Discussion Thread

  • 1.  Graduation project ideas

    Posted 03-03-2021 10:53 AM
    Hello, I am a student of civil engineering and I will work on a graduation project in the field of water. Can anyone suggest to me an interesting topic or water problem to do the project on it. If you have reports that I can benefit from, that will be good. Thank you

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    Mais Zeidan S.M.ASCE
    Student
    Amman
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  • 2.  RE: Graduation project ideas

    Posted 03-08-2021 10:09 AM
    Hi Mais,

    Without knowing much about the details, the level of complexity for an idea will depend on factors like how much time you have, what your skills are, and if anyone will be working with you. One type of project that I can think of would be a "case study". This is a project that would allow you to ask the same type of question that someone else has already asked, and see if it applies to a different application or applies in a different geographic region. 

    There are many cases studies out there - in graduate school, my advisor was new, and had hoped that we could build a hydrologic model of New Jersey for my thesis. However, we found that there was less rainfall and stream gage data available to use than we had previously anticipated. So instead, we asked the question "can the existing data in New Jersey be used to build a model that is accurate at any scale?" and we explored that instead.  

    If this sounds too large to do given your time constraints, perhaps you can think of a simple design that would help to fill a need where you live. Could you design a small dam that would supply power to an under-served town near you? Could you design a network of rain barrels to help capture stormwater if water is scarce?

    I  hope some of these suggestions help you come up with an idea. Good luck!

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    Christopher Seigel P.E., M.ASCE
    Civil Engineer
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