Service-Learning Project Examples
One-sixth of people in Peru have no clean water. Water purification devices such as these are part of the Village Empowerment: Peru project's commitment to improving the lives of people in the Huarmey region.
With the help of SLICE, over 50 classes have taken on service-learning projects. Here are a few examples with a brief summary, project descriptions and course syllabus:
- Displays for Tsongas History Center
-
-
Course: 25.107 - Introduction to Engineering
-
Instructor:
David Kazmer -
Partner: Tsongas History Center
-
Working with the Tsongas History Center, part of the Lowell National Historical Park, the Intro. to Engineering students have created demonstrations of historical devices that illustrate principles of engineering mechanisms that have been employed historically in Lowell industries. These demonstrations have been made available to over 60,000 elementary students.
More Detailed Information - Energy Around Us
-
Course: 25.107 - Introduction to Engineering I
-
Instructor:
David Kazmer -
Partner: Tsongas Industrial History Center
-
Approximately 354 freshmen students created posters and demonstrative exhibits illustrating “energy around us” principles of engineering. The Tsongas Industrial History Center displayed the exhibits to educate K-12 students about energy.
More Detailed Information - Bridge-Building Design Project
-
Course: 25.107 - Introduction to Engineering I
-
Instructor:
David Kazmer -
Partner: GEAR-UP
-
A case study was developed by the Engineering Ethics students in which they argued the physical, environmental, economic and ethical consequences of introducing nano-based products and technologies into developing countries.
More Detailed Information - Renewable Energy Teaching
-
Course: 25.108 - Introduction to Engineering II (Mechanical Engineering)
-
Instructor:
Sammy Shina -
UML graduate student Chris Lin developed teaching modules for secondary school children on principles of renewable energy – modules that were then taught by Introduction to Mechanical Engineering II students. The renewable energy project focused on designing and testing solar ovens. This program helped the students to function effectively in groups, present technical information to diverse groups and practice MatLab code input.
More Detailed Information - Testing Nano-technology Modules
-
Course: 25.108 - Introduction to Engineering II (Plastics Engineering)
-
Instructor:
Carol Barry -
The Center for High-rate Nano-manufacturing (CHN) developed modules for demonstrating nano technology for middle school outreach programs. The students of the Introduction to Plastics Engineering II class then tested these modules, exposing the students to topics such as materials, processing, design, and societal impact issues associated with nanotechnology.
More Detailed Information - Parking Lot Redesign
-
-
Course: 25.108 - Introduction to Engineering II (Civil Engineering)
-
Instructor:
Jackie Zhang -
Students worked with the Lowell Division of Planning and Development to maximize the number of spaces in the Davidson Street municipal parking lot.
More Detailed Information - Big Button Switch Construction
-
Course: 25.108 - Introduction to Engineering II (Electrical Engineering)
-
Instructor:
Jay Weitzen, Alan Rux, and Senait Haileselassie -
Partner: Various
-
Students from the Introduction to Electrical Engineering II class designed Big Button Switch devices that enabled clients to easily activate electronic devices with the touch of a hand or finger. These were also integrated into other student project designs.
More Detailed Information - Campus Recycling Improvements
-
Course:
-
25.108 - Introduction to Engineering II (Chemical Engineering),
-
10.308 - Intro to Materials Science and Engineering
-
10.508 - Material Science and Engineering
-
Instructor:
Krishna Vedula -
Partner: UML's Office of Environmental Health & Safety (EHS)
-
After researching the chemical structure of materials and their relevance to recycling, the Introduction to Chemical Engineering II class made a minor contribution to raising awareness about improvements to the campus recycling programs.
-
Another project involved the Materials Engineering students that had to research the “life to death” cycle of an assigned material in order to design a recycling/disposal program for waste materials in the engineering department.
More Detailed Information - Analysis and Testing of Solar Panels
-
Course: 25.108 - Introduction to Engineering II (Mechanical Engineering)
-
Instructor:
Sammy Shina -
First year engineering students developed presentations for GLTHS students to demonstrate benefits of solar energy, and to introduce the highs school students to the engineering discipline and use of engineering analysis and calculations to predict outcomes.
More Detailed Information - UML Parking Lot Re-Design
-
Course: 25.108 - Introduction to Engineering II (Civil Engineering)
-
Instructor:
Jackie Zhang -
Partner: University of Massachusetts Lowell (UML) Facilities
The students applied the knowledge acquired in the class to propose different ideas for re-designing the parking lot behind the Lydon Library located on north campus of UML. The existing parking lacks pedestrian access, has no space for snow plowing, and there are many dead-ends.
