YP Connections - Water Environment Federation

PAGE 7YP CONNECTIONSYP PROFILE: KENDRA SVEUM, PESYPC MEMBER AND CHAIR OF THE STUDENT OUTREACH COMMITTEEEmployer, position, job dutiesDonohue & Associates Water/Wastewater Process Engineer Projectmanagement, design, and constructionoversight.When did you join WEF? I joinedmy local MA while I was in college. Iwas a Chemical Engineering studentand they gave a presentation to ourAICHE group and said they wantedto start a chapter. Before that point Ihad never thought about working inthe water industry. I ended up becomingthe first president of ourstudent chapter and have been involvedever since.Why did you become involved withWEF? I became involved with WEFnationally when Terry Krause (thenthe chair of the MunicipalWastewater Design Committee)came up to me and said he had a rolethat needed to be filled and hethought I should do it. After that theopportunities to be involved justkept rolling in.How many WEF committees do youbelong to: MWTDC S&YPCWhat is your motivation to belong toother committees within WEF?If I am not careful I could becomeinvolved in too many activities. So Ihave stuck to the areas that interestme most.If you had to take a class on a field tripto a location that epitomized the waterproblems we face today, where wouldyou go and what would be your message?This is tough because most kidsdon’t know enough about water in generalto understand the problem. Everygrade school student should visit both awater treatment plant and a wastewaterplant to start with. THEN they couldbe shown what life is like for peoplewho don’t have any of that. We cannotexplain the problem without educatingthem on where their water comes fromand how much it takes to provide it forthem.What is the one goal you wish peopleknew more about WEF/water industry?People need to know how muchenergy goes into the water that comesout of the tap and how much energy isconsumed by all the water they flush.What is the one misconception youthink students today think about thewater industry? At the college levelpeople see the water industry as a placefor Civil Engineers, but it is so muchmore! As a chemical engineer I have agreat background for industrial pretreatment,and really most water/wastewater treatment plants arepumps, tanks, and valves just likechemical plants. Even more there iswork for architects, electrical engineers,business/ sales, biology, chemistry,mechanical engineers …. I meanthe list just keeps going!Have you presented any papers at aWEF event? How did you decide tosubmit a paper on this (i.e. project youworked on, interest, research, etc.)? Ihave submitted two papers toWEFTEC that were accepted. Theywere both based on project work. Ihave also chaired a workshop and submitteda special technical session thatwere both based on an area I have interestin. I served as a chapter author onthe update of MOP 8 and I also servedas the Chair for the update of MOP 6. Ionly have 6 years of experience, so I amnot the most technically knowledgeableengineer out there, however, I amgood at managing projects and peoplewhich is all most of this takes.Did you experience any roadblocks orobstacles in trying to serve on othercommittees?I have never experienced a road blockfrom my employer or from WEF inbecoming involved. But it is importantto approach it the right way. As a juniorengineer at a consulting firm I justsigned up for activities and then askedthe boss later if it was okay. As long as Icould point out a form of client interactionor high level publicity for the companythey have always supported me.Within WEF I have always been enthusiasticand dependable. They are thetwo most important qualities in a volunteerand if people see that they willcontinually give you more opportunities.Or, what tactics would help you becomemore involved in other WEFcommittees? The number one best wayto get involved is to ask. When I wasfirst starting out there was a time whenI just picked a person’s name off of awebsite and asked them how I could getinvolved. It turns out that the randomperson I had selected was looking forsomeone to be on the Local ArrangementsCommittee for WEFTEC and Iwas off in a new direction! That oneopportunity scored me two trips toWEFTEC and whole new network ofpeople. The important thing to rememberis there are not millions of opportunitiesall the time. You may not alwaysbe in the right place at the right timebut with a little bit of persistence thereis always something to do.