Katelyn Denby helped build latest entry into the Solar Decathlon and also studies ways to improve nutrition based on geographic regions
As a child, Katelyn Denby loved being outdoors and surrounded by nature near her hometown of Edwardsville, Ill.
“I chose S&T because it has a lot more to offer to students than other, larger engineering schools,” Denby explains. “It has a great environmental program and is known for its graduate placement.”
Today, as a junior in , Denby has kept her passion for the environment alive in both her academic and social circles — even bringing it home, as a resident of the , a neighborhood of four solar houses designed and built by S&T students.
“I participate in monthly activities with the other Solar Village tenants to help raise awareness on campus of environmental topics,” says Denby, president of , a group of students interested in building a sustainable future. She was previously director of finance for the Solar House Team, which constructed the Chameleon House for the Department of Energy .
“Our student design teams are great ways to get involved and meet new people,” she adds.
Working under the direction of , the John and Susan Mathes Chair of Environmental Engineering, Denby is studying how to fight obesity and poverty. She has looked at ways to optimize gardening by developing a decision-making tool to find the most economic watering system, type of soil and best nutritional balance based on geographic regions.
Reviewed 2013-10-04