The Environmental Resources Engineering program at Humboldt State University (HSU) is a hands-on environmental engineering program which prepares students for traditional environmental areas such as water resources, water treatment, wastewater treatment, and air and water quality, and also covers energy resources, with coursework in renewable energy and energy conservation.
The HSU program emphasizes research, writing, and oral presentation skills. The faculty promotes a probabilistic analysis of environmental problems and an awareness of the tradeoffs involved in potential interventions. Engineering economic analysis is emphasized throughout the program. The Numerical Methods sequence focuses on implementation of numerical algorithms in Fortran. Standard tools such as AutoCAD® and Excel are used.
The following are some individual and group research papers I wrote as part of my studies.
- Thermodynamics II: A study of the Fairhaven biomass plant.
- Transfer Phenomena: Heat transfer involved with the forced cooling of photovoltaic modules.
- Numerical Methods III: A simulation of a home solar water heating system.
- Hydrology: Synthetic Streamflows and hydropower.
- Capstone: A study of the Feasibility of Hydropower on the Yurok Reservation.
- Renewable Energy: A design for photovoltaic and micro-hydro power for Rock Creek Ranch on the Smith River.
- Renewable Energy: Analysis of site-specific wind speed data according to Weibull and Rayleigh probability distributions.
- Numerical Methods: FORTRAN program to solve groundwater partial differential equations using finite difference methods.
The program included the following classes.
| Fluid Mechanics | Thermodynamics I & II | Hydrology |
| Strength of Materials | Numerical Methods I-III | Renewable Energy |
| Water Quality | Probability & Statistics | Solar Thermal Systems |
| Statics | Environmental Health | Solid Waste |
| Systems Engineering/Economics | Electric Circuits | Transport Phenomena |
| Dynamics | Engineering Graphics | Natural Resource Economics |
Since graduation I have continued my studies with energy-related courses including HVAC Fundamentals, Electric Power Systems, Building Envelopes, Electric Motors, Energy Auditing, and Retrocommisioning from the PG&E Pacific Energy Center, the Association of Energy Engineers, and other organizations, in pursuit of appropriate certifications.
The following professors can be contacted as references.