Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering – CEE.LSU.EDU.

LSU7779 ETEC Lab 10-31-14

New ETEC Hydraulics and Water Distribution Laboratory Trains Students on Fluid Mechanics

November 11, 2014

On Friday, October 31, representatives from LSU, Environmental Technical Sales, Inc. (ETEC), and M.R. Pittman Group gathered to celebrate the opening of the ETEC Hydraulics and Water Distribution Laboratory.

“LSU’s College of Engineering gave me a great foundation for going forth in life and starting ETEC with fellow engineering alumni Sam Agnew and Michael Todd,” said Ronnie Hebert, president, ETEC. “With this lab, we want to offer LSU students a high-tech experience in the study of hydraulics to prepare them for work after they graduate.”

Bolstered by a $200,000 donation from ETEC and M.R. Pittman Group, LSU College of Engineering undergraduate students will receive hands-on experience in the monitoring, controlling, and modeling of hydraulic systems in an upgraded experimental and modeling facility.

“Thanks to ETEC and M.R. Pittman Group, this new lab will allow us to better prepare LSU Engineers by providing a state-of-the-art learning environment and in-depth training and research in water resource management,” said George Voyiadjis, chair, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. “This facility allows our students to test principles of fluid mechanics and hydraulics through experimentation, involving the measurement and calibration of hydraulic machinery, pump and turbine efficiency, and flow in pipelines.”

Features of the new ETEC laboratory include a fluid friction flow apparatus, parallel and series pumps demonstration unit, FM62 turbine service unit, an Opti-Float system, and updated control and visualization software. The new equipment expands the type of experiments students can perform, making data acquisition and analysis easier and more efficient in preparing lab reports.

“The generous donation by ETEC and M.R. Pittman Group is having a tremendous impact on the education and training of our students,” said Clint Willson, professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. “The addition of several new apparatuses, such as the parallel and series pump system, is providing more opportunities for the students to learn and apply fundamental hydraulics concepts that are crucial in many parts of the state, such as drainage and flood control operations.”

Ronald R. E. Hebert, a 1969 Civil Engineering graduate, pledged $100,000 toward the installation of a hydraulics lab in the College of Engineering. A matching contribution of $100,000 was made by the M.R. Pittman Group, a Metairie, La. construction firm founded in 2005 by Michael R. Pittman, a 1983 Civil Engineering alumnus.

“There is no better place than LSU to invest our efforts to further education,” said Pittman.

The lab is named in honor of ETEC, a manufacturers’ representative organization with expertise in equipment applications for water treatment, wastewater treatment, solids handling, and air emissions. ETEC was founded in 1995 by Hebert, Samuel Agnew, a 1974 Chemical Engineering alumnus, and Michael Todd, a 1979 Mechanical Engineering alumnus.

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For more information contact Mimi LaValle, mlavall@lsu.edu, 225-578-5706.

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