More Detailed Information - Explaining Nanotechnology
-
Course: 25.108 - Introduction to Engineering II (Plastics Engineering)
-
Instructor:
Carol Barry -
The students (in teams) were asked to develop new hands-on activities for the Center for High-rate Nanomanufacturing (CHN)’s outreach program to extended day program at the Bartlett Middle School in Lowell, MA. The freshmen were first introduced to the nanoscale and the differences in properties at the nanoscale, selected nano products, and the societal impact issues associated with nanotechnology.
More Detailed Information - Canal Trash Cleaning Devices
-
Course: 25.200 – Community-Based Engineering Design Project I
-
Instructor:
John Duffy -
One student worked with the Lowell Historical National Park (LHNP) to develop trash-cleaning devices for the canal system in Lowell. The mechanism would serve for cleaning the surface of the canals in Lowell from the trash that constantly blows in.
More Detailed Information - Independent Moving
-
Course: 25.300 – Community-Based Engineering Design Project II
-
Instructor:
Bob Parkin -
Partner: Private individuals who are wheelchair bound
-
Private individuals who are wheelchair bound and would like to transfer to/from their wheelchairs independently. One student continued the work of developing a wheelchair transfer board. This was the second credit of a three 1-credit sequence of courses to constitute a technical elective.
More Detailed Information - Community-Based Engineering Design Project III
-
Course: 25.400 – Community-Based Engineering Design Project III
-
Instructor:
John Duffy -
Ongoing project developed by a student to meet the expressed needs of the LHNP. The student created a scale model for the LHNP.
More Detailed Information - World’s Largest Book project
-
Course: 25.401 – Interdisciplinary Engineering Capstone Design
-
Instructor:
Jim Sherwood -
The College of Engineering at the University of Massachusetts Lowell has come forth to help in the GDRMS dream to spread a positive message about peace to children around the world by creating a device that will turn the pages of the large book automatically in order for it to be displayed at the Boston Museum of Science.
More Detailed Information - Troubleshooting Huayash Water Pumping and Filtration System Using a CR10X Data Logger
-
Course: 25.401 – Interdisciplinary Engineering Capstone Design
-
Instructor:
John Duffy -
Partner: Village Empowerment Project
-
The primary goal of the project was to use the collected data to detect the root cause of the pump failure in a purified water delivery system in Huayash, Peru. Once the root cause was found, the expectation was to eliminate the defect by repairing or replacing the faulty part and or to incorporate a control device in the system.
More Detailed Information - Water Purification Design
-
Course: 25.401 - Interdisciplinary Engineering Capstone Design
-
Instructor:
John Duffy -
Partner: Village Empowerment Peru Project
-
Two students from the Interdisciplinary Engineering Capstone Design worked on sand filtration water purification designs to be implemented in remote Peruvian villages. The goal of this partnership project was to improve the water supply systems in Peru.
More Detailed Information - WiFi Communication System
-
Course: 16.499 - Interdisciplinary Engineering Capstone II
-
Instructor:
John Duffy -
Partner: Village Empowerment Peru Project
-
Students from the Interdisciplinary Engineering Capstone II course developed designs for a WiFi prototype to be installed in Peruvian health clinics in order to enhance communication and electronic file transfers between remote clinics and the main Hospital in Huarmey.
More Detailed Information - Heat Loss Analysis
-
-
Course: 10.305 - Heat Transfer
-
Instructor:
Al Donatelli -
Partner: Merrimack Valley Food Bank (MVFB)
-
Students performed a heat transfer analysis of the Merrimack Valley Food Bank to determine the cause of heat loss problems in the winter, and excessive heat in the summer. A cost analysis was also performed to determine the payback period of the alterations proposed that would reduce the energy consumption.
More Detailed Information - Heat Analysis for the Mental Health Association (MHA) of Greater Lowell
-
Course: 10.304 - Heat Transfer
-
Instructor:
Al Donatelli -
Partner: Mental Health Association (MHA) of Greater Lowell
-
UML students in the Heat Transfer course performed a heat transfer analysis for the office areas on the first and second floors of the MHA. They determined heating requirements for a worst-case scenario in the winter as well as for a typical winter day. Students proposed alterations to improve the heating process in the office areas.
More Detailed Information - Structural Evaluation of CMAA building
-
-
Course: 14.204 - Strength of Materials
-
Instructor:
Don Leitch -
Students performed a preliminary structural evaluation of the mill building housing the Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association.
More Detailed Information - Statistical Crime Analysis for the City of Lowell
-
Course: 14.286 - Probability & Statistics for Engineers
-
Instructor:
Oguz Gunes -
Partner: City of Lowell, Lowell Police Department
-
The students were able to apply the concepts of statistics and probability by relating the historical data of crime trends in Lowell, MA with the rate of unemployment.
