Storm Water Management for Hoover Creek Watershed - Essay Example

Academic dis community analysis Part I: Annotated Bibliography Gwinnup, Aaron, et al. “Design Proposal: Storm Water Management for Hoover Creek Watershed. n.p. I Mar. 2010.: 2-34. Web. 12 July 2014. Epic Engineering which comprises of a team of five civil and environmental engineering students presents a proposal in response to a storm water management project in Hoover Creek by the National Park Service in West Branch, Iowa. They pledge to solve the problem indicated which is caused by flash floods which result in aggravated flooding in the area. The team appreciates the historic relevance of the affected site and they are promising three alternative choice design packages, each comprising “of a multi-faceted approach to slow precipitation runoff and enhance soil infiltration”. They have included the imminent challenges they predict and the appropriate design budget. The proposal outlines the entire project execution framework including a Gantt schedule and appendices defining the team profile and other miscellaneous project details. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). “New ultrastiff, ultralight material developed”. ScienceDaily, ScienceDaily. 19 July 2014. Web. 15 July 2014. A group of researchers have applied the construction model of the Eiffel tower to create extremely light and stiff materials. The Eiffel tower achieves its strength from its geometric model. Researchers have managed top microscale this concept using 3-D printing in a process called projection microstereolithography. Normally stiffness and strength reduce as density reduces, but these researchers are claiming that by employing the “right mathematical ly determined structures to direct and distribute the load” light structures can maintain their strength. The researchers tested aerogel (glass foam) and found that its mechanical strength compared with that of solid rubber and increased by 400times while compared to objects of similar density. This means that this sample can support 160000 its weight. They have achieved similar results in other tests involving metal, ceramic and polymer. This development is useful for installations requiring light and strong materials like space structures. They can also be used for sound and elasticity solutions because they conduct sound. Shaikh, Asif, P., et al. Groundwater Recharge by Waste Water. Civil Engineering Portal. n. d.: 1-10. Web. 15 July 2014. A team of four civil engineering professors at the University of Pune presented this report on their research project regarding recharging of ground water by waste water. Using appropriate diagrams they explained the formation process of ground water through percolation. The team also described the formation of waste water and the different processes that are involve in the treatment of waste water. The report then presents the two methods involved in groundwater recharge, namely; direct recharge and indirect recharge. Direct recharge consists of four methods which are, spreading method, recharge pits and shafts, ditches and recharge wells. Indirect recharge consists of enhanced streambed infiltration and conjunctive wells. The report outlines the various pros and cons of indirect recharge and also discusses the operation and maintenance of ground water recharge systems. Finally, the report concludes by underlining the importance of groundwater recharge in augmenting groundwater resources. Wua, XiaoLei, et al. "Extraordinary strain hardening by gradient structure." PNAS 111.20 (2014): 7197-7201. This article by a group of five researchers advocates increasing materials’ strength and ductility through alteration of their gradient structures. The researchers compared the superior strength of natural materials containing heterogeneous nanostructures such as sea shells, teeth and bamboos with manmade materials containing homogeneous nanostructures to support the introduction of a strain hardening mechanism in the gradient structure of materials. Subsequent graphic presentations in the article demonstrate comparisons of strength and ductility between materials which have undergone gradient structuring (heterogeneous) and homogenous materials. Heterogonous materials have higher yield strength and large tensile uniform elongation. The researchers concentrate on the gradient structure of the grain size in a material in a bid to exploit this phenomenon on manmade materials. The researchers observe that the gradient structure in heterogeneous nanostructures provides an option to combine superior strength with good ductility. They conclude by stating that the gradient structured materials are favorable for industrial production because they are relatively cheap to produce in large quantities. Zeeland, Ineke Van. “Agricultural Building Design and Construction In Canada: A historical perspective from the Ottawa Valley”. n.p. ,9 Jan. 1996. Web. 15 July 2014. Zeeland presents a proposal to his supervisor Professor Hotlz, for his fourth year civil engineering project. He proposes to illustrate the design and construction of agricultural architectural buildings in Canada by “comparing and contrasting the Canadian Farm Building code of 1990 with current building trends. Zeeland intends to use HTML, an internet system for document marking in order to deliver an “interactive and graphic demonstration” in his presentation. He proposes an evaluation-type methodology for actual agricultural buildings in the Ottawa valley. He has outlined the various tasks that must be completed in order to finish the project starting with preliminary research and concluding with the preparation of an oral presentation. Zeeland has also attached a project schedule coupled with his projected milestones for his project. Part II: Prewriting Reports 1. My discourse community is Civil Engineering. 