Nada Marie Anid

Autonomous real-time water quality sensing as an alternative to conventional monitoring to improve the detection of food, energy, and water indicators

Advances in sensors and wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are enabling real-time environmental monitoring, which has the potential to provide a plethora of fine-grained data to assist in understanding the symbiosis between food, energy, and water (FEW) systems. This paper presents the advantages of autonomous real-time water quality monitoring systems over conventional systems and proposes cost-effective and feasible approaches to designing a system that autonomously collects environmental data by integrating digital and mechanical devices connected through various communication networks, both wired and wireless. More specifically, the autonomous sensing devices proposed include low-cost water quality sensors implemented on commercial hardware and cell-based biosensors using electric cell-substrate impedance sensing (ECIS), which are capable of detecting water and/or air toxicants in real time.The paper discusses the key design considerations of the underlying WSN communication system supporting autonomous data transmission, including the spatial distribution of sensors, costs, and operation autonomy. Communication among connected devices (e.g., sensors) requires both precision timing and network security against attacks, as well as means to ensure the privacy and integrity of the data being collected and transmitted through the network. Preliminary results demonstrate the importance of precision timing and synchronization by using measured timing information and signal strength to identify man-in-the-middle attacks in fixed wireless networks and to locate the attack source using machine-learning approaches. Data modeling and recovery methods are presented to efficiently analyze and process sensing data to address the missing measurement issue caused by noise and device failure. The system proposed herein can serve as a valuable tool for real-time monitoring of FEW resources and can be broadly applied to efficient management of their sustainability.

Linking education to industry: water and energy sustainability in Latin America

The sustainable economic development of Latin America depends in great part on a workforce that is equipped with the knowledge and skills necessary to promote sustainability practices, including effective management of water and energy resources and minimization of carbon emissions and water pollution. Such a skilled workforce is necessary for the successful operation of industries so that they contribute to the development of societal and environmental well-being in these societies. The “Pathways to Cleaner Production in the Americas” (Pathways) partnership focused on offering practical training in cleaner production to engineering and business students at seven universities in Latin America. Experiential learning was a key feature of this partnership, as student teams worked with small, and medium enterprises (SMEs) in each host country. The students analyzed the companies’ operations and then developed relevant cleaner production recommendations for them. They conducted water and energy audits, along with mass balances, waste and carbon emissions accounting, as well as return on investment calculations. After vetting these recommendations, project advisors helped companies implement priority projects, and monitor the financial and environmental benefits realized. The students were expected to gain the expertise and capabilities during their practice to guide companies on a sustainable development path. In turn, the companies were expected to improve their environmental and economic performance by implementing the recommendations. The article asks whether the “Pathways” educational model has been effective in improving the environmental and economic performance of the SMEs, by helping them to reduce their water and energy consumption, along with other measures. To address this question the authors first focused on the student cleaner production recommendations in order to analyze their potential impact on the SMEs, and then quantified the companies’ water and energy savings post-implementation of the student recommendations. The analysis also looks at key factors that have influenced the success of the educational model in the various countries. When successful, the model helps the companies with water and energy savings, and in the aggregate, leads to a lower carbon footprint and improved water sustainability in the countries engaged through this initiative. Implications for longer-term impacts of the educational model are also discussed.

EcoPartnership on water quality management and conservation in the U.S. and China

New York Institute of Technology, Peking University, Wuhan University, the International Society for Water Solutions of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, and an industrial partner HDR|HydroQual formed an EcoPartnership in 2013. The partners are jointly advancing innovative water quality models, real-time water monitoring tools and information systems, water scarcity and hydrologic simulations, and techniques for water management during hydraulic fracturing. These goals are being pursued through a combination of pilot demonstration projects, research on the next generation of technologies, and practical training and community outreach (through conferences and workshops). This comprehensive approach will help foster water quality, management, and conservation in China and the U.S.

Work in progress — Music synthesizers: A tool in engineering education

To improve the rates of retention in all academic programs NYIT created the Office of Academic Support and Retention Services (OoASRS). In spite of this initiative, the rate of freshman-related retention in the School of Engineering and Computing Sciences (SoECS) has not improved significantly. Contextual Teaching and Learning (CLT) is a concept of instruction that relates subject matter content to the real world and motivates students to make connections between knowledge and it applications. To improve retention rates the faculty of the SoECS requires all freshmen to take ETCS 105 “Career Discovery”. The course uses the educational philosophy and strategies of CLT to enable students to find “meaningfulness” in their education and offers a place for meaning and content to merge. Last semester, we developed a new 8-week CLT module for this course which used a modular music synthesizer to introduce freshmen to an extremely wide range of engineering concepts in an engaging way. This “Work in Progress” will describe the modules lessons and provide a preliminary assessment of student engagement and retention rates.