Two senior engineering students at Colorado State University have innovation at the forefront of their minds.
What began as a senior year capstone design project is now an award-winning device by Hugh McCurren, an environmental engineering student, and Josh Kates, a civil engineering student. The pair are the co-founders of FlocBot, a business startup that aims to improve the water treatment process.
The tool targets the early steps in the water treatment process, starting with coagulation, in which chemicals are added to water to bind small particles. Particles later become bigger in a process known as flocculation, forming what is known as “floc,” which the tool measures the formation of in real time, offering water treatment plant operators immediate feedback…