2. Civil Engineering Discourse Community Report In the civil engineering discourse community, meaning is claimed after engaging in comparisons between various findings to derive cause and effect relationships and thereby ascertain and explain the meaning of the findings. This discourse community organizes meaning on merit that is, from highest to lowest or vice versa. Meaning is mostly shared through writing although oral sharing is exercised in some settings. Civil engineering is a dynamic discourse community with no apparent dictations. Any civil engineer can evaluate meaning using standard engineering rules and thereby approve or disapprove the subject under scrutiny. Civil engineering is a discourse community that deals with the environment and hence civil engineers associate with reality in an objective way in a bid to understand problems and thereby develop solutions. Civil engineering is mainly about structure but due to the essentiality of technology in the modern world it has also been enjoined in the discourse. This discourse community shares structural and technologically oriented ideas. It also shares a purpose to develop effective solutions to environmental problems. Civil engineers depend on both published materials and scientific experiments to get ideas in their discourse. The shared logic or reasoning pattern in civil engineering is to hypothesize, test, discuss or analyze and then conclude. Civil engineers share scientific and laboratory data in addition to works from other published authors. Civil engineers usually explain the connections between the evidence due to the complexity of this discourse. It is also rational to back up evidence with previously presented findings. This discourse community requires substantial evidence due to the sensitive mandate it partakes. There is a lot of jargon in this discourse such as anchor span, Bailey bridge and braced arch. Civil engineers use lab reports, plans and specifications, instruction manuals, graphs and charts to communicate. Civil engineering uses the MLA citation format and emphasizes on parenthetical citations containing an author’s last name and page number. A works cited page is also required for referencing. 3. Comparison Report: Chemical Engineering and Civil Engineering The two discourse communities compare meaning to derive cause and effect. Both discourse communities organize meaning on merit that is from highest to lowest or vice versa. Both discourses share meaning through writing and also orally; also anyone can evaluate meaning. Chemical engineers are also objective about reality. Both discourse communities share technologically oriented ideas. Both depend on both published and laboratory experiments to get ideas. They share similar logic patterns which are to hypothesize, test and then conclude. Both discourse communities require explaining the connection between evidence and also to back up findings. Both discourse communities require substantial evidence to draw conclusions. Lab reports, plans and specifications, instruction manuals, graphs and charts to communicate in both discourses. They both use the MLA citation format and emphasizes on parenthetical citations containing an author’s last name and page number. Both discourse communities also require a works cited page for referencing. 4. Contrast Report: History Studies and Civil Engineering They claim meaning through evaluation instead of comparisons. History scholars organize meaning in chronological sequence. This discourse community shares a subjective belief to reality and their common topic of study is past or historical events. They share a perspective on learning from the past to rectify the future. The shared purpose in this discourse community is to gain an insight regarding the past in relation to mankind. Members of this discourse community research on published materials and other historical documents. They review all the historic evidence then draw informed conclusions on the subject matter. They share other published authors’ to furnish their needs for scholarly evidence. History scholars present evidence which does not require additional explanations. They do not require substantial evidence in this discourse community. Their shared jargon includes terms such as archaic, anarchism and anti-semiticism. They communicate using book reviews and essays. They use APA, with a references page and parenthetical citations emphasizing author’s name and date. Part III: Discourse Analysis The Civil engineering discourse community aims to expose a student to a multidisciplinary curriculum that is both fundamental and dynamic in order to produce students with a vast array of skills and values. This discourse community wishes to develop a student’s ability to apply mathematical, science and engineering knowledge in real life situations. This discourse community aims to enhance a student’s ability to implement these three sections of engineering in any task. The discourse community requires the application of science, mathematics and engineering to claim, organize and evaluate meaning in the discourse. The discourse community claims meaning through comparisons and inferences of cause and effect relationships. In order to garner sufficient evidence to claim or evaluate meaning, a civil engineering student must set up effective scientific experiments in the laboratory. The students must apply science and engineering skills in setting up his experiments and also when analyzing the findings. Mathematical skills are necessary to organize meaning and all three doctrines are necessary to evaluate meaning. The application of the skills is evident in the demonstration articles on the3 effect of altering the gradient