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Civil engineering major Daniel Kucz ’07 (Newfoundland, Pa.) has won second place in the student paper competition of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) World Environmental and Water Resources Congress, for his paper “The Delaware River Floods of 2004, 2005, and 2006: Causes and Lessons Learned.”
As well as a monetary prize, Kucz will present his research at the Congress, held May 15-17 in Tampa, Fla., and have his paper published in the official proceedings. The annual Congress is sponsored and run by the Environmental and Water Resources Institute, a specialty organization within ASCE.
The paper is the result of work Kucz did in the Water Resources Engineering course taught by David Brandes, associate professor and acting head of civil and environmental engineering. Kucz is also currently working on an honors thesis with a related topic.
“Professor Brandes typically encourages one student to travel to a conference to present the findings of his or her thesis in the spring of senior year,” explains Kucz. “This year, he suggested that we attend the conference in Tampa in May. The requirements were that you must submit a paper and be accepted by the conference. A month or so later, he mentioned to me about the student paper competition sponsored in conjunction with the conference.”
Brandes is pleased with both Kucz’s paper and academic drive.
“He has worked diligently throughout his academic career, in coursework, on his honors thesis, and as a member of the steel bridge team, so it’s a fitting reward for all his efforts,” says Brandes.
The judges thought highly of Kucz’s paper on recent flood events near the Delaware River and the hydrologic conditions that led to two large floods occurring in September 2004 and April 2005.
The conference paper also includes some results from his honors thesis work on flood frequency analysis in the Delaware and upper Susquehanna basins.
Though he is Kucz’s honors thesis adviser, Brandes had minimal involvement in the actual writing of the paper submitted to the student paper competition, as per conference guidelines.
“Dan is one of those increasingly rare commodities: a very bright and exceptionally hard-working student,” says Brandes. “This experience has been highly rewarding for both of us.”
The title of Kucz’s honors thesis is “Analysis of Annual Peak Floods of the Delaware River,” and was sparked by the flooding along the Delaware River in 2004, 2005, and 2006. Kucz and Brandes are exploring the current flood flow estimation procedures and investigating the possibility of implementing more accurate statistical estimation procedures.
They are also investigating the impacts of updating the current Federal Emergency Management Agency floodplain maps. Most of the maps were developed in 1984, so the data that was used to estimate the 100-year floodplain is from prior to that year. With the most recent flooding, and all the data back to 1984, the estimation of the 100-year floodplain changes.
Kucz and Brandes are focusing on two goals. The are studying how recent flood events have changed the estimated 100-year floodplain elevation and quantifying the uncertainty in estimated flood magnitudes (10-year flood and larger). Kucz is analyzing data from United States Geological Survey gauges and historical events along the Delaware River and upper Susquehanna River and contrasting the results.
“I was intrigued by the science behind estimating the flood flows, including the 100-year flood,” says Kucz. “I also had some personal attachments to the most recent flooding, as I’ve lived near Lake Wallenpaupack for the past 12 years, frequently visited the Delaware River, worked for three months on a bridge project over the Delaware River in Shohola, Pa., and, in 2006, my grandmother’s camper was destroyed by floodwaters in Wayne County.”
Kucz has enjoyed working with Brandes.
“Professor Brandes has been extraordinary to work with,” he says. “I have enjoyed it thoroughly due to the fact that, no matter what problem we may encounter, he always has a good, logical approach. His ability to stay relaxed during research, even when things go wrong, has benefited me as a student and I thank him for that.”
Kucz also believes Lafayette creates a positive environment for undergraduate research.
“I think Lafayette is among the nation’s best when it comes to projects such as mine. Through funding and providing extraordinary faculty, Lafayette definitely makes a wholehearted effort in allowing its students to pursue research that has an impact on the world,” he says.
After graduation, Kucz plans to attend graduate school to study structural engineering, and hopes to become a bridge engineer.
Kucz is involved with the student chapter of ASCE and is a member of the steel bridge team. He also is a member of the track and field team. He served an internship with civil engineering graduate Scott Minnich ’97, a professional engineer with civil engineering firm Cherry Weber & Associates, P.C. in Phillipsburg, N.J. Through this internship, Kucz worked on bridge inspection projects for the New Jersey Department of Transportation and assisted with quality assurance on other projects for the structural engineering department.
As a national leader in undergraduate research, Lafayette sends one of the largest contingents to the National Conference on Undergraduate Research each year. Forty students were accepted to present their research at last year’s conference.