Connor is a first year graduate student in the department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering working with Dr. Ann Witmer and Dr. Maria Chu. Throughout his undergraduate degree he conducted research related to downscaling evapotranspiration data with GIS in the Watershed Ecosystem Research Laboratory (WERL-UIUC). He has also worked with PhD candidate Emily Lawson-Bulten for the past two years on research related to community agency and water system design for a rural community in Honduras. His travel to Honduras last summer sparked his own research efforts related to developing a method that practicing engineers can use to help incorporate and evaluate context throughout the engineering design process. He presented his work and findings at the 2024 Undergraduate Research Symposium. Throughout his graduate degree, he hopes to further foster and iterate upon his current method by applying it to many other scenarios and projects. As well as find ways to incorporate qualitative data into engineering models and environmental/agricultural management plans.
Education:
B.S in Agricultural Engineering with Minor in Natural Resource Conservation, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, 2024
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Schedule 1: Survey Reporting and Deliverables Description
OTM Technology No. 2017-194, titled "Diagnostic Tool for Engineering
Effectiveness in Rural International Societies".
Creator: Ann-Perry Witmer
Brief Description:
The Survey provides a list of 41 questions (rated on 5-point Likert scales)
to evaluate relative influences of critical non-engineering conditions and
guidelines for selection/implementation of technologies within a rural
society. The Survey identifies design and implementation strategies that
enhance engineered infrastructure sustainability and durability.
"Survey Report":
The following information is provided in the Report.
RESULTS
Influence
Community Score
Country Weight
Weighted Score
Cultural
Political
Educational
Technical
Economic
· Column 1 lists the five community influences most likely to affect
design, implementation and acceptance of an engineered infrastructure.
· Column 2 shows the raw scores of each influence for the community, based
upon scores You provided after observing Your client.
· Column 3 draws upon open and free data from World Bank database of World
Development Indicators. Where data are lacking for Your country, those
absences are not included in calculations. Religious composition is
evaluated using open and free Pew Research Center data.
· Column 4 provides a weighted, relative influence score for Your client
community, factoring in national norms to identify the conditions that most
strongly govern your client's approach to an engineered infrastructure.
The following information is also provided: Guidelines for interpreting the
high and low scores of the contextual influences, and Guidelines as to how
to approach the design of the engineering infrastructure.
