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Civil Engineer heads to Edinburgh for water research


“I am a fifth year student of Science (with Honours) and Engineering (Civil) at Monash Clayton. I was invited along with many other students early last year into the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) program, and was very keen to be involved. With a huge variety of research topics from almost every research group in engineering at Monash, I was spoiled for choice! In the end though, I was most interested in my own specialisation of engineering, civil, particularly water engineering.

My place in the UROP program was accepted, and I worked under the supervision of Associate Professor Ana Deletic, of the Department of Civil Engineering. I entered a multidiscipline research team with another UROP student Simon Durmanic, postgraduate students and academics from the Institute for Sustainable Water Resources, as well as a visiting academic from Iraq, Riyad Al-Anbari and research assistants from France. We collaborated with researchers from the Centre for Green Chemistry in the School of Chemistry.

The wider aim of the research group I am working in is to design a system for harvesting stormwater, for reuse in irrigation of gardens. Water use and conservation is such a contentious issue in Melbourne right now, with the planned desalination plant and continued water restrictions. The volume of stormwater generated across Melbourne almost matches our water demand - which is why stormwater presents such an excellent water resource.

The specific aim of the project I was working on was to evaluate suitable filter media for the treatment of pollutants in stormwater runoff. Working with Simon Durmanic (UROP) and Riyad Al-Anbari my role included helping to design and conduct the experiments, and collecting materials and apparatus. I also assisted in the analysis and presentation of results. Significantly, I was a co-author of a paper we submitted to the 11th International Conference on Urban Drainage, which we will be presenting at the conference in Edinburgh this September 1-5. This conference will also be attended by many researchers of the Institute for Sustainable Water Resources at Monash.

   Young Australian of the Year Finalist and Engineering student Daniel Adams
Kent Wootton

UROP presented a special opportunity to engage in a real research area of personal interest. I have had the pleasure of collaborating with a whole team of experienced and interesting researchers, of various specialisations and interests. The research skills developed in this program are unique in the undergraduate experience, and are highly transferable.

As an individual undergraduate student, it is an honour and a privilege to be able to present publishable work to an international community of experts. The Faculty of Engineering at Monash offers world-class research opportunities to its students.

Following my positive experience in UROP, I intend to pursue research as a career.”