Brittney Dawney
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About

I am a 4th-year undergraduate student in the Department of Civil Engineering at Queen's University. After completing the general portion of the curriculum and gaining basic knowledge in the areas of environmental engineering, hydraulics, structural design, and geotechnical engineering, I have decided to focus my studies on environmental engineering. In this context, I would like to gain more understanding of, and experience in, water supply and sanitation, waste management, and source water protection. I am currently a member of the Queen's Applied Sustainability Group (Appropedia page here).

Focus

Interested in water sanitation, wastewater treatment, and waste management, with a focus on applications of appropriate technology in developing countries.

Current Projects

I will be working from September 2010 to March 2011 on an undergraduate thesis. My research is aimed at decreasing turbidity in water prior to solar water disinfection (SODIS) using natural agents to facilitate coagulation-flocculation of particles and subsequent settling. My project page can be viewed here.

Past Projects

Appropriate Technology

I worked on a project for MECH 425, where my focus was on the development of a low-cost household water treatment unit based on solar water disinfection (SODIS) technology. The aim of the project was to optimize the traditional SODIS design by decreasing turbidity prior to solar treatment. It should be able to be reproduced with minimal materials and technical knowledge in almost any place of need. The MECH 425 AT Project page can be found here.

Green IT

I worked on a Green IT project for MECH 425: Engineering for Sustainable Development. The goal of the project was to encourage organizations to employ energy conservation measures that will both reduce their operational costs and minimize their environmental footprint.
My group created an original model that can be used by organizations that are looking to capitalize on energy conservation measures. This particular model will allow organizations to explore the financial and environmental savings that are possible by shifting from using conventional ground and air mail services to electronic document sharing systems. A full description of my group's project and the model can be found here.

Waste Management

As an individual project for CIVL 472: Waste Management, I conducted a critical review of the current state of waste management methods employed by municipalities that experience very heavy tourist traffic. The city of Paris was used as a case study and its current means of waste management and diversion techniques were explored and compared to more effective contemporary methods in other cities. Recommendations were offered for application of these techniques to Paris and other highly-concentrated tourist regions in the world.

Links

The Appropriate Technology Sourcebook reviews over 1,150 of the best books on appropriate technology. Most of the literature in the sourcebook is under copyright although some is in the public domain; those in the public domain are in the process of being made available by students in MECH 425: Engineering for Sustainable Development.


User Talk

My User Talk page is here.

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