Success at the 2017-2018 Clean River Design Challenge

Students from three universities; Metropolitan State University of Denver, University of Colorado Denver, and Colorado School of Mines, were invited to participate in the second iteration of the Clean River Design Challenge (CRDC). Student teams were tasked with the challenge of creating an in-stream trash removal device to be placed in the Cherry Creek with minimal impact to the surrounding area. At the end of the 2017 fall semester, after months of research and design, eight teams presented their concepts and designs to an interdisciplinary panel. Top teams were announced, but all teams were invited to participate in the 2018 spring semester. In the second half of the competition teams would be given $1,000 from The Water Connection to build a scaled model to test their concepts and designs. Six teams presented their models in a specialized flume at the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, and were judged by the same interdisciplinary panel. The top three teams were selected and are pictured below!

It is The Water Connection's hope that the designs created in this competition will one day be installed as a full scale trash removal devices in our urban waterways. 

Check out the rest of the photos from Round 2; the model phase of the competition on our Facebook Page!

Thank you to those organizations who sent judges for the panel: U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, CDM Smith, Confluence Kayaks, CalyDean Electrical, Denver Public Health & Environment, DHM Design, ECI Site Construction, Littleton/Englewood Waterwater Treatment, Urban Drainage and Flood Control District, The Water Connection. 

This competition was made possible thanks to a grant from The Gateway Fund of the Denver Foundation and event sponsors: Denver Department of Public Health and Environment, Denver Water, ECI Construction, DHM Design, Wright Water Engineers, and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.

What to get involved in next year's competition? Email Lauren Berent at lauren@greenwayfoundation.org.