Projects

In 2009, the Panama City Project Center was established for MQP students working with the Panama Canal Authority on civil engineering projects related to the maintenance and operation of the Panama Canal – channel dredging, dam and spillway design, water quality issues at Gatun Lake, developing shoreline management plans, etc. In 2015, the site was expanded to accept IQP students. Projects have generally focused on the overlapping themes of sustainability (particularly in the interconnections between food, energy, and water) and income inequality (Panama has one of the most unequal distributions of wealth in the developed world). In 2017, for the first time, the Panama City Project Center hosted a full complement of IQP students (6 teams accompanied by two faculty). During the Pandemic, projects were pursued remotely. More information can be found, organized by year, on the left.

In August 2014, Aaron Sakulich and Tahar El-Korchi were awarded a grant titled IRES: Environmental Impact of the Panama Canal Expansion Project (Grant #1357667 ). During each year of this grant, five undergraduate students participated in the Panama Canal Authority’s International Internship program for 15 weeks. In 2015, Aaron Sakulich and Laureen Elgert received supplemental funding to this grant in response to the Dear Colleague Letter titled SEES: Interactions of Food Systems with Water and Energy Systems. More information on the 3 MQP and 1 IQP projects supported by IRES funding can be found on the left, as well as under their respective years.