More Detailed Information - Statistical Analysis of Chloride Levels in Wells in Dunstable
-
Course: 14.286- Probability & Statistics for Engineers
-
Instructor:
Oguz Gunes -
Partner: Town of Dunstable
-
The students collaborated with the Town of Dunstable for a project which involved a statistical analysis of chloride levels in wells in the Town of Dunstable, and provided a correlation between the well type and its proximity to highways.
More Detailed Information - Nominal Problem – Alleyway Maintenance
-
Course: 14.310- Engineering Materials
-
Instructor:
Krishna Vedula -
Partner: Lawrence Community Works (LCW) and Groundwork Lawrence (GL)
-
The LCW and GL have worked with the neighborhood residents that live near some alleyways owned by an absentee landlord. The alleyways have been converted for other uses, but ongoing maintenance has been an issue, with rains sweeping mulch away and clogging sewer drains, etc. The students were asked to find materials that could be used in the alleyways in order to decrease the frequency of maintenance.
More Detailed Information - Lowell Green Roof Project
-
Course: 14.330- Soil Mechanics
-
Instructor:
Pradeep U. Kurup -
Partner: Merrimack River Watershed Council
-
The Merrimack River Watershed Council, Inc. (MRWC) in cooperation with other organizations and institutions proposed a green roof project for the roof of the Lowell National Historic Park Maintenance Shop. The students reviewed literature on green roofs, researched different plants to choose one suitable for the climate and determined the nutrient and composition requirements of the soil medium, among other tasks.
More Detailed Information - Measurement of Road Salts in Water
-
Course: 14.332 - Environmental Engineering Lab
-
Instructor:
Clifford Bruell -
The Town of Dunstable Board of Health partnered with the Environmental Engineering Lab course students to determine if road salts were contaminating fresh water wells during the New England winter season.
More Detailed Information - Intersection Analysis
-
Course: 14.341 - Transportation Engineering
-
Instructor:
Nathan Gartner and Chronis Stamatiadis -
Students from the Transportation Engineering class focused on sections of Pawtucket Street and Stevens Street to study traffic volume, compute capacity, evaluate congestion, analyze accidents and determine turn prohibitions.
More Detailed Information - Using Hydrology to Gain Insight on Chloride Levels in Wells In Dunstable
-
Course: 14.460 - Water Resources Engineering
-
Instructor:
Xiaoqi (Jackie) Zhang -
Partner: Town of Dunstable, Massachusetts
-
UML students in the Water Resources Engineering course were asked to look at the hydrologic conditions at the sites of the various wells tested for chloride concentrations by the students in the Environmental Engineering Lab (Spring 2006) in order to try to explain to the Dunstable Board of Health (BOH) the hydrologic conditions that may contribute to the chloride values found at the various wells.
More Detailed Information - Waste & Storm Water Technology
-
Course: 14.570 - Waste Water Treatment & Storm Water Management & 18.510 Water Resources System Assessment
-
Instructor: Bill Moeller
-
The Waste Water Treatment & Storm Water Management course partnered with the Mesoamerican Development Institute (MDI) to develop a list of questions that MDI could ask any village regarding: geography and hydrology, while designing coffee cooperatives for coffee drying small business. Students were also involved in making a report that addressed issues of certain regional locations regarding water resources.
More Detailed Information - Water Resources Analysis for Honduras
-
Course: 14.570 - Waste Water Treatment & Storm Water Management
-
Instructor:
Bill Moeller -
Students were assigned the development and writing of a report for the National College of Forestry in Honduras that addressed issues in their regional location regarding water resources using concepts learned in class.
More Detailed Information - The Jackson Street Mill Bridge Renovation
-
Course: 14.733 - Masters Project in Civil Eng Lab
-
Instructor:
Susan Faraji -
The Jackson Street Mill Bridge was a covered pedestrian timber bow truss bridge spanning the Hamilton Canal between the mill and storehouse buildings on each side of the canal in Lowell, MA. The bridge needs to be replaced while maintaining its historic appearance. The graduate student made significant headway on the analysis and a model of the bridge has been created.
More Detailed Information - Water Resource Assessment for Hormiguero, Nicaragua
-
Course: 18.510 - Water Resources System Assessment
-
Instructor:
Bill Moeller -
Students of the Water Resources System Assessment class were assigned the development and writing of a report for the people of El Hormiguero that addressed issues in their regional location regarding water resources using concepts learned in the class.
More Detailed Information - Composting Coffee for Fertilizer - Honduras
-
Course: 18.584 - Sustainable Infrastructure Practicum
-
Instructor:
Bill Moeller -
The Mesoamerican Development Institute (MDI) hosted one graduate student in Honduras, with other financial support, to explore methods of composting coffee waste to make organic fertilizer. The goal was to create a way for coffee farmers to switch over to organically grown coffee thus earning more for their crop.
