AguaClara Five Year Plan

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

Objectives:

1. Rich educational experience for Cornell Students
2. Team growth that is sustainable and that continues to meet the first objective
3. Integration of additional disciplines into the predominantly engineering team

   Challenges:

4. Project management and coordination
5. Project continuity to help with student capacity building, knowledge creation, and maintenance of AguaClara design and research capabilities

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 since new students will be in the position every year (or every semester). 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
• some 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., 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, 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. (Is this consistent with the goals of the AguaClara Advisory Council?)
One possible way to grow the pool and increase the yield for the AE program is to develop a scholarship program.
AguaClara Engineer Scholarship Program
M.Eng. program
Provide a competitive scholarship

1. Students apply
2. 2 students per year are granted the scholarship (here is a complication because if these students are coming to Cornell from other universities how will we evaluate whether the applicants are good candidates for the AE). Also, what if a student wants to opt out of the program?)
3. 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*.

• 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

Send AguaClara Engineers to second launch site. 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.