Megan Sharpe

Megan Sharpe, a doctoral student in civil and environmental engineering from Dyersburg, Tennessee, is engineering new ways to get clean water. As a graduate research assistant at the Auburn University Stormwater Research Facility, she’s worked on projects to improve stormwater management.

 Why Auburn

“I had the opportunity to interview for a graduate position with Michael Perez (Brasfield & Gorrie Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering), and toured the stormwater research facility, which I absolutely loved. I really fell in love with the people, the university and the city. It’s been a great fit ever since.” 

Why engineering

 “I started at Mississippi State in biomedical engineering. I learned after a few semesters of taking those courses that it wasn’t really my passion. I took a few environmental-related classes and loved them. Growing up by the Mississippi River, and in a town that was focused on agriculture, environmental engineering really hit home for me.”

Research project

“I’ve been working on this project for my doctorate, which is funded through the Federal Highway Administration project. We were tasked with designing and developing a portable self-contained stormwater treatment device. The device takes dirty water and purifies it. To do that, we’re using electrocoagulation, a method used for over a century and proven effective at extracting pollutants from water. We’ve gotten some really good results from our product, and we’re hoping to develop and market it within the next year.”

Advice for future graduate students

“Auburn has been such a great place for me during my graduate career. I’ve had tremendous success in the research group that I’m in. In the realm of stormwater research specifically, it has been very impactful. It’s a very reputable program with one of the largest stormwater research facilities. Auburn is one of the best engineering schools around, so I would say go for it. It has really changed my life.”