More Detailed Information - LED Luminosity-Cost Optimization
-
Course: 16.208 - Basic EE Lab II
-
Instructor:
Alan Rux -
Each team of students had to devise a consistent strategy for using the given lab set up to measure objective parameters such as luminosity, as well as subjective harshness on the eyes of different colored LED’s. The goal was to recommend the best combination of LED colors and numbers that would allow a farmer to see well enough at night at minimum cost using an LED headlamp.
More Detailed Information - Embedded Control System for World Largest Book
-
Course: 16.317 - Microprocessor Systems Design I
-
Instructor:
Yan Luo -
Partner: North Chelmsford Life Links; Boston Museum of Science and Groton Dunstable Middle School
The aim of this S-L project was to design and implement an embedded control system for the World Largest Book project. The students learned about PIC microcontroller programming to control a bipolar stepper motor, which is an analogy to the page turner of the WLB. Through this S-L project, students were motivated to study the assembly language and the PIC microcontroller datasheet, and to apply their knowledge in the experiments.
More Detailed Information - Design of a Power Meter for the Tsongas Waterwheel Displays
-
Course: 16.365 - Electronics I
-
Instructor:
Joel Therrien -
Partner: Tsongas Industrial History Museum
-
For this project, students from the Electronics I class were instructed to come up with a circuit for measuring and displaying the power generated by the waterwheels on display at the Tsongas museum. Students used concepts of amplifiers and transistors (a central component of the engineering course) to design the circuits.
More Detailed Information - Redesign of the Waterwheel Display at Tsongas Industrial History Museum
-
Course: 16.365 - Electronics I
-
Instructor:
Joel Therrien -
Partner: Tsongas Industrial History Museum
-
The goal of the project was to replace the display that had a hardwired output. Previously the waterwheel display at the museum was underused because it did not have an accurate display of the waterwheel power. The new student designs should address this issue.
More Detailed Information - Biosensors Mentoring
-
Course: 16.541 - Introduction to Biosensors
-
Instructor:
Xingwei Wang -
Partner: Lowell High School (LHS)
-
LHS students were invited on a tour of the Biosensors lab at UML. During the summer LHS students were paired with UML grad students to work on specific projects in the Biosensors lab. UML grad students prepared and delivered high school level education modules, which tested their ability to scale down complex technical information and communicate it to a non-technical audience.
More Detailed Information - Wireless Sensor Network for Lighting Power Saving Program
-
Course: 16.671 - Advanced Computer Architecture
-
Instructor:
Yan Luo -
The students of the Advanced Computer Architecture course installed a wireless sensor network and programmed the sensor nodes to monitor the hallway lighting—data that would later be analyzed statistically in an effort to propose a power saving program at UMASS Lowell Campus.
More Detailed Information - Designs to Help Friends with Disabilities
-
Course: 22.201 - Design Lab I
-
Instructor:
Robert Parking -
Partner: Various
-
Students each identified a relative, or a friend, or communicated with the Assistive Technology Program (ATP) to locate a client with a disability. Examples of student projects included: developing specially designed bed rails for a mentally and physically challenged person, designing an artificial leg for a client, developing a special PC communication board for a friend, and specialized designs for a student’s grandmother.
More Detailed Information - Bed Rail Design/Rolling Walker Design/Design for Disabled Persons
-
Course: 22.202 - Design Lab II
-
Instructor:
Professor Robert Parkin and Assistant Professor Byungki Kim -
Partner: Hogan Regional Hospital
-
The students in the Microprocessor I course were given design challenges to improve assistive equipment for disabled persons. The project provided the community and disabled persons with design reports for improvements of existing bed rails, rolling walker designs and assistive tools.
More Detailed Information - Playground Safety
-
-
Course: 22.213 - Kinematics
-
Instructor:
Faize Jamil and John Duffy -
Partner: Local Playgrounds
-
Mechanical engineering students helped to evaluate and improve the safety of local playgrounds. With their knowledge of dynamics, they began to estimate the speed, forces, momentum, and potential injuries to children on various playground devices and recommend safety improvements.
More Detailed Information -
Course: 22.403 - Mechanical Engineering Lab II
Instructor:Peter Avitabile
Students in this course developed methods to test local playground surface hardness for safety and suggest optional improvements to enhance playground safety. - Analyze Playgrounds for the City of Lawrence
-
Course: 22.213 - Kinematics, Miniproject for Dynamics
-
Instructor:
Faize Jamil and John Duffy -
Partner: City of Lawrence -Department of Parks and Recreations, along with additional Local Lowell playgrounds
-
The students assessed the safety of the playground equipment, the playground surface and also addressed possible improvement options to different playgrounds in the city of Lawrence. Equipment included for dynamics analyses consisted of a slide, a swing set, a merry go round, and a play fire pole.
