Oil Patch Bits: PND engineer addresses fish waste management

PND Engineers Inc. said July 12 that a chapter by Alex Jefferies, PE, a hydraulic engineer with PND’s Anchorage office, is included in a newly published textbook intended to help educators engage youth in discussions about the past, present, and future role of animals in science education. “Engineering a Solution for Managing Fish Waste” is the third chapter in the book, “Animals and Science Education - Ethics, Curriculum and Pedagogy,” and is one example of animals as the focus of science education. In Jeffries case, her studies led to an engineering solution that contributes to ecosystems, mitigating issues ranging from safety and pollution to odors and aesthetics.

Nathan Harris, EIT, also with the Anchorage office, and Brandi Opsahl, EIT, who joined PND upon graduation but has since moved to Washington, receive a credit in the chapter as well, for contributing to Jeffries’ fish grinder project while students at UAA, as part of their senior design project.

Jeffries was approached to write the chapter by Dr. Michael P Mueller, a professor with the College of Education at the University of Alaska Anchorage, after she earned attention for her invention of a fish-waste disposal system. In 2014, she was awarded U.S. Patent 8,833,682 B2 for a water-powered fish carcass disposal system, an innovation inspired by growing up on the Kenai Peninsula among fishermen, salmon and wildlife. She designed a system that floats in a body of water, grinds fish carcasses into pieces, and returns them to the water. The goal is to decrease human-bear interactions by more thoroughly disposing of fish remains that otherwise attract dangerous predators to populated river areas.

Jeffries graduated from UAA with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering in 2011, and completed her master’s in civil engineering earlier this year.