Forsyth County, GA

02/04/2026 | News release | Distributed by Public on 02/04/2026 14:45

How Forsyth County’s Innovative Partnership with Georgia Tech is Shaping Tomorrow’s Engineers

How Forsyth County's Innovative Partnership with Georgia Tech is Shaping Tomorrow's Engineers

Last September, Forsyth County brought a real-world water infrastructure challenge straight into a Georgia Institute of Technology classroom, giving engineering students the chance to strategize, problem-solve and create a design for a simulated version of Forsyth County's Return Flow Project.

Through Georgia Tech's Civil and Environmental Engineering Capstone Program, a team of students were challenged to develop a schematic design for a simulated portion of Forsyth County's Return Flow Project, specifically Return Flow Phase 3, which includes a cascade aerator, outfall pipeline and diffuser. Using alternative data sets provided by Forsyth County Capital Projects, the students were intentionally given the freedom to develop their own plan for designing, installing and maintaining a hypothetical cascade aerator, outfall pipeline and diffuser.

Over the course of the semester, Forsyth County Capital Projects and Water & Sewer staff served as mentors, answering questions, sharing insight and teaching how large-scale public infrastructure projects move from concept to construction.

"As a mentor, helping this younger generation of engineers and exposing them not just to a project, but to what it actually takes to get a project built, gives me a lot of satisfaction and joy," said Capital Projects Senior Project Manager Lynnette Ramirez.

Forsyth County's Return Flow Project is part of a broader water management strategy, which will convey highly treated wastewater from the Fowler Water Reclamation Facility (WRF) back to Lake Lanier, returning water to its original source after use.

The full Return Flow Project includes three major components: a new pump station at Fowler WRF, a 36-inch return flow pipeline approximately nine miles long, and an outfall pipeline and diffuser installed in Lake Lanier to disperse the treated water.

When presentation day arrived in December, the students presented their final designs and findings to Forsyth County Capital Projects and Water & Sewer staff and the County's consulting partner HDR, walking through their engineering decisions, challenges and solutions. County and HDR staff offered feedback and insight, comparing the students' concepts with the project's real-world design.

"I think it's important that, as a County in the public sector, we build these kinds of alliances with our universities," said Ramirez. "The students learn from us, and we learn from them."

For Forsyth County Capital Projects and Water & Sewer, the collaboration marked a first, but not the last. By partnering with Georgia Tech, Forsyth County invested in the next generation of engineers. The project highlighted how innovation thrives when real-world experience meets fresh perspective, and how mentorship today helps shape stronger public infrastructure tomorrow.

"I think it's important to open up the opportunity for work in the public sector. A lot of times, people overlook the advantages of local, state and federal government," said Georgia Institute of Technology Professor of the Practice Dr. Joe Manous. "Working with Forsyth County has been a real joy because everybody's very friendly; they're very helpful."

To learn more about Forsyth County's Return Flow Project, click here.

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Forsyth County, GA published this content on February 04, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on February 04, 2026 at 20:45 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]