Designing the future: Spotlighting Epic Cleantec’s engineers
Celebrating Engineers Week 2025
At Epic, engineering isn’t just about solving problems; it’s about reimagining what’s possible. As we celebrate Engineers Week 2025, we recognize the talented engineers who are driving innovation in water reuse. This year’s theme, “Design Your Future,” is a testament to the power of engineering to shape a better world.
From designing our cutting-edge water recycling systems to pioneering more efficient urban infrastructure, Epic’s engineering team is leading the charge in redefining how cities manage water. Their work goes beyond technical expertise, playing a key role in shaping a more sustainable and resilient future.
The engineers behind Epic’s mission
Richard Ross
What inspired you to pursue a career in engineering, and how did you get started in this field?
To paraphrase a tongue-in-cheek definition of an Engineer: Someone who does precision guesswork based on potentially questionable or unreliable data provided by others. See also WIZARD, MAGICIAN.
I am inspired by using problem-solving skills and creatively applying theory into practice to make the magic happen. It is rewarding to take a concept or idea and make it come to life.
I was thrust into the water reuse environment while working for a consulting firm and attending college. Indian Motorcycle had a problem with their powder coating line and needed to recycle water to meet production goals and avoid sewer discharge limitation issues. There was no system commercially available, so the consulting firm I worked for set out to create a system to solve the problem.
What’s the most exciting or rewarding project you’ve worked on at Epic Cleantec?
Creating the OneWater™ system was an amazing journey. The entire Epic team and trusted partners pulled off a miracle in creating a remarkable product in record time.
If you weren’t in engineering, what other career or passion would you have pursued?
That’s a tough one, as there are so many options to choose from. Likely it would be a lawyer or chef.
Why does water matter to you, both personally and professionally?
Ensuring that everyone has access to clean water ensures we have a healthy society. Having options to boost the quality and quantity available in any situation allows for sustaining ongoing population growth and unlocks building in areas that would normally not be developable. Less water stress can avert conflicts and lead to better lives for everyone.
Do you have any advice for aspiring engineers or those interested in entering the water/wastewater industry?
Learn as much as you can from everyone around you, even those that aren’t engineering-related. Experience from contractors and operators provides more learning opportunities than many textbooks. Taking in information from a wide variety of sources will make you more well-rounded and boost your ability to creatively solve problems.
Lauren Frazier
What inspired you to pursue a career in engineering, and how did you get started in this field?
I wanted to work in sustainability, but I thought I’d be bad at all the other sustainability-related fields, so I decided to try environmental engineering. A lot of my family is big into sustainable & clean living, and they’re all huge inspirations.
My first job was an internship with building energy modeling, which then morphed into plumbing engineering, and now I’m here in the lovely world of wastewater recycling.
Engineering and especially engineering in the construction space, has given me such an appreciation for everyday design, and helped me understand that every aspect of the built environment is thoughtfully designed. It’s really cool to have that perspective now.
What’s the most exciting or rewarding project you’ve worked on at Epic Cleantec?
Delving into product design has been new for me and super interesting. All the steps from an idea in someone’s head to creating computer models to having it physically come to life. I think Epic does a great job of involving all members of the team in ideas for future products so that everyone can give a unique perspective.
If you weren’t in engineering, what other career or passion would you have pursued?
Urban planning or creative writing. How would I have picked between those two? No idea.
Why does water matter to you, both personally and professionally?
There are lots of things we take for granted, and clean water is usually near the top of the list. It’s a huge privilege not to have to worry about water, and I’d like more people to have that privilege.
Do you have any advice for aspiring engineers or those interested in entering the water/wastewater industry?
If you’re in school–do project teams, do internships, do hands-on stuff that will really give you a sense of what you’ll be getting into and what you are going to end up liking. Nothing like trying it yourself to figure out what will be rewarding for you!
Felipe Cartin Munoz
What inspired you to pursue a career in engineering, and how did you get started in this field?
I would say it was a combination of experiences from building spaceships with Legos in my room to dissembling radios to find what they had inside all the way to high school that chemistry caught my eye. Also, watching a lot of shows about how things are made, I was always intrigued by how we build things.
What’s the most exciting or rewarding project you’ve worked on at Epic Cleantec?
So far, it has been a blackwater system for a prestigious boarding school in California because we had to put a design in a short amount of time. Richard really threw me into the water to learn and get myself out there with cool projects.
If you weren’t in engineering, what other career or passion would you have pursued?
It’s going to sound crazy, but it would be a whole 360-degree turn. I would be a movie stuntman. There is a university in LA for it.
Why does water matter to you, both personally and professionally?
We can take water for granted when we open the tap to get water. Sometimes we forget the hard work behind the journey it took since it is not magic that brings the water to our houses every day.
Do you have any advice for aspiring engineers or those interested in entering the water/wastewater industry?
Get your hands dirty as much as possible, touch and see how everything works, and most importantly, surround yourself with people smarter than you are. There is no better way to learn from someone who knows a lot.
Engineering the future of water
Whether they’re designing groundbreaking systems, tackling complex challenges, or (in an alternate universe) starring as movie stuntmen or top chefs, our engineers are proving that the future of water is in good hands.
Here’s to the dreamers, the doers, and the designers of a more sustainable tomorrow!
Interested in working with our amazing engineers? Connect with us!
