Tidal flooding is a steadily increasing problem that affects thousands of people. Many times the extent of the flood is unknown leaving community members with little to no direction on what to expect, creating dangerous situations.
Six students from North Carolina State University, amongst 2 volunteers, will participate in the Environmental Competition by EPICS in IEEE, in partnership with the United Engineering Foundation (UEF), to tackle this problem. Their solution focuses on providing the public with needed information, such as the spatial and potential impacts of tidal flooding, through further research and a self-powered camera.
The currently implemented solutions are not effective due to their high cost and ability to only provide data for one geographical point. In the team’s desired invention, the entire spatial extent of the waves will be disclosed, making sure the community is aware of where not to go. Their proposed system utilizes a lot of research methods and also a wireless system to make the data readily available to all areas. Contamination data is needed and all analyses will be covered through an external project in Beaufort, NC.
EPICS in IEEE has given a grant of $7,705 to support this project and further help with needed materials and research. This project will be working with the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering and the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering at NCSU to implement this solution. This project is an extension to assist partner communities and is also used as an outreach program for local high schools.
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