Five students from the University of Missouri-Rolla will travel to Washington, D.C., this month to compete for the Environmental Protection Agency’s first annual People, Prosperity and Planet Award.

Two UMR teams were among the 65 student teams selected as finalists for the design competition, which will be held May 16-17 on the National Mall. Six teams will be selected to receive the P3 award, which includes a $75,000 project grant. Dr. Curt Elmore, assistant professor of geological engineering at UMR, is advising three students who will display a wind energy project on May 16. The project, which uses wind energy to clean up groundwater, was developed this semester in Elmore’s interdisciplinary course, "International Engineering and Design," at UMR. The three students are John Cable, a senior in geological engineering from Rolla; Rachel Dilly, a junior in geological engineering from Rolla; and Ron Gallagher, a graduate student in geological engineering from Liberty, Mo.

Another team of UMR students will exhibit "climate control and illumination in a zero-energy Midwestern home," a solar-related project advised by Dr. Stuart Bauer, an assistant professor of civil, architectural and environmental engineering at UMR. The students are Allison Arnn, a senior in engineering management from DeSoto, Mo., and Chris Wright, a junior in mechanical engineering from St. Charles, Mo.

All of the teams in the competition will exhibit projects and describe what potential the projects have for furthering the goal of "sustainability" in the developed or developing world. The teams will be judged according to how well they are able to demonstrate that their projects incorporate the themes of economic prosperity, enriching quality of life for people, and protecting the planet. More information about the P3 event is available at www.epa.gov/P3 .