Student Genius Competition

Last friday here at BYU, we had the student genius competition. The student genius competition is put on every year by the Facility and Property Management (FPM) department. The competition is designed as a chance for the students in the program to interact and correlate with professionals in the field from all across the United States. These professionals serve on the BYU FPM advisory council. They are all very distinguished in the field of FPM, have been very successful, and are so generous with their time to help us out.

The competition this year was for each group to come up with an invention that will help to solve one or more of the problems facing infrastructure and buildings in the next 100 years (such as overpopulation, world wars, increased emphasis on "green" buildings, safety and security issues, etc.)

We students in the Facility and Property Management program were placed in groups. I was placed in the group led by Jim Whittaker, from Fairfax, Virginia. He is the Director of the Board for IFMA (International Facility Management Association), and President of the company Facility Engineering Associates. What I loved about working with him was that he gave us subtle ideas here and there, but overall he just let us take off with our own ideas and do most of the critical thinking.

Our idea was to use Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) to turn waste (including human waste) into energy and potable water. These microbial fuel cells have already been discovered and are currently being researched. Their possibilities are being explored and the future looks bright. The MFCs are a bacteria that turn organic and/or inorganic waste into energy by chemically reacting with the waste and releasing the energy. The by-product of the reaction is H2O. This process could change the way the world uses its water supply and could have global effects someday in the future. I don't just say this because it was my group's project; I really feel that within the next 100 years or sooner that this technology could make a huge difference.

My group finished 3rd, likely because of our lack of organization in our presentation and lack of presenting skills. Nonetheless, I feel our project was worthwhile, and I was able to learn a lot. Not just about microbial fuel cells, but about group work, the FPM field, creativity, and the potential of the future.