MORTON GROVE, IL, Oct. 13, 2015 -- On Saturday, Oct. 10, four high school engineering teams were recognized at Xylem's fourth annual "Let's Solve Water Challenge" for their original water filtration device designs. Six FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) teams competed in the competition.
Xylem engineers kicked off the two-week competition on Saturday, Sept. 19, at McQuaid Jesuit High School in Rochester, N.Y. -- the program's primary advocate, located 250 miles from Xylem's headquarters in the city of Rye Brook.
Students were given a $50 budget to design and build a water filtration system using tubing, fittings, fasteners, and other materials that will filter water with particulates up to 1/16 inches in diameter. Teams worked side-by-side with water technology experts from Xylem.
"Xylem's goal is to develop more sustainable ways to treat, test and use water," said Ken Napolitano, President, Xylem's Applied Water Systems business unit. "These students are the future of engineering, and the 'Let's Solve Water Challenge' enables them to begin working today to solve tomorrow's water-related issues."
As part of the final competition, sixteams presented their working devices and described their development process to a panel of judges from Xylem that included:
- Chris Felix, Product Development Engineer
- Paul Ruzicka, Global Center of Excellence, Residential, Commercial and Wastewater
The panel of judges evaluated each team on design, time, exertion, and cost. Winning teams were awarded prizes totaling $4,000 based on four categories. The winning teams from this year's "Let's Solve Water Challenge"are:
- Best Filtration: Cougar Tech from Honeoye Falls-Lima High School
- Greatest Volume Filtered: The IgKnighters from McQuaid Jesuit High School
- Lowest Cost Solution: Devil Tech from Victor Senior High School
- Most Elegant Design: Grapes of Wrath from Naples High School
See also:
"Xylem to provide sustainable disinfection solution for golf course irrigation in Texas"
"Xylem produces 4 millionth Flygt wastewater pump at Sweden facility"
About Xylem
Xylem (XYL) is a global water technology provider, enabling customers to transport, treat, test and efficiently use water in public utility, residential and commercial building services, industrial and agricultural settings. The company does business in more than 150 countries through a number of market-leading product brands, and its people bring broad applications expertise with a strong focus on finding local solutions to the world’s most challenging water and wastewater problems. For more information, visit www.xyleminc.com.
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