Airport Design Class Places Second at National Design Competition

Featured Faculty: Jasenka Rakas

Four undergraduates from CEE capstone design class, CE 153: Transportation Facility Design, placed second at the Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) University Design Competition for Addressing Airport Needs. Their submission, "Airport Smart Drainage System,"  was in the Airport Environmental Interactions design challenge category.

 

Jehan Anketell
Greg Hori
Jiayun Sun
Raymond Yeh
Dr. Jasenka Rakas

 

This makes the 4th time in the last 5 years that Berkeley students from Dr. Rakas’ class have entered the competition and placed in the top two.

The design was reviewed by a panel of experts from the FAA, industry and academia. The panel was impressed with students’ fresh thinking, as well as their overall approach and process in creating a solution with a real-world impact.

Inspired by the Asiana Airlines Flight 214 crash that occurred at the San Francisco International Airport in July 2013, the students designed a system to help reduce the environmental impacts of fuel spills at airports.

They designed an optimized network of pipes and sensors that would detect the presence of any spilled fuel and automatically redirect it to a designated storage tank for easy removal. This system would prevent any spilled fuel from spilling into and polluting the bay and negate the need for the expensive cleanup of a contaminated drainage system.

The Competition challenges individuals and teams of undergraduate and/or graduate students working with faculty advisors at US colleges and universities to consider innovative approaches related to airport issues.

 

Aerial view of the flight 214 wreckage

 

Right Wing and Adjacent Catch Basin Asiana 214 flight at SFO

 

Asiana 214 flight Left wing and Adjacent Catch Basin at SFO

 

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