Students & Young Professionals Committee

The mission of the Students and Young Professionals Committee (SYPC) is to develop and implement programs to increase the activity and membership of students and young professionals in the Association. We truly believe that this is a very important group because these individuals are the current and future leaders of our industry.

Student Design Competition

The annual Student Design Competition will be held at FWRC in May 2023 at the Gaylord Palms.

Each year the FWEA SYPC holds the Student Design Competition (SDC) at the Florida Water Resources Conference (FWRC), for more information and guidelines for participation please visit: Student Design Competition

Winners of the SDC Environmental and Wastewater categories will be awarded the Norm Casey Scholarship. The Norm Casey Scholarship Fund was established in memory of Norm Casey. This scholarship will fund their trip to compete at the 2022 WEFTEC Student Design Competition to be held in New Orleans, LA in Fall 2022.

Students and Young Professionals are welcome to also submit their resumes (as a separate one-page pdf) with their Participation forms. Students will receive a copy of their resume with feedback after the competition.

Poster Competition

The annual Poster Competition will be held FWRC in May 2023 at the Gaylord Palms.

Each year the SYPC, in partnership with FWEA and FSAWWA, holds a poster competition which provides students and young professionals the opportunity to present water, wastewater, and environmental topics at the Florida Water Resources Conference.

Prizes are awarded to the top two posters. Please see the S&YP Poster Competition Guidelines for details and competition rules.

Each participant shall submit a participation form. Participation forms are to be filled out and submitted electronically to the SPC Coordinator. Participation forms shall be submitted in March 2023.

Students and Young Professionals are welcome to also submit their resumes (as a separate one-page pdf) with their Participation forms. Students will receive a copy of their resume with feedback after the competition.

Resume Workshop

The annual Resume Workshop will be held on FWRC in May 2023 at the Gaylord Palms following the student design competition.

Resume workshop will be held after the Student Design Competition (Date: TBA). This workshop will provide insight and advice on constructing and developing an effective resume.

Students and Young Professionals who participate in the Student Design Competition and/or Poster Competition are welcome to submit a resume. These resumes will be reviewed and feedback will be provided after FWRC. Please include your resume as a separate one-page pdf with your participation forms.

Students and Young Professionals Social

The annual Students and Young Professionals Social will be held at FWRC in May 2023 at the Gaylord Palms.

Students and Young Professionals are invited to the SYPC Social that will be May 2023. Each attendee will receive a drink ticket. Food and games to be provided.

Social Media Contest

The Social Media Contest will be held at FWRC in May 2023 at the Gaylord Palms.

Follow FWEA's social media accounts to participate in the FWRC SYPC social media contest. Prizes and raffles may be yours to win!

Young Professional of the Year: Deadline for 2021-2022 is now closed!

Each year the SYPC administers the "Young Professional of the Year" award, recognizing outstanding service to FWEA. The SYPC is no longer accepting nomination packets for YP of the Year 2021-2022 award. The FWEA YP of the Year is an outstanding young professionals that show leadership, initiative, technical knowledge and actively participate within FWEA. The winner will be announced and awarded at the FWEA Awards Luncheon every year and provides the winner with a paid trip to attend the annual AWWA/WEF YP Summit. The winner may also be recognized in the Florida Water Resources Journal, FWEA S&YP Website, social media and other publications. Past recipients of the YP award can be seen here.

If you know of an outstanding FWEA YP, please nominate him or her using this FORM. Nomination forms must be received in March 2023 by 5:00 PM in order to be considered. Forms shall be submitted to the S&YP Chair.

YPs are not allowed to nominate themselves but are encouraged to have their supervisors or colleagues submit a nomination form on their behalf. Members of the S&YP Committee are eligible.

2022-2023 S&YP Sponsors

Interested in sponsoring this year? Please see Sponsorship Form and Flyer and submit to the S&YP Vice Chair. Sponsorship payments can be made here.

Thank You to Our 2022-2023 Sponsors!