structure in material research (Wua et al. 7197-7201). This article presents experimental reports coupled with mathematical calculations demonstrating the need for developing application skills in this discourse (Wua et al. 7198-7200). The other goal is for the student to be able to carry out experiments successfully and meaningfully, and also to analyze and interpret data. These are the skills necessary in this discourse to claim, organize and evaluate meaning. Experiments form the shared methodology for this discourse in addition to being the primary source of evidence. Experiments are used to claim meaning in the material’s gradient structure alteration analysis (Wua et al. 7198-9). The results from these experiments are then analyzed and interpreted to organize and evaluate meaning (Wua et al. 7199-7200). Experiments are also useful in evaluating and supporting evidence in different settings. This is usually a practice to compare findings when civil engineers compare meaning in different materials (MIT). Another goal of the civil engineering is to enable students to design a component, a process or system to satisfy the desired needs. The student must also achieve this with realistic constraints. These constraints include; social, economical, political, environmental, ethical, health and safety and also sustainability. A civil engineering should be able to carry out the above prescription satisfactorily to sustain the shared beliefs of this discourse. This also enhances the discourses’ shared purposes. This goal is illustrated in the project proposal to manage storm water discussed in the annotated bibliography (Gwinnup et al. 2-34). Gwinnup et al., offers a comprehensive design proposal containing three alternatives enabling the client to settle for the most satisfactory choice (9-16). The proposal incorporates realistic constraints and contains legal acknowledgements, budgetary estimates, time schedule estimates and challenges predicted (6-23). This discourse community also aims to enable a student to identify, formulate and solve engineering problems. A civil engineer aims to solve as many problems as he can in the environment using effective solutions. A civil engineering student should harbor the shared perspective of problem solving and an objective belief about reality as expected by the discourse community. This approach is visible in the annotated bibliography by the design proposal (Gwinnup et al. 2-33). One of the values that this discourse community wishes to impart on its member is an understanding of professional and ethical responsibility. The civil engineering discourse contains shared perspectives and purposes all aimed to enhance the professional and ethical responsibilities of a civil engineer. An example of this value is in the annotated bibliography where a team of engineers task themselves to educate people ion the importance of groundwater recharge by waste water (Shaikh et al. 1-10). The team acknowledges the fact that water is the most important component o life and thus executes the responsibility of educating and informing people how induced groundwater recharge is achievable and its importance in augmenting water resources (Shaikh et al. 7-10). Another goal that should be achieved by the civil engineering discourse is to ensure that the stude3nt has the ability to communicate effectively. The civil engineering discourse community uses writing as the shared way of communicating meaning. The student should be able to communicate effectively through writing and if he or she is sharing evidence, he or she should have substantial evidence to fulfill the shared way of sharing evidence. The communicator should also be able to use the shared jargon or terminology in the discourse community. Finally, the student should be able to use MLA which is the shared genre for communicating in the civil engineering discourse community. There are three articles that illustrate a fulfillment of the written way of communication in the discourse community (Gwinnup et al.; Shaikh et al.; Wua et al.; Zeeland). The article regarding stiff and strong materials illustrates oral communication in the civil engineering discourse (MIT). The discourse community also aims to impart the extensive knowledge needed by its members to understand the impact of engineering solutions in a global, environmental, and societal context. The discourse community contains shred topics of study, shred perspectives and shared purposes all aimed at focusing the student on his obligated cause. Civil engineering is a cause that has to be fulfilled hence the objective belief concerning reality. The student should try to create the impact discussed in this value by achieving the purpose shared in the discourse community. This value is realized when civil engineers achieve huge breakthroughs in the discourse community. This is observed in the two articles contained in the annotated bibliography (MIT; Wua). One of the articles describes the discovery of a new mechanism to alter homogeneous manmade material giving it unimaginable strength and ductility while maintaining its density (Wua et al. 7197). The other article describes a micro-structural breakthrough that can lead to the design of ultra light ultra strong materials (MIT). These impacts change the society and the way that human beings live placing the discourse of civil engineering in a prominent place globally. The discourse community also aims to impart skills in the student to enable him or her to use techniques, skills, and modern engineering tools necessary for engineering practice. The civil engineering discourse community wishes that all students’ should acquire the necessary skills to exploit engineering tools especially in this technologically evolved era. The civil engineering