In the farming communities in and surrounding the Cuzco area of Peru, there are coffee farmers seeking to increase their yield and their profits. They were assisted this year by four University of St. Thomas School of Engineering seniors who traveled to the Andes Mountains of Peru during their winter break to put their engineering ingenuity to the test.
Engineering students at the Senior Design Clinic demonstrate how coffee cherries are de-pulped.Sheree Curry / University of St. Thomas
Known as Team 9, or the “Coffee De-Pulper Durability” team for their Senior Design Clinic project, Sean Carey, Ashley Haus, Allie Kepner and Ethan Petersilka observed the farmers’ coffee bean harvesting and roasting processes. One of the steps the farmers take is using a machine to separate the coffee cherry from the actual bean.
One problem the students observed came from when the farmers needed to transport the de-pulper machine for maintenance. The farmers lived two hours from any roads and would need to use mules to help haul the machines. The students redesigned the de-pulper to increase the longevity of the machine, reduce the frequency of maintenance and create an easier on-site cleaning process.
Sponsored by the Andean Alliance for Sustainable Development and advised by Professor Brittany Nelson-Cheeseman, Team 9 gave a demonstration of the de-pulper during the Senior Design Clinic show held May 6 at St. Thomas.
"The program we created with the University of St. Thomas is impactful because the students work intensively with us both in Peru and back at St. Thomas and we have benefitted from a significant commitment from the engineering program," said Aaron Ebner, the executive director of the Andean Alliance, which has been hosting St. Thomas engineering students since 2019. "We work with a lot of universities in the states and I think the St. Thomas program is unique and offers exceptional value for students' education and provides a very useful set of skills that we see paying off in Peru with local farmers."
Nearly 40 companies and nonprofit organizations engage St. Thomas Senior Design Clinic students each year with real-world engineering challenges. The students, with representatives from their sponsors, including 3M, Northrop Grumman, Toro and others, showcase their work on campus just ahead of graduation. This year was the first year the students were back presenting in person after virtual presentations the last two years due to the pandemic.
Engineering seniors Xavier Thurman '22 (center) and Ian Masui '22 (right) of Team 24 explain their microgrid concept to visitors to the School of Engineering Senior Design show at the Anderson Student Center on May 6, 2022, St. Paul. (Liam James Doyle / University of St. Thomas)
This year there were 35 projects. Open slideshow to learn more about the projects of some of the teams.
School of Engineering Spring Senior Design team 29 left to right: Ryan Van Domelen, Ansley Bodine, Patrick Roche, Tyler Cullen, partnered with 3M to produce a measurement device capable of measuring the haze of a film on a moving web line with an accuracy of ±5%.School of Engineering Spring Senior Design team 19 left to right: John Gahnz, Nathan Kuhlman, Carter Gaulke, Justin Doerr, Jack Teerlinck. They partnered with Auris AI to create an inexpensive and portable ECG device. The device utilizes two electrodes to acquire heart electrical activity and is recorded in real-time. This recording can be seen on the display on the front of the device. It also can be exported off of the device via an SD card.School of Engineering Spring Senior Design team 18 left to right: Kaiwen Chen, Kelly Coyne, Mary Farnan, Ray White, Skyler Rudelius-Palmer. They partnered with Medtronic to develop a wireless recharging system for a neuromodulation implant that eliminates a patient’s active involvement in charging. School of Engineering Spring Senior Design team 26 left to right: Grant Gregory, Emma Olmanson, Nick Witkowski, West Thole. They partnered with Seeds Feeds to transport their hydroponic grow racks, display their programs to the community, and provide storage for tools they need to operate this transportable system such as cooking utensils and food for distribution. Liam James Doyle / University of St. ThomasSchool of Engineering Spring Senior Design team 25 left to right: Nick Pawlak, Alexandra Holmen, Natalie Ebel, Isabella LaFavor. They partnered with the Andean Alliance for Sustainable Development and found that the coffee farmers in Calca, Peru, have little direct access to water for irrigation of coffee crops and for coffee processing due to water scarcity in this high altitude religion. They designed and analyzed the feasibility of a solar powered water pump that can deliver water effectively to the desired location. School of Engineering Spring Senior Design team 27 Left to right: Kyle Stewart, Jason Franzman, Cristian Perez, Tuan Truong, Thach Nguyen. Their project takes inspiration from an incident that happened to Shane Burcaw, a powered wheelchair user and advocate for this project. In an attempt to drive his wheelchair down a ramp in a winter, Shane’s powered wheelchair slipped, causing him to lose control and fall off the ramp. Hence, the design aims to significantly enhance safety for a powered wheelchair by adding a slip detection and traction control system as well as a Krobar, which shorts for knee protection and roll bar frame, to allow wheelchair users to safer travel down a ramp and minimize damage in falling scenarios. School of Engineering Spring Senior Design team 23 left to right: Blake Haselberger, Lauren Mohs, Shawn Catudal, Joshua Berg. They partnered with JockLab on a basketball defender robot that will be used to improve basketball practice sessions and camps.School of Engineering Spring Senior Design team 7 left to right: Shehab Embabi, Nicole Harris, John Ackerman, Jonathan Ellens. They partnered with Burns McDonnell. The first goal of this project was to perform a feasibility analysis to determine the best way to capture the gas produced by the landfill and burn it to create energy and turn potent methane gas into less harmful CO2. Based on the results of the report, a specific alternative was chosen. The other goal of this project was to create a full bid package for the project which includes a preliminary construction cost estimate, design budget, design schedule, construction schedule, and a design plan set.School of Engineering Spring Senior Design team 14 students left to right: Nathan Schraeder, Jimmy Ding, Jack Osborne, Noah Tews. They partnered with Northrop Grumman to design and build a material processing machine that would allow companies to produce materials at specific density ranges.Liam James Doyle / University of St. ThomasSenior Design Team 17. From left to right: Rachel Pietsch, Khaled Shouman, Jordan Henry, Ryan Nguyen.
They partnered with Medtronic. "Our team sought to determine suitable replacements for parylene-C, and to provide Medtronic with testing data that showed an improvement in the solution’s scratch resistance while maintaining electrical isolation."Mark Brown / University of St. ThomasSchool of Engineering Spring Senior Design team 16 left to right: Dylan Chouinard, Mary Seifert, Erin Westman, Luis Romero, Jared Hansen.
They partnered with HAFA - the Hmong American Farmers Association to re-design to redesign a machine that hills soil in order to significantly decrease the manual labor and time associated with weed management – a significant expense to farming. Liam James Doyle / University of St. ThomasSchool of Engineering Spring Senior Design team 24 left to right: Xavier Thurman, Mairin Barrett, Bereket Ayalew, Ian Masui
They partnered with Renewable Energy Partners as part of an Xcel Energy initiative to install a solar-plus-storage microgrid system at two adjacent school buildings and the school district’s nutrition center in North Minneapolis. The microgrid will be deployed by Xcel to manage distribution loads and will operate in island mode during emergencies to provide service to the community. The team created a conceptual design and strategy that will lower energy costs by utilizing the solar-plus-storage. Liam James Doyle / University of St. ThomasSchool of Engineering Spring Senior Design team 28 left to right: Nam Le, Austin Stokes, Alex Thordson, Caitlin Cretton. They partnered with 3M to improve a new sander mount that can hold the sander in a consistent and repeatable position so that a sander change out can be made by a single person in under one minute.Mark Brown / University of St. Thomas