More Detailed Information - Research Textiles for the American Textile History Museum
-
Course: 22.296 - Mechanical Behavior of Materials
-
Instructor:
Emmanuelle Reynaud -
Four topics of the highest priority were selected by the ATHM, including electrospinning, carbon fibers, biomedical textiles, and textiles in fire fighting.
More Detailed Information - Energy Saving Analysis for Window System at JFK Civic Center
-
Course: 22.341 - Conduction & Radiation Heat Transfer
-
Instructor:
Hongwei Sun -
Partner: City of Lowell, John F. Kennedy Civic Center, Division of Planning and Development
-
The students provided a heat loss analysis of the current window system along with a payback analysis according to a suggested window replacement system.
More Detailed Information - Window Improvement Project
-
Course: 22.341 - Conduction & Radiation Heat Transfer
-
Instructor:
Hongwei Sun -
Mechanical Engineering students investigated energy saving strategies and practical application of heat transfer to redesign the window system on the UML campus and proposing a new, improved window design.
More Detailed Information - Air Conditioning System Analysis for the Engineering Building
-
Course: 22.341 - Conduction & Radiation Heat Transfer
-
Instructor:
Hongwei Sun -
Within the context of this partnership, teams of students collaborated to evaluate heat transfer conditions in several UML building locations, and analyzed ways to optimize existing thermal systems. They were able to identify existing problems within the engineering system, analyze thermal performance and developed a potential solution.
More Detailed Information - Water System Design
-
-
Course: 22.342 - Convective Processes
-
Instructor: Eugene E. Niemi, Jr
-
Partner: Village of Muchipampa, Peru
-
A water system design project was focused upon the design of a water delivery system to provide 1 gallon per minute from a spring fed source to each of six homes spread over a distance of 500 meters in Muchipampa, Peru. The students of the Convective Processes course were to identify a pump, estimate pipe length, diameter, material and cost.
More Detailed Information - Water System Design for Yanacaca
-
Course: 22.342 - Convective Processes
-
Instructor:
Eugene E. Niemi, Jr -
Partner: Village of Yanacaca, Peru
-
The students were given the challenge to design a water delivery system to carry water from a spring to 15 homes in a remote village in Peru. The design challenges included piping and pump selection, water routing plans, selection of valves and fittings, and calculation of flow rates for various valve open configurations.
More Detailed Information - Survey Statistics
-
Course: 22.361 - Applied Analysis, Mathematical Methods
-
Instructor:
John McKelliget -
Partner: SLICE Project
-
Students in the Applied Analysis-Mathematical Methods class used the survey distributed to all students that are part of the SLICE program and applied statistics to the independent and dependent variables of the survey in order to provide analysis and evaluation of questionnaire results.
More Detailed Information - SLICE Statistics
-
Course: 22.361 - Applied Analysis, Mathematical Methods
-
Instructor:
John McKelliget -
Partner: SLICE Project
-
Students in this course and S-L project applied statistics to the independent and dependent variables of the SLICE service-learning questionnaire for potential industrial partners to test relationships between variables and items on a survey regarding the value of SLICE-related ABET criteria.
More Detailed Information - Canal Locks Mechanism Analysis
-
Course: 22.381 - Fluid Mechanics
-
Instructor:
Dr. Majid Charmchi -
Partner: Lowell National Historical Park
-
The Lowell National Historical Park (LNHP) was interested in having UML engineering students analyze the canal locks system in order to develop a design for an automated spring.
More Detailed Information - Mechanical Engineering Capstone
-
-
Course: 22.423 - Capstone
-
Instructor:
John Duffy -
Partner: Village Empowerment Peru Project, Kenya Village, and Assistive Technology
-
Within this capstone course, four separate student projects emerged: a motorcycle ambulance design for Peruvian remote villages, the design of lanterns and headlamp devices for the Village Empowerment Peru project, a page-turner assistive technology design for a child with disabilities, and a solar design for a chicken farm in Kenya.
More Detailed Information - Torque Motor and Gear Case for WHOI
-
Course: 22.423 - Capstone
-
Instructor: Sammy Shina
-
Mechanical engineering capstone students were asked to design a tester mechanism for a high torque motor and gear case used in the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI) Argo Program.
More Detailed Information - FIRST Robotic Competition
-
-
Course: 22.423 - Capstone
-
Instructor: Sammy Shina
-
Partner: FIRST Competition at Whitinsville Christian High School
-
For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) Robotic Competition has partnered with the UML S-L students since 2001. Students act as ambassadors to the local high school to work with high schoolers around robotics designs. They perform design analysis and synthesis, modeling, fabrication, testing, cost estimating, and document the essential elements of the system design.
