J-U-B Engineers is a strong supporter of engineering programs in our region and the UI Engineering Design EXPO is no exception. This year, the EXPO was held live on April 30th at the UI’s Memorial Gym under COVID-19 restrictions. David Watkins (MOS), Chris Horgan (CDA), and Tim Haener (BOI) were all judges in the event.  Chris and Jon Baune (CDA) also sponsored a project, the “Post Falls WRF Outfall Replacement” which enabled a student team to design a real-world project with guidance from Chris and Jon.

In addition to their volunteer efforts at EXPO, David serves on the UI Civil Engineering Advisory Board, and Tim is a member of the UI College of Engineering Advisory Board.

Every college engineering program in the country now has a capstone design class culminating in an end-of-year exposition. The University of Idaho pioneered the Design EXPO concept and has the oldest program in the northwest – in addition, the UI is the #7 ranked Engineering EXPO nationally (according to the National Academy of Engineers). Go Vandals!

The Design EXPO is also a great recruiting tool for J-U-B. Case in point, one of the team members this year, Edie Engelmann, accepted a position in our La Grande office and will start after graduation.

“I enjoy living close to the University of Idaho and being able to take part in these events. I had a lot of fun as a judge, challenging them to think outside the box and discuss big picture impacts of their designs. This year was a great group of professionals.”

– David Watkins, PE

“I had a great time working with my student team this year and enjoyed helping them apply their technical skills to a real-world application. Judging at EXPO is a fun way for me to stay connected to UI (my alma mater) and give back to the College of Engineering. It’s great to visit campus and to see all the innovative capstone design projects.”

– Chris Horgan, PE