AguaClara Five Year Plan

Cornell Team: Research, Development, Design, and Project Management

Objectives:

1. Create hands-on educational experience for Cornell Students through the various sub-teams of the project
2. Increase the awareness of world water issues among Cornell students and making sure that project is sustainable and  continues to meet the first objective
3. Integration of additional disciplines into the predominantly engineering team

Challenges:

1. Project management and coordination
2. Project continuity to help with student capacity building, knowledge creation, and maintenance of AguaClara design and research capabilities
3. Funding

Project Management and Coordination at Cornell University

Project management requires a significant time investment. In the fall of 2008 we experimented with using a part time TA position for one M.Eng. student to provide coordination and logistical support. That model was successful but will require excellent documentation of tasks with yearly or semester turnover. Another option for project management assistance is to hire a full time program assistant. The cost for this option is comparable to the cost of a full time graduate student and thus it is worth comparing those two options. Long term continuity is an issue for both full time staff and graduate students. It would be easier to delegate tasks and not have to deal with competing responsibilities with a full time program assistant. The addition of another graduate student to the project would be consistent with our primary mission of providing a rich educational environment and developing long term capacity in the area of drinking water treatment.
I propose that we handle the project management and logistics team by creating a management team consisting of all graduate students (M.Eng. and M.S./Ph.D.) who are receiving funding assistance through AguaClara. This team of students would have a leader and would be responsible for handling the management tasks. We will use task management software to track responsibilities and progress. This approach will keep the team strongly student focused and will strengthen the research and development program. The M.S./Ph.D. students will help provide direction for the undergraduate researchers on the R&D team and thus will strengthen the undergraduate program as well.

Continuity and overlap of AguaClara Engineers working with regional partners

By the summer of 2010 we will likely need 4 AguaClara Engineers with 2 AE working with each of two regional partners. The goal here is to add one more regional partner, probably in a country neighboring Honduras. In order to grow the AE program we need to do several things. First, we need to increase the population of students who have the training and skills required for AE. The skills and training including
• Spanish proficiency (to be supplemented with in country language study)
• AguaClara technology expertise (plant hydraulics and unit processes)
Only a small fraction of Cornell graduates from combined B.S., M.S., and M.Eng. will have some Spanish proficiency and be interested in a term as an AE. Thus to grow this program we need to either increase the yield or the pool or a combination of the two. Growth of the pool suggests increasing the number of students on the AguaClara team, and that is a possibility. In particular, it would be beneficial to increase the number of students in the M.Eng. and M.S. program to increase the level of expertise on the team.
One possible way to grow the pool and increase the yield for the AE program is to develop a scholarship program.

AguaClara Engineer Master of Engineering Scholarship Program

1. 2 students per year are granted the full tuition scholarship (should this be full tuition or full tuition and stipend?) We will need to interview the students prior to offering the scholarship to ensure that they are appropriate candidates for the AguaClara Engineering position. We also need policies to handle students who want to opt out of the program.
2. Students commit to 2 year term as AE
   Program cost
   At steady state with 2 M.Eng. students and 4 AE in the field the cost is (2*scholarship+4*AE salary). The AE cost about $15,000 per year for a total of $60,000. The scholarships would cost $60,000* each for a total annual cost of $180,000*.

Another option would be to offer AguaClara team members who graduate with a B.S. in Engineering the option of 2 years as AguaClara Engineers followed by a full tuition scholarship as an M. Eng. in Environmental Engineering.
The annual cost of the two programs (AE graduate program plus 2 M.S. Ph.D. students) is approximately $320,000*. This does not include funds for research supplies, January intersession student trip to visit project sites, or other smaller project expenses.

• need to confirm these costs

At Cornell the project can grow to include:

• an exchange program with Latin American Universities
• summer workshops for engineers and technicians involved in building AguaClara water treatment plants
• Master of Engineering or M.S. fellowships tied to 2 year assignments as an AguaClara engineering
• Expansion to include faculty and student involvement from beyond engineering

Field Implementation and Capacity Building

August 2007 to August 2008

August 2008 to August 2009

August 2009 to August 2010

August 2010 to August 2011

August 2011 to August 2012

Send team from regional partner at second launch site to Latin America to learn from experiences and to see construction projects and operating AguaClara plants.