This past Friday, Nov. 1., the Wetland Restoration class collected data in and around the pond and wetlands adjacent to the Lab of Ornithology. Professor of Practice Mike Rolband said, “What we’re doing today is surveying the outlet and water level control structure of this wetland and pond system, as well as conducting a topographic and bathymetric survey. The outlet system is failing structurally and having a lot of problems with beavers. So the class is going to redesign it and propose replacing what’s failing with a system designed to also reduce the maintenance issues caused by the beaver.”
They used an Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV – or “drone boat”), a Seafloor HyDrone, equipped with a Hydrolite echosounder to collect the depth of the water throughout the pond.
For a second check - some students waded in the pond with conventional survey rods equipped with flat plates meeting US Army Corps standards to collect bathymetric data to verify the sounding data.
On Saturday, the class traveled out to a wetland site near Locke, NY to confirm the wetlands mapping data they have previously obtained, install ground water wells in an upland and a wetlands for monitoring purposes, and to conduct a topographic survey with a robotic total station, survey grade GPS, and a helicopter drone where vegetation permitted ground photographic coverage.
Grad student Eirini Sarri said, "This class is the missing link between the academic knowledge that Cornell offers and the application of this knowledge in the industry. We are all extremely grateful to be able to "get our hands dirty" while still in a college environment and we can't appreciate this opportunity enough. Universities everywhere should have more classes like this and more people like Mike."
The M.Eng. project is definitely beneficial since it mimics the real world and allows us to communicate with industry professionals and learn from them. This experience is also a huge plus on my... Read more about Learning about structural design through a real-world project
Aiden Clarage Major: Civil Engineering Why did you choose Cornell? Cornell's project team program offered a network of hands-on learning and community unparalleled at any other school. Ithaca and... Read more about Spotlight on our Graduates - Aiden Clarage
The Cornell Engineering Alumni Association (CEAA) hosted their 39th annual awards banquet Friday, April 29, in the Upson Lounge, and honored engineers for their work in aircraft design, clean energy... Read more about CEAA Awards honor aircraft design, CO2 capture, beloved CS professor