student should be familiar with the jargon shared in the discourse to equip him or her in dealing with new inventions. The discourse community has included technology among the shared perspectives or focus on topics. Technology is rife with innovation and invention and it is mandatory that the civil engineering student to keep up with the pace. This can be achieved if the student is competent on all the shared elements in the discourse community. When the student bears all the skills required in the civil engineering discourse he or she will manage to interact with modern inventions and muster them. This is reflected in the article describing the use of 3-D printing to create ultra light ultra strong materials (MIT). Shaikh et al. also illustrates this when he proposes the adoption of modern methods of groundwater recharge in order to augment water resources (7-9). This discourse community organizes and presents information using visual presentations such as images in research reports to enhance the shared communication objectives. Visuals attract the attention of readers and also help to present and verify offered explanations vividly. Some of these articles present visuals at the beginning while others harbor them within the body of the text. This emphasizes the context and methodology of a scientific article rather than the content. Scientific journalistic articles usually present images at the beginning of the text as evidenced by the article on ultra light-ultra strong materials (MIT). Research reports usually use visuals within the body of the text to explain the methodologies to the uninformed readers and also to verify the research composition to the discourse community. This is evident in the research report on groundwater recharge where the researchers incorporate many images into the body of text to illustrate their explanations (Shaikh et al. 5-9). Arguments in this discourse are structured to address various sections in the audience accessing the discourse community’s materials. Arguments are framed and focused to captivate both members of then discourse community and also other readers. In order to achieve appeal, research papers use novelty in reporting scientific developments. This is witnessed in the above articles on material reengineering (MIT; Wua et al. 7197). The articles denote novelty in both processes and hence generate interest and appeal towards the subject issues. Scientific reporting involves tailoring articles journalistically to achieve newsworthiness. This involves describing novelty using powerful terms such as; “breakthrough” and “very important” (MIT). Arguments within the discourse community focus on shared topics and beliefs within the discourse. Information is presented in an enthusiastic and captivating form featuring alluring declarations such as in the above articles where the materials’ study is referred to as a breakthrough (Wua et al. 7197). The civil engineering discourse community wishes to achieve credibility when communicating information both within the community and also with other readers. Articles in this community discourse emphasize the credibility of their sources to enhance the information’s reliability (Gwinnup et al.; MIT; Shaikh et al.; Wua et al). The two articles on materials’ redesign demonstrate this element where the article quotes the professional attributes of the contributing scientists (MIT; Wua et al 7197). This discourse also uses the passive voice in information conveyance in a bid to create a level of autonomy between the scientists and the research (Shaikh et al. 1-9). Due to the objective relationship that exists between scientists and nature, they concentrate their reports on the methods and procedures that are used in the research process instead of the scientists themselves (Shaikh et al. 3-8). This scientific discourse uses direct quotes and other relevant references in order to emphasize the personal contributions of the researcher to the research process. Statements that are usually used in reports convey the attitudes and beliefs of the scientists in relation to the research issue and also to the readers both within the discourse community and outside (Shaikh et al. 1-9). This involves the use of illustrative attachments in constructing proximity and popularization. These attachments include hedge and other tools that portray the views, opinions and biases of the researcher to the research issue (Shaikh et al.; Wua et al). Scientists differ from scientific reporters in due to the difference in adapting to stance. Scientists use hedges to attach their personal values to the research process but scientific journalists consider these tools to be an impediment to the newsworthiness of the article (MIT). These tools enhance the discourse community’s communication style which involves emphasizing the important parts of in reports or articles and encouraging readers by using markers (Shaikh et al. 1-9). Finally, this discourse community adopts an express task of directly addressing all the readers in the communication setting. This is achieved using several strategies including: acknowledging, recognizing and connecting with other writers and readers, including other readers and writers as discourse participants, engaging and pulling all participants with the arguments and finally guiding them with interpretations (Gwinnup et al.; Shaikh et al.; Wua et al.; Zeeland). Writers in this discourse use inclusive pronouns to engage readers in the discourse (Shaikh et al. 1-9; Wua et al 7197-2200). These pronouns are called reader pronouns and they usually take the form of “we” in pieces of communication. These writers aim to draw readers into their world by creating and enhancing a sense of affectionate togetherness and uniform experiences. Read More