More Detailed Information - Hand Powered Swing
-
Course: 22.423 - Capstone
-
Instructor:
John Duffy -
Partner: Village Empowerment Peru Projects
-
The team decided to create a playground element: a rehabilitation swing that uses an input crank to move the legs from a bent position to an extended position (therefore providing the swinging motion). This type of swing can be used for paraplegics and undernourished children with extremely weak limbs.
More Detailed Information - Composting Solar Toilet
-
Course: 22.423 - Capstone
-
Instructor:
John Duffy -
Partner: Village Empowerment Peru Projects
-
The primary goal of this capstone student project was to design a sanitary composting toilet for remote Andean Peru villages for considerably less cost than commercial models. The composting toilet provides a natural solution to sanitation challenges and provides villagers with a safe and free fertilizer.
More Detailed Information - Clean the Lowell Locks Project
-
Course: 22.425 - Design Machine Elements
-
Instructor: Chris Niezrecki
-
The Lowell National Historical Park recently asked the students in the Design Machine Elements class to help in designing a mechanism for cleaning the surface of the canals in Lowell from the trash that constantly blows in. The design would take into account the analysis of yielding failure and fatigue failure.
More Detailed Information - Canal Lock Automation Project
-
-
Course: 22.425 - Design Machine Elements
-
Instructor:
Chris Niezrecki -
The purpose of this project was to design a mechanism to perform the task of opening and closing automatically an upstream water gate to allow boats to travel through at two different water levels. The students focused on an analysis of the forces acting upon the gate in addition to a stress and fatigue analysis.
More Detailed Information - Air-to-Air Heat Exchanger for the CMAA
-
Course: 22.441 - Thermo Applications
-
Instructor: Majid Charmchi
-
Students focused on specific renovation objectives of the non-profit community building owned by the Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association (CMAA) by estimating dollar savings of utilizing air-to-air heat exchangers. The students measured the appropriate temperatures and air flow rates in a small HRV that was available in a UML lab, extrapolated the performance of this particular HRV to a larger set of these in the CMAA building and estimated heating and cooling energy that would be saved with this heat exchanger.
More Detailed Information - Heat Recovery for Building HVAC System
-
Course: 22.441 - Thermo Application
-
Instructor:
Majid Charmchi -
Partner: City of Lowell, Division of Planning and Development
-
Students investigated and analyzed heat exchanger options for the John F. Kennedy Civic Center building for the City of Lowell.
More Detailed Information - Analysis of Googoplex Blocks
-
Course: 22.425 - Design Machine Elements
-
Instructor:
Chris Niezrecki -
Partner: Tsongas Industrial History Center
-
The Tsongas Industrial History Center approached some UML students with a recurring failure in certain parts of a googolplex construction toy. The students conducted an analysis of first cycle stress levels based on displacements and material properties determined to address the failure problem and provided suggestions to extend useful life of the toy parts.
More Detailed Information - Failure Analysis of a Prosthetic Knee
-
Course: 22.425 - Design Machine Elements
-
Instructor:
Chris Niezrecki -
Partner: Assistive Technology
-
The students performed a statically- and dynamically-loaded failure analysis on the knee joint of an economic prosthetic leg that was previously designed in capstone course.
More Detailed Information - Water Tower Analysis; Water Tank Design and Analysis for Yanacaca, Peru; Hydro-Lock Automation Stress Analysis Project; Motorcycle Ambulance Trailer Analysis; Gym Running Mat Roller
-
Course: 22.425 - Design Machine Elements
-
Instructor:
Christopher Niezrecki -
Partner: Village Empowerment Peru Project, National Park Service; UMass Lowell Athletics Dept.
-
For all of the S-L projects the students analyzed the mechanical components for static and dynamic loading failure and fatigue failure. Each of the five Design of Machine Elements projects were different and conducted in collaboration with a partner organization.
More Detailed Information - Water Tank Support System for a School in Raypa, Peru
-
Course: 22.425 - Design Machine Elements
-
Instructor:
Chris Niezrecki -
Partner: Village Empowerment Peru Project
-
Three students of the Design of Machine Elements course tackled this project in order to design a safe structure to locate a water tank near the perimeter of the school in Raypa. Due to the lack of running water, a design for a water supply storage tank system was analyzed to allow running water to be accessible to a school located in Peru.
More Detailed Information - Optimization of Plastic Injection Molding Design and Manufacturing
-
Course: 22.473 - Design Theory and Constraints
-
Instructor:
Sammy Shina -
Partner: Plastics Department Outreach Program
-
Students in the Design Theory and Constraints (Mech. Eng.) course used the techniques of Design of Experiments (DoE) to improve the design and manufacture of plastic injection molded parts for higher quality and tighter tolerances for the Plastics department outreach program.
