By Neil Nachbar
More than 70 students, representing 40 different majors at the University of Rhode Island, presented their projects at the 2018 Showcase for Undergraduate Research, Scholarly & Creative Works on Sept. 26.
Winning first place for a poster related to science, technology, engineering or math (STEM), was Elizabeth Lux, a third-year civil engineering student from Cumberland, R.I.
Lux’s project was titled, “Evaluation of Ceramic Filters for Drinking Water Purification in Developing Communities.”
“I was surprised and thankful to win first place,” Lux said. “It was exciting to see that people were interested in learning more about the topic. I was nervous that people would not find it as cool as all of us in the lab did.”
The ceramic filters Lux used for her research were provided by the Canadian non-profit organization Potters Without Borders.
“More than two billion people around the world lack access to safe water,” Lux stated. “Ceramic water filters are a low-cost water treatment method for developing communities, compared to a very expensive centralized water treatment system.”
For Lux’s research to be considered valid, she had to follow standard protocols.
“Testing the filters required running water through them continuously for 11 days,” explained Lux. “A harsher ‘challenge’ water was put into the filters which contained bacteria to imitate water that would be used in the real world. Some of the filters were coated with silver, which served as an antimicrobial.”
Associate Professor Vinka Craver was Lux’s faculty mentor for the project.
“The quality of Liz’s research is excellent,” Craver said “When she started working in my research group about a year ago, she was supporting the work done by graduate students. Since then, she has started taking on greater responsibilities and performing tests independently.”
Below is a list of the 13 undergraduate engineering students who participated in the Showcase, along with the projects they presented.