Lee Faraca - Cal Poly

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Last year I enrolled in California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo’s Civil Engineering Master’s program. I wanted to continue my education to gain research experience and to learn more about my specific concentration within civil engineering. My concentration is water resources, with a specialty in groundwater recharge through stormwater capture and low impact development.I’m hoping to graduate this summer, contingent upon a successful thesis defense. My thesis is to create a model of the stormwater that contributes to Lopez Lake Reservoir in Arroyo Grande, C.A. This model can be used as a predictive tool for modeling different scenarios to help manage reservoir levels.School has been busy as always. I’ve found that I work better with pressure than without. I’d rather have too much to do than too little. I’m sitting for my water resources Principles and Practice of Engineering licensing exam this April. This will get me one step closer to being a practicing engineer. Besides that, I’ve been continuing my work with Engineers Without Borders (EWB), designing a water distribution system for a community in Nicaragua. My hope is to travel to Nicaragua this summer and help finishing the project, and closing out the design phase.My goal is to gain enough experience and open a design firm in conjunction with two engineering friends. We would like to focus the company around energy auditing, sustainable design systems, and low impact development. It’s an idea we came up sitting around in a brewery. However, the more we think about it, the more promise it has. Water and energy are going to be two of the most regulated resources in California. Our company will be tailored around the conservation of both for commercial and residential use.