Prince George, BC – Four UNBC students were part of an engineering team that won first place at this year’s Water Environment Federation’s Annual Technical Exhibition and Conference (WEFTEC) Student Design Competition.

The competition encourages learning based on real-world challenges and situations, preparing students for future careers in the field of water engineering.

UNBC students Michael Thiessen, Robert D’Amours, Stephen Bertulli, and David Saabas, along with UBC student David Houghton made up the team. Their winning project was a proposal to manage changes to water flow and quality in and around the salmon bearing stream of Star Creek in Coquitlam as a result of upcoming development in the area.

The UNBC members of the team, from left to right, Stephen Bertulli, Robert D’Amours, David Saabas, and Michael Thiessen. Download High Resolution Image

They developed an environmental engineering plan to keep the stream from running dry in the summer, while preventing soil erosion that would damage habitat for fish and plants along the water’s edge.

Submissions were judged based on content, organization, delivery, effectiveness, and discussion value. In the end, the team was deemed to have most successfully fulfilled all requirements. The team determined that providing low-impact infiltration infrastructure, which allows water to soak into the soil naturally, would be the best way to mitigate the effects development would have on Star Creek.

“If you infiltrate water and mimic the natural hydrology, then the base flow will come through the riverbanks into the stream,” says Thiessen, who in December will graduate with a Bachelor of Applied Science in environmental engineering. “This is always better, because water is moving very slowly at that point, and slow water erodes a lot less, whereas with a faster discharge, you’d get more erosion.”

Thiessen explains that it was important to limit erosion because it would damage the natural habitat of the creek, which is an important salmon spawning area.

“The dirt and sediment along the banks are rich in aquatic life,” he says. “If you remove that, it all dies. You have to have the right kind and amount of sediment.
If you wash it all away, salmon can’t spawn.”

The team’s Star Creek project previously won the BC Water & Waste Association’s Student Design Competition, which made them eligible for WEFTEC, the world’s largest water quality event, bringing together more than 20,000 water professionals from nearly 100 countries. 

Thiessen says the first-place finish at WEFTEC is a great addition to the team’s resumes and an achievement that will help them become successful engineers.

“We were very happy with the result,” says Thiessen. “Some of our team couldn’t believe it. We weren’t sure if we had a chance. We were all very excited when it happened.”

The knowledge they gained from the UNBC engineering program helped them a great deal in taking on the challenge, according to Thiessen. 

“There is definitely an emphasis on analysis and problem solving which were critical skills for the whole team,” he says. “I would recommend this program to anyone wanting to focus on water resources.”

“We are extremely proud of our environmental engineering students and their recent and significant success on the international stage,” says Dan Ryan, Dean of UNBC’s College of Science and Management. “These students and the dedicated talented faculty, who teach, guide and mentor them, are exceptional ambassadors for the University. Their achievement comes at a very exciting time in the development of our engineering program at UNBC, and gives us even greater confidence in our ability to continue to develop a world class engineering program in the North. We look forward to seeing what is ahead for these students, and engineering at UNBC.” 

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