More Detailed Information - Feasibility Study for Photovoltaic Energy System for Greater Lowell Technical High School GLTHS
-
Course: 22.504 - Energy Systems Design
-
Instructor:
John Duffy -
The Energy Systems Design Course performed a feasibility study for the GLTHS to first prove that it would be a practical investment for the school both economically and educationally. The study included: a site analysis, an energy analysis, a hardware analysis, a cost analysis and some additional recommendations.
More Detailed Information - Green Building Upgrades for North American Indian Coalition of Boston
-
Course: 22.504 - Energy Systems Design
-
Instructor:
John Duffy -
Partner: The North American Indian Coalition of Boston (NAICOB)
-
Students conducted an energy efficiency improvement analysis for the (NAICOB) to identify and suggest remedies for the least energy efficient components or areas of the NAICOB building. Students developed a thermal model, assessed energy reduction techniques such as passive solar and conducted simulations after data collection.
More Detailed Information - Solar Water Pumping System Design and Installation for Laguna, Peru
-
Course: 22.504 – Energy Engineering Workshop
-
Instructor:
John Duffy -
Partner: Laguna, Peru
-
Two students chose to design, model and test a solar water pumping system for remote regions of Peru. Their work focused on designing a photovoltaic pumping system that would feasibly deliver water to ten households in the community of Laguna, Peru.
More Detailed Information - Solar Irradiation Data Analysis
-
Course: 22.521 - Solar Fundamentals
-
Instructor:
John Duffy -
Partner: Village Empowerment Peru Project
-
Students from the Solar Fundamentals course were given solar irradiation data from three Peruvian towns. This data was analyzed to make sure it is reasonable and useable for the design of future solar systems.
More Detailed Information - Optimal Spacing and Tilt (slope) and Azimuth Collectors for a Feasibility Study for Lowell Regional Technical High School
-
Course: 22.521 - Solar Fundamentals
-
Instructor:
John Duffy -
The goal of this project was to estimate the optimal slope and azimuth and spacing to fit as many collectors as possible in a given roof area in order to obtain maximum incident irradiation.
More Detailed Information - Design of Water Pumping Systems without Batteries for Villages in the Peruvian Andes
-
Course: 22.521 - Solar Fundamentals
-
Instructor:
John Duffy -
Partner: Village Empowerment Peru Project
-
Students from the Solar Fundamentals course analyzed the current design of one pump system existing at the village and looked at possible changes, such as connecting the pump directly to the PV modules without the assistance of storage batteries.
More Detailed Information - Solar Water System for Yanacaca, Peru
-
Course: 22.521 – Solar Fundamentals
-
Instructor:
John Duffy -
Students estimated losses, optimal diameter of pipes, pump selection, water tank height, and loss in the different joints or connections such as elbows and valves. All of this for a solar water system installation in the town of Yanacaca, Peru.
More Detailed Information - Solar Hot Water Batch Collector and Heater Design for a Village Biogas System
-
Course: 22.521 – Solar Fundamentals
-
Instructor:
John Duffy -
The students focused on the design and evaluation of performance for a batch water heater suitable for delivering 200 liters of water per day at over 35 degrees centigrade on a typical day in Raypa, Peru. These types of solar water heating systems preheat water and do not require pumps or controls and hence are ideal for low-cost solar water heating systems.
More Detailed Information - Peru Solar Dryer Miniproject
-
Course: 22.521 – Solar Fundamentals
-
Instructor:
John Duffy -
The goals of this project included the development of a solar drier design that was built and tested as a solar herbs drier prototype for the village of Cochapeti, Peru. Furthermore, the design was to be developed with locally available materials, and to monitor data in order to analyze its performance.
More Detailed Information - Green building and solar designs for United Teen Equality Center (UTEC)
-
-
Course: 22.527 - Solar Systems
-
Instructor:
John Duffy -
Students analyzed existing structures and proposed structure’s compositions and assessed overall heat loss coefficients in order to investigate possibilities of alternative energy sources for UTEC’s recently purchased building and proposed additions.
More Detailed Information - Yearly Power Output of Peruvian PV Systems for Carbon Offset Credits
-
Course: 22.527 – Solar Systems
-
Instructor:
John Duffy -
Partner: Village Empowerment Project
-
The students estimated the electricity produced by the systems installed in Peru and then calculated the resulting carbon offset that could be purchased by Staples.
More Detailed Information - Green Building SLICE Training Modules
-
Course: 24.532 - Selected Topics in Energy
-
Instructor:
John Duffy -
Partner: SLICE Project
-
SLICE training modules were developed with the intention of integrating their use within SLICE efforts in order to create a good simulation of the building energy usage in order to predict the energy and cost savings associated with every added energy efficient measure that could be proposed.
