For University of Washington environmental engineering students, the annual trip to Cedar Falls Hydroelectric Project offers more than a change of scenery. It brings their studies to life.
“These trips provide students with the opportunity to engage with engineers and scientists, who represent potential future career opportunities. Maybe even working for Seattle City Light or Seattle Public Utilities,” explained Ronda Strauch, City Light’s Climate Change Research and Adaptation Advisor.
For four years, City Light and Seattle Public Utilities have been organizing this field trip to connect students with the region’s hydroelectric history. It provides students with a firsthand look at engineering in action.
The nation’s first municipally owned hydroelectric plant
Cedar Falls was City Light’s first hydroelectric plant built to light the streets of Seattle. Beyond power generation, the site also includes the Cedar River Municipal Watershed, which SPU manages. This watershed supplies clean drinking water to 1.6 million people in the greater Seattle area.
During this visit, students explored powerhouse operations, hydroelectric systems, and the relationship between water management and energy production. City Light and SPU professionals shared their expertise, answered questions, and offered a look at their work.
Connecting classroom concepts to real-world challenges
For Sabrina Sandberg, an environmental engineering student who returned to school after a long maritime career, seeing classroom concepts come to life was invaluable.
“Learning [how] watershed modeling is used to manage flood dangers in the winter and withdrawals in the summer helps show how some of the specific concepts and models we are learning about in hydrology will apply to future work,” Sabrina shared. “The fact that we can get safe drinking water for a whole city just through careful land management is very inspiring,” Sabrina added.
The students also gained a deeper understanding of the watershed’s history and its importance to local communities. “It was really important seeing the watershed and the care and effort put into preserving the area,” said another environmental engineering student Per Dillingham. “It’s not always intuitive to know where your water comes from.”
Inspiring future engineers
Beyond technical lessons, the visit inspired the group of UW environmental engineering students.
“I love the outdoors and want to be a part of the journey to keep it safe for future generations,” said student Adria Cipra. “Seeing work done by environmental engineers affirmed that I love the path I am on.”
As the day wrapped up, students left Cedar Falls with a clearer understanding of their future roles as engineers.
“We got to see the roles and jobs an environmental engineer can have, which is inspiring as we near the end of our degree paths,” said Sabrina. “Plus, the beautiful natural setting reminded us why environmental stewardship is so important.”