At the beginning of the new semester, Congressman Donald Norcross announced a $300,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to be given to the Rowan College of Engineering.

The College of Engineering is partnering with the Center for Aquatic Services at the Adventure Aquarium in Camden. This will allow Rowan students and professors in the engineering department to conduct different experiments that may ultimately lead to using algae as a treatment for wastewater.

“This grant was six months in the making. This was submitted by Dr. Kauser Jahan back in probably November, so I was very excited about it when it came out,” said Dean of the College of Engineering Anthony Lowman. “Then to have it reviewed competitively by NSF and our peers and awarded was outstanding.”

After submitting the grant back in November, Jahan found out on Memorial Day that it would receive funding. The grant is providing funding to a program which will help develop a curriculum in future years.

Jahan has a clinical class of four students who are dedicated to working on research for the grant. These students include civil engineering majors Dennis Boileau, Angelique Tucker, Megan Mittenzwei and Roisin Breen, a chemical engineering major.

Lowman hopes the clinical course will give the college some exposure to new students looking to pursue a future in engineering as well as increase the engineering college’s visibility. He hopes the university will increase its impact on students at a younger age.

“I think there are more opportunities now at the high school now for students to learn about engineering. The switch is turned on at a much younger age. By the time they reach those programs they already made up their minds to go into other fields,” Lowman said. “We are very interested and very committed to exposing students to science and engineering at a young age.”