Monday, July 5, 2010

Meth(ane) Production Apparatus

I had the opportunity to help with a fun little project related to a UGROW (Undergraduate Research Opportunities and Summer Workshop) grant for the Biology department. The student is researching the feasibility of speeding up the methane gas production cycle using targetted methanogens to convert food service waste into a renewable fuel source.


The design and documentation of the apparatus also served as my final project for the Solid Modelling class I was taking. Files are available in SolidWorks format, drop me a line. Since I'm doing the work in preparing the laboratories and designing many of the projects here at the school of engineering, I decided I might as well get the degree. It'll take a number of years, since I'm only taking a class at a time, or so, but I don't mind .


YES Camp

June was a busy month for us around here. We held a week-long Young Engineer's Summer Camp for high school juniors and seniors here at the Midwestern State University, McCoy School of Engineering. It was quite a success.


Teams of students explored engineering design challenges through LEGO Robotics, were introduced to all of the Engineering labs, such as the Thermofluids' wind tunnel below, and

participated in interactive sessions involving disciplines used in Engineering: Math, Physics and Chemistry.

Gulliver's Traversal: Assembled

I just realized that I haven't posted an update of the assembled Gulliver. Here he is (so far)in all his one axis'd glory. I taped a measuring tape to him and attached a simple aluminum pendulum.


The next step is to re-design the Z-axis (vertical) arm assembly, since it's become apparent that I was overly optimistic in my initial design, then to fabricate it!