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The goal of this document is to place the AguaClara Program at Cornell in an international context, to introduce the varied facets of the AguaClara Program and the advantages of learning by doing (problem-based learning), to describe the importance of project teams with students from diverse academic levels, and to compare the AguaClara Program with student project teams.
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The AguaClara Program is ongoing with many years of inventions/research/design/implementation ahead. The AguaClara Program at Cornell has multiple research and design projects that are components of the overall program. Key features of the AguaClara Program are:
- problem-based learning where making the world a better place motivates peer-based learning.
- Multiple student projects ranging from basic to applied research are involved as a consequence of the multiple components and processes used for water treatment. The Program is a synthesis of multiple projects, informed by input from international partners who provide feedback from full scale AguaClara facilities.
- Continuity of research projects extends over years through student members who progress from team members to team leaders, through graduate student involvement in projects, and through thorough documentation of each semester's work on the Program wiki.
- Student research on treatment processes is incorporated by other students into a free on-line design tool that is used by international partners to design municipal water treatment plants. Students have an opportunity to visit these plants and the communities they serve and to see their work come to fruition.
- Most engineering project teams are organized in response to a competition. The competition sets rules, creates a client, and establishes a deadline for completion. The AguaClara program is a real world global engineering challenge. It is a multi-organization, multidisciplinary collaboration to meet a fundamental human need. Our clients are partner organizations who build the facilities that we design using technologies that we jointly invent, improve, and research. The deadlines are real world implementation deadlines. We have created design guidelines and a design philosophy based on our experiences, the wisdom of other development organizations, and through collaboration with our partners.
- AguaClara has student leaders at 3 different levels (1 overall, 3 program areas, 12 current project teams) allowing students to gradually progress from research participants to management roles.
- Invention is an integral part of the AguaClara program and the faculty advisers guide the invention process as well as the extensive research program.
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