students to the "smelliest place" on the
tour, the influent structure. They are told on the bus prior
to arriving not to say gross or hold their noses, but to say
"how interesting". Most come up holding their noses
saying "how interesting".

“I explain how deep it is, how many millions of gallons the lagoons hold, how long it takes to treat the water,” says Rick. “As we walk along the edge of the lagoon, where we discharge the water, I explain how 160,000 gallons go in and 160,000 gallons go out, percolating through the soil and back to the aquifer as clean water.”

Students are surprised to learn, for example, that 99 percent of the wastewater coming into the plant is water, and just 1 percent is waste, but it’s important that all of it gets treated.

Rick says the students are curious about the boat he uses to traverse the lagoons. And he spends quite a bit of time explaining the role of bacteria and oxygen in the treatment process.

What is the green stuff? Not to worry, assures Rick. “Usually duckweed. Bacteria eating algae shows a healthy process is underway. It’s a good sign that everything is working.”