2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Translation of Green Infrastructure for Stormwater Mitigation and Pollution Control Research into Engineering Education

Presented at NEE Technical Session 3 - Courses: development, logistics, and impact

Research and coursework are often considered separate parts of the degree programs, due to which research advancements, particularly in non-traditional topics and emerging technologies, take a long time to trickle into the curriculum, engineering education, and workforce development training programs. This disconnect leads to a significant shortage of trained and experienced workforce when a major research breakthrough makes headway into industrial practices. Addressing this, our study advocates integrating such emerging research concepts coupled with active learning strategies, such as special topics or projects, into traditional engineering courses through simple enhancements to the syllabi. This paper outlines three case studies we implemented to integrate the topic of “Green Infrastructure for Stormwater Mitigation and Pollution Control” into undergraduate courses and summer research experiences. This paper discusses how these three activities were designed and implemented. The feedback and performance metrics from these interventions demonstrated the potential of our approach to enrich engineering education and bridge the gap between research and classroom learning.

Authors

Meghana Parameswarappa Jayalakshmamma New Jersey Institute of Technology [biography]

Ms. Meghana Parameswarappa Jayalakshmamma is a Ph.D. candidate in Civil and Environmental Engineering at NJIT with expertise in water quality, water and wastewater treatment, and soil remediation. Her current research focuses on microplastics in stormwater, specifically their fate and transport in the urban Environment. Additionally, Meghana has 2.5 years of industry experience designing wastewater and water treatment plant units, investigating stormwater flooding, and providing turnkey solutions.
Dr. Ashish D Borgaonkar http://orcid.org/https://0000-0003-3375-889X New Jersey Institute of Technology [biography]

Dr. Ashish Borgaonkar works as an Assistant Professor of Engineering Education at the New Jersey Institute of Technology's (NJIT) Newark College of Engineering (NCE) located in Newark, New Jersey. He has developed and taught several engineering courses primarily in first-year engineering, civil and environmental engineering, and general engineering. He has won several awards for excellence in instruction; most recently the ASEE-MAS 2025 Distinguished Teaching Award, the Excellence in Lower Division Undergraduate Instruction, and the Saul K. Fenster Award for Innovation in Engineering Education. His research focuses on preparing the next-generation STEM workforce through student academic enrichment and workforce development training programs. For this, he has received multiple federal, state, local, and foundation grants. He is the Founding Director of NJIT's Grand Challenges Scholars Program. He also has worked on several research projects, programs, and initiatives to help students bridge the gap between high school and college, community college and university, as well as to prepare students for the rigors of STEM education, especially mathematics. He is also involved in various engineering education initiatives focusing on the integration of novel technologies into the engineering classroom, and excellence in instruction. His additional research interests include water, and wastewater treatment, stormwater management and pollution control, civil engineering infrastructure, and transportation engineering.

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