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Engineering DesignHarnessing thesun and the windFirst-year engineering students collaborate with clientsponsors to develop alternative energy solutionsMOsT INNOVaTIVE dEsIgN awardBEsT ENgINEErINg dEsIgN awardAbout client-sponsored designSince the inception of the of the clientsponsorshipprogram in 1999, first-yearengineering students in EDSGN 100Introduction to Engineering Design havepaired up with industry and client sponsors todevelop engineering solutions for a variety ofproblems while learning the fundamentals ofengineering design.Students in the course are grouped ininterdisciplinary teams involving studentsfrom all types of engineering majors, eachadding their expertise to the developmentof the solution. While emphasizing creativityand innovation, students develop engineeringdesign skills in communication, customerneeds assessment, concept generation,information gathering, ethics, and teamwork.Throughout the semester, the students learnand practice the iterative design process, aninvaluable tool for future engineers.Once the final project is completed, projectsolutions and prototypes are presented ineach section of EDSGN 100. Section winnersare announced, and those section winnersare entered into the College of Engineering’sStudent Design Project Showcase. Awards arepresented for best engineered design, bestdesign process, most innovative design, andbest design communication.Through the EDSGN 100 final project,students gain a wealth of experience in theengineering design process and learn howcompanies develop solutions to engineeringproblems. The clients also benefit from theproject, gaining new insight and experiencinga refreshing take on a real problem. Throughthe final project, clients may identify studentsfor internships and future hire. Past clientshave hired student interns and full-timeemployees from the pool of students whoworked on their client-sponsored designproject.As alternative energy solutions are increasingly in demand, Penn State’sEngineering Design Program partnered with client sponsors to providecutting-edge opportunities for first-year engineering students in EDSGN100 Introduction to Engineering Design to learn firsthand about alternativeenergy and the design process.In fall 2008, Borton-Lawson, an engineering designcompany founded in 1988 by Penn State graduates,sponsored a design project requiring students to research,design, and model a component of the Natural Fusion solarhome, Penn State’s entry in the 2009 Solar Decathlon.The Solar Decathlon is a biennialinternational competition foruniversity students and facultyto design, build, and operate ahome powered by the sun. The event is sponsored by the United StatesDepartment of Energy to advance the use of solar energy.For the final EDSGN 100 project, the students were assigned a scenarioin which they were contracted by Borton-Lawson and Penn State’s SolarDecathlon team to design and prototype a piece of their concept homethat is powered exclusively by the sun. The home must provide enoughsolar power to perform all the functions expected at home, such as washingclothes, running the dishwasher, powering computers, and maintaining acomfortable temperature.Students had four design options. The first was to build a nexus (technicalcore) that would combine all the major services of the house (kitchen,bathroom, laundry, and mechanical room) in a modular unit that canbe manufactured in a factory. The second option was to build integratedphotovoltaics. The third option was to design an aesthetic solar clothesdryer, and the fourth involved finding the most effective uses of solar energyto provide natural light inside the house during the day.Winners of the fall 2008 Student Design Project ShowcaseBEsT dEsIgN COMMUNICaTION awardThe team of Meir Galimidi, Lecie Houston,Tom Wardrop, Nikoli Semanderes, andMelanie Milhouse (under the instructionof Assistant Professor of Engineering DesignThomas Colledge) ) designed a sustainable showerfor the Natural Fusion solar home. The team’sobjectives were to conserve water and energy.The design contained a gravity-powered alumfiltration system, as well as a steam-capturing system and energy-efficientwater heater.The team of Jeff Jesiolowski, Tyler Artz, Dan Butvinik, andByron Pierce (under the instruction of Assistant Professorof Engineering Design Thomas Colledge) recognized theinefficiency of standby power that is generated by unusedAC adapters that are left plugged into the solar home. Theteam’s design eliminated the wasted energy by modifying theadapters with an on/off switch. An adapter was designed toonly turn on if a device is plugged in.BEsT dEsIgN PrOCEss awardThe team of Steven Bates, AmandaMcCloskey, Megan Jurewicz, andMatthew Masarik (under the instructionof Engineering Design Instructor Brett Ulrich) designedan eco-friendly clothes dryer that is aesthetically discrete,cost effective, and minimizes energy usage. The dryer, in theform of a cedar cabinet, featured white desiccant panels toabsorb moisture and a fan for air circulation. It also had stepsand shelving for easy access and usage; stainless steel rodswith predetermined spacing on which to hang clothes fromstandard clothes hangers; and a concave ceiling, sloped floor,and collection chamber to remove condensation.The team of Mike Vashlishan,Jayson Krepps, Greg Cohen,and Pat McDonough (under theinstruction of Assistant Professorof Engineering Design Denise Bauer) created a nexus toimprove the efficiency of the solar home. The team tookprice, effectiveness, and functionality into considerationwhen designing their component.A word from the sponsor: Borton-Lawson“The Solar Decathlon project was an amazing opportunityfor Penn State students not only to gain real-life engineeringexperience, but to do so while developing scalable energysolutions. Borton-Lawson was extremely impressed with theeffort that the first-year engineering students put forward. Wefeel that students find the industry sponsorship of these projectsto be extremely relevant, as it gives them an understanding ofwhat they will be doing as engineers when they graduate.“It was exciting to observe the student teams as they quicklylatched onto the project’s theme and began to provideinnovative and energy-efficient design concepts for daylighting,harnessing of solar power, and mechanical systems for the solarhouse. It is my hope that these students will take their newlyacquired engineering skills and seize opportunity in their futuredesigns to help continue producing energy-efficient productsand processes.“It is with a great sense of pride, and our privilege, to help guideyoung engineers to realize that their future energy-efficientdesigns can make a difference to continue development andfoster a better life for villages, cities, or even entire countries.”A.J. Speicher Jr., P.E.Senior Mechanical Engineer, Borton-Lawsonaspeicher@borton-lawson.com22 | SEDTAPP NEwS | SPriNg 2010 SPriNg 2010 | SEDTAPP NEwS | 23