MCMINN ART STUDENTS
LEND SKILLS IN AUB
LOGO DESIGN COMPETITION

ATHENS, Tenn. (June 11, 2002) – Art students from McMinn County High School put their talents to work recently in a contest to design a logo for Athens Utilities Board’s television inspection truck, which uses a robot and monitoring gear to scope out sewer lines that need repair.

Jill Davis, AUB superintendent of water and wastewater, presented the design challenge to McMinn art instructors Patricia Compton and Elisha Conley as a way to get their students involved in a project to benefit the utility, the school, and the individual artists.

“AUB gets a great, fun new logo for the TV truck, the winning students get gift certificates as well as having a professional graphic-design project for their portfolio, and AUB will make a donation to the school’s art department in the students’ names,” Davis said.

37 students submitted designs that were reviewed by the AUB representatives and the MCHS art instructors, who see the project’s practical offering as well as its artistic outlet.

“Our students benefited from this project by having the opportunity to learn about the AUB monitoring system,” Conley said, “and it has enabled them to show their talents while giving something back to the community.”

The winning design is the work of MCHS junior Wesley Kite and seniors Misa Kawakiwi and Phillip Sheperd.

“We asked the artists to somehow depict in their design how the system works,” Davis said. “The students did a great job in accomplishing that. It wasn’t easy to choose. All of the students are talented.”

The TV truck uses a tethered robot to “crawl” through sewer lines looking for roots, breaks, blockages and other problems. A swiveling camera poised on the robot’s nose sends pictures back to monitors in the truck, allowing AUB technicians to pinpoint problem sections.

The chosen design incorporates winding pipes with tree roots and vines that spell out A-U-B, and an illustration of the robot exiting an inspected pipe. “That certainly captures the essence of one of our biggest problems with our sewer lines wherein tree roots and vines break lines and choke the system,” Davis said.

The inspection truck is a key tool in repairing hundreds of line breaks in the city’s aging sewer system. Such repairs are part of AUB’s overall effort to bring the wastewater collection system up to a level that, along with a $16 million upgrade to the Oostanaula waste treatment plant, will help Athens get off of a state-mandated sewer connection moratorium.