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Senior James Mangarillo Jr. (Hampton Bays, N.Y.), who will attend the environmental engineering graduate school program at University of Massachusetts next fall to study watershed dynamics and management, is getting a head start on his career by working on a new, inexpensive way to predict drought.
Mangarillo, a civil engineering major, is conducting a year-long thesis in pursuit of departmental honors. His adviser is David Brandes, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering.
“You can analyze a watershed without having to go there and set up stream gauges, which are $25,000 a piece,” says Mangarillo. A watershed is any area where rain would fall that contributes to a stream, he explains.
“The current method is to make an empirical equation when the stream gets to a certain level, already a drought condition. What we’re trying to do is pretty cutting-edge stuff; our method reduces cost and also allows you to plan preemptively for drought periods.”
Mangarillo’s method works by using United States Geological Survey stream gauge data to create an equation that can be used to determine an area’s susceptibility to drought from the known characteristics of the watershed.
“The overall goal is to be able to say, ‘In this many days, the stream will reach drought conditions,’” says Mangarillo. “In 30 days, a municipality can go in and tell residents to reduce their water intake by 10% now, which could completely prevent conditions from occurring.”
Mangarillo took on the study because he enjoys applying classroom knowledge to “real world” situations.
“I have always been a hands-on type of person who likes to really get involved in all aspects of a project,” he says. Last summer, Mangarillo worked on two studies of stream pollution with Brandes and Art Kney, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering. He undertook the research as a participant in Lafayette’s EXCEL Scholars program, in which students collaborate with faculty while earning a stipend.
“This project is different in that it involves developing relationships and equations that may some day be used in a textbook to teach other young engineers such as myself, and that is very exciting,” says Mangarillo. “It’s also very exciting to realize that the correlations I am trying to develop may help a community to preemptively plan for a drought season, and thus not have to worry about the ‘water running out.’ An engineer’s job is to help the public, and through this project I get to do just that.”
Mangarillo notes that he’s also learned that many of the current applications for larger watersheds don’t really apply or are not very accurate for smaller ones. His research will attempt to remedy that problem.
The student finds Brandes to be the perfect person to oversee his project.
“I am very glad to be working with Dr. Brandes; he is highly qualified in the areas of water quality and quantity. Our meetings are unlike most meetings between professor and student. They are like two friends discussing water-related issues and how to resolve them. It allows much more open discussion of problems and possible solutions, as well as a much more friendly ‘work environment.’”
“Lafayette is a great environment for projects such as mine,” he adds. “The faculty members are always willing to help you investigate any topic that is of interest to you. What makes Lafayette so unique is the fact that it is a small school that provides a myriad of opportunities.”
Mangarillo is vice president of the student chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers, member of Lafayette Activities Forum and the International Students Association, and lives on the Creating Harmony and Necessary Social Equality (CHANCE) floor. He also volunteers at Tracy Elementary School, teaching third graders about basic engineering applications by giving demonstrations. He is involved with the Bushkill Stream Monitoring Project and the Bushkill Watershed Instrumentation Project, and is co-project manager of the Concrete Canoe Team, which will compete April 25-27 at Drexel University. Mangarillo was also a member of the track and field team, where he earned Patriot League All Academic Honors