Mechanical Engineering students empowered to assess critical issues related to The City of Baltimore’s aging water supply infrastructure.
Inspired by and initially supported through UMBC’s BreakingGround initiative, Professor Panos Charalambides of Mechanical Engineering first introduced an Honors section to his sophomore level Mechanics of Material course during Fall 2012. Since then, over 70 ME undergraduates participated in this Honors section. As part of this course, students are exposed to “real world” issues through field trips, skype sessions with various industries and class visits by former students in leadership positions as well as Civil and local government leaders. Such a visit took place on Thursday, September 12, 2019, during which the Director of the Department of Public Works (DPW) of the City of Baltimore along with three DPW division leaders, presented to this semester’s Honors class an informative account of the history, current state and challenges related to the City’s water management aging infrastructure.
The goal is to inform our students of the current engineering challenges facing the City of Baltimore related to water management, and empower them to develop sensible pipe failure models using their Mechanics of Materials knowledge. Such models that could incorporate available historical data pertaining to the age of the pipe, the materials used and the corrosion properties as well as the changes of the loading (internal and external pressures) and other related engineering operational aspects, could be used to assist the City of Baltimore in developing a sensible maintenance system that may help prevent the next big main break which are often very disruptive of daily life and enormously costly to the city.
In the words of the Director of Public Works of the City of Baltimore, “The challenge of ensuring that our regional water system is sustainable well into the future is critically important. It’s crucial that DPW partner with leaders like UMBC, Dr. Panos Charalambides and the students in the Mechanics of Materials Honors Class because they will become the future engineers, scientists and administrators who manage these systems. As much as I enjoy working with these students to share the real world consequences of their current studies and future work, at the end of the day it's really a matter of self-interest.”
The Fall 2019 ENME220H-Mechanics of Materials Honors class photo taken during The Baltimore City Department of Public Works (DPW) Director Rudy Chow’s visit along with his associates Ms. Lauren Swiecicki, Division Chief of Office of Engineering & Construction, Director Chow’s Chief of Staff, Mr. Johnnie Hemphill and Chief of Office of Asset Management, Mr. Carlos A. Espinosa.
Baltimore City Department of Public Works (DPW) Director Rudy Chow, (left), Division Chief of Office of Engineering & Construction Ms. Lauren Swiecicki, (second from left), Professor Panos Charalambides (Center) Director Chow’s Chief of Staff, Mr. Johnnie Hemphill (second from right) and Chief of Office of Asset Management, Mr. Carlos A. Espinosa (right). The photo was taken during Director Chow’s class visit on Thursday, September 12, 2019.
