The FWEA Student Design Competition is intended to promote “real world” design experience for students interested in pursuing an education and/or career in water engineering and sciences. This competition tasks teams of student members within FWEA to design and present a program meeting the requirements of a problem statement that they have worked on together as a team, and is intended for both undergraduate and graduate students, typically completing a capstone project. The Student Design Competition will be held at the Florida Water Resources Conference (FWRC). Winning teams from each category will have the opportunity to apply to compete at the national competition held at WEFTEC.
DOWNLOAD THE 2026 SDC GUIDELINES HERE
The Student Design Competition is based on problems relating to the environmental field. Student design teams will be able to compete in one of two categories: wastewater Design or Environmental design. The competition consists of two portions, the written submittal and the presentation.
The Wastewater design is intended to include the traditional wastewater collection and treatment design projects, e.g., hydraulic capacity design, upgrades to existing treatment systems, biosolids handling, small-scale community wastewater treatment designs, and other related topics. The Environmental design is intended to cover current contemporary engineering topics, including stormwater management, watershed management, green infrastructure, low impact development, water reuse, wetland construction, distributed treatment systems, groundwater treatment, drinking water treatment systems, and other related topics.
The scope and extent of the project should be at the level of a senior or graduate engineering/science student in a design or capstone course. Students are expected to work with little assistance from an advisor and/or professor and the students are expected to work together as a team to recommend a solution. Students may use whatever references or resources they choose.
Students are expected to perform the necessary calculations for the project. This is not intended to be a research project or literature review. Although some initial literature review and/or research will be required, the bulk of the project should incorporate pertinent calculations for the design.
For example if the project involved a wastewater treatment plant expansion, judges should look that each team performed the following:
Sufficient background information with a clearly stated problem statement
Analysis of alternative solutions which may include a decision matrix
Hydraulic profile
Preliminary sizing of major equipment (aeration basins, clarifiers, chlorine contact chambers, etc.)
Incorporated information from different manufacturers
Population analysis to determine design flow rates
Preliminary cost evaluation for both capital and operational costs.
All of the design work should be submitted in the design documentation, clearly labeled and referenced. Final determination of project category is at the discretion of the Students and Young Professionals Committee (SYPC) Chair.
Scoring of the project will be determined through an evaluation by judges of the written and oral presentation skills. Written and oral content will be evaluated separately and the scores will be added for the total score.
Written data (submitted in electronic format) will be evaluated by the judges prior to the oral presentations. Judges’ comments on the written and oral submissions will not be released until the completion of the oral presentations.
Each team shall submit an entry form for the competition. One university is permitted to send up to two teams to the competition, one for each category (Wastewater and Environmental). The team names shall be referred to in the following manner: University-Category. For example, ABC-WW or ABC-ENV. There is no entry fee for the Student Design Competition. Students and other audience members are responsible for their own travel arrangements to attend the SDC, though financial support is available for students as detailed in the SDC Guidelines.
DOWNLOAD THE 2026 SDC ENTRY FORM HERE
DOWNLOAD THE 2026 SDC PARTICIPATION FORM HERE
ABSTRACT: Each team will be required to submit an abstract on Page 2 of the SDC Entry Form (maximum of 250 words). The purpose of this abstract is to help SYPC verify that the project is entered in the appropriate category and that the project is in compliance with these SDC Guidelines. While the abstract included in the SDC Entry Form will not contribute to the overall score of the project, it is important to be as descriptive as possible so that the project category can be verified.
FWEA is providing prizes for the 2026 program. The prizes shown below, which are subject to change each year, will be awarded following the Student Design Competition at FWRC. Please note that each team participating in the event will receive a participation bonus for their team regardless of placement based upon the presentations and written submittals. The SDC Guidelines define the process for awarding prize moneys and travel stipends.
| PRIZE | AWARD | MONETARY VALUE |
| First Place (Wastewater Design) | Norm Casey Scholarship WEFTEC 26 Travel Allowance* | $1,000 $4,000 |
| First Place (Environmental Design) | Norm Casey Scholarship WEFTEC 26 Travel Allowance* | $1,000 $4,000 |
| All other teams | Participation Bonus | $500 |
| *The first place teams may be eligible to present their projects at the National Student Design Competition to be held at WEFTEC 2026 in New Orleans, Louisiana. | ||
An official entry form shall be submitted by 11:59 pm on February 20, 2026. This submittal does not need to identify team members, but must include contact information for each team planning a submittal.
A conference call will be held in mid-March 2026, a conference call number and passcode will be sent out to each team leader (as listed on the SDC Entry Form). At least one team member is required to call in.
A Participation Form showing final team contact, membership and presentation team information shall be submitted by 11:59 pm March 27, 2026.
Preliminary student resumes shall be submitted by 11:59 pm March 27, 2026. Late resumes will not be accepted.
A project written data submittal (i.e., the “report”) must be received by no later than 11:59 pm on April 10, 2026.
The presentations will be live presentations at the Florida Water Resources Competition (FWRC) on April 26, 2026.
Final presentations shall be submitted prior to the competition to account for unanticipated day-of technical difficulties. Teams will need to verify that their presentation is on the general laptop before the start of the competition.
Questions will be asked to the students following their presentations.
Winners will be announced following the competition.
SDC sponsors are greatly appreciated to ensure the sustainability of this important program. Please contact the S&YP Treasurer if your organization is interested in being a sponsor. All sponsors will be recognized during the course of the SDC program.
The Students and Young Professionals (S&YP) Poster Competition is intended to provide students and young professionals the opportunity to participate at the Florida Water Resources Conference. The posters will be judged by a panel of experts on April 26, 2026.
Topics may cover traditional and contemporary wastewater projects (including the wastewater collection and treatment, MBRs, brine disposal, etc.), environmental projects (including sustainability, water reuse, wetland construction, etc), and water projects (including water collection and treatment, membrane filtration, DPR, etc). To learn more about the Poster Competition, please see the guidelines below. To compete, please submit the Poster Participation form by April 10, 2026.
DOWNLOAD THE 2026 POSTER GUIDELINES HERE
DOWNLOAD THE 2026 POSTER PARTICIPATION FORM HERE
FWEA is providing prizes for the 2026 S&YP Poster Competition as defined in the Poster Guidelines. The student posters will be judged separately from the young professional posters. First place in both categories (Student and YP) will be awarded a $250 prize. Prizes will be awarded following the FWRC.
For more information on the FWEA S&YP Committee as well as other FWEA YP Events: S&YP Committee and Events
Please review the program guidelines and contact the SYPC Chair or SDC & Poster Competition Chair for any clarification on any of the rules or guidelines of the program. If you are aware of a university student group in Florida that is interested in participating in the SDC for the first time, or have any other questions, please contact:
Kylee Sylvia, ksylvia@hazenandsawyer.com
SDC and Poster Competition Chair
Hazen and Sawyer
Olga Mikhalchishina, sypc.chair@fwea.org
Students & Young Professionals Committee Chair
Ardurra
