The goal of this project is to further develop the relationship between the university, the Illini Algae Club and its students, the Agricultural and Biological Engineering Department as well as other departments, and the Abbott Power Plant. Using a pre-established waste to algae remediation system used in experimental design, we will apply this system to a real-world use. We will do this through the use of a semester project focused on remediation of university wastewater that can be scaled up into a larger scale project in the future that the club can build off of. Our goal is to provide the foundation of active student involvement for which our organization can grow.

We will do this by first analyzing how well our small-scale systems can work with the local Abbot Power Plant waste. This further enhances our cooperative relationship with the Abbott Power Plant. Once we determine feasibility of the system, then the students can design and build a larger scale system at the local power plant that can reduce their waste as well as produce some renewable energy for the university. This will provide the ability of students to make their own choices with our small-scale experiment as well as allow them to create a vision of their own for the club’s future larger scale activities.