More Detailed Information - Water Tank Support System for the School in Raypa
-
Course: 26.211 – Mechanics (Statics)
-
Instructor:
Amad Tayebi -
Partner: Peruvian Village of Raypa, Ancash
-
For many years now a school in Raypa has water flowing to it only for a couple of hours early in the morning from the town at a higher elevation. The students of the Mechanics class were asked to design and evaluate a tower upon which to place a tank to store water so that the water would be available all the time.
More Detailed Information - National Plastics Center Activities
-
Course: 26.215 - Plastics Process Lab I
-
Instructor:
Carol Barry -
Partner: National Plastics Center
-
The National Plastics Center asked the sophomores in the Plastics Process Lab I to develop hands-on activities for explaining the concepts of petroleum-to-plastics pellets and also, alternate sources of plastics.
More Detailed Information - Impact of Additives in Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) Products
-
Course: 26.215 – Plastics Process Lab I
-
Instructor:
Carol Barry -
Partner: National Plastics Center
-
Actual samples of PVC pipe from the Village Empowerment Peru Project were collected and brought to the U.S. for study and toxicity testing.
More Detailed Information - Design of a Synthetic Drain Layer for a Green Roof
-
-
Course: 25.216 - Plastics Process Lab II
-
Instructor:
Carol Barry -
The Plastics Process Lab II was given the task of developing designs for the plastic layer of a green roof by the Merrimack Valley Watershed Association. The students used their knowledge of basic manufacturing processes (such as extrusion, injection molding, thermoforming, and blow molding) in order to complete this project.
More Detailed Information - Design and Manufacture of Rechargeable Headlamp Casings for Peru
-
Course: 26.218 - Introduction to Design
-
Instructor:
Steve Orroth and Nick Schott -
Partner: Village Empowerment Peru Project
-
The 27 students of the Introduction to Design Plastics Engineering class worked in teams to come up with ideas for low-cost headlamp casings made out of commercially available parts.
More Detailed Information - Animal Guard for High Voltage Transformers
-
Course: 26.218 – Introduction to Design
-
Instructor:
Steve Orroth and Nick Schott -
Partner: National Grid
-
UML Students in the Plastics Engineering Introduction to Design course designed a plastic guard to prevent squirrels and wasps from shorting out electric energy transfer. It also prevents the squirrels from dying and prevents power failures to many of National Grid's customers.
More Detailed Information - Continuation of Sophomore Plastics Engineering Course
-
Course: 26.418 – Plastics Product and Process Design
-
Instructor:
Fang “Francis” Lai -
Partner: Village Empowerment Peru Project, Tsongas Industrial History Center, Individual Clients with Special Needs
-
This course examined theoretical principles and sound engineering practice involved in the design of new end products made from polymers, applying the total systems approach to the balance between product design, choice of materials, tool design, and process techniques, as they affect competitive choices for commercial success.
More Detailed Information - Fresh Water Condensation - Solar through Plastic
-
Course: 26.348 - Heat Transfer
-
Instructor:
Jan “Jim” Huang -
Partner: Developing Nations in Need of Fresh Water
-
Students from the Heat Transfer course devised water condensation systems that used solar devices; they analyzed if enough energy could be garnered to evaporate fresh water from the dirty water available.
More Detailed Information - Estimation of Benefit of Insulation for Heating Pipes
-
Course: 26.348 – Heat Transfer
-
Instructor:
Jan “Jim” Huang -
Partner: The Mental Health Association of Greater Lowell
-
Students in the Heat Transfer course were presented with the challenge of estimating the insulation layers needed to be put on heating pipes in order to reduce and to even the room temperature, and to reduce the cost of heating.
More Detailed Information - Educational Science Modules
-
Course:
-
31.251 - Chemistry of Health & Environment I
-
31.252 - Chemistry of Health & Environment II
-
Instructor:
John Warner -
Partner: Jackson Street Charter School
-
During the Chemistry of Health and the Environmental course, five modules for 8th grade science curriculum were created. The class collaborated with an 8th grade science teacher at the Jackson Street Charter School in Lowell to develop modules about the following topics: forms of energy, properties of matter, elements, compounds and mixtures, motion of objects and the difference between mass and weight.
More Detailed Information - Earth Day 2006 – The Next Industrial Evolution
-
Course: 31.523 - Sustainable Materials Design
-
Instructor:
Amy Cannon -
The Sustainable Materials Design students were given an assignment of constructing exhibits that could be used at the Earth Day event with the purpose of having the students figure out ways of explaining green chemistry and sustainable materials design to the general public.
More Detailed Information - Outreach Activities from the Center for Green Chemistry
-
Course: 31.572 - Green Chemistry Colloquium
-
Instructor:
John Warner -
Partner: Various
-
The Center for Green Chemistry students, faculty and staff from the Green Chemistry Colloquium regularly visited K-12 groups to teach them about green chemistry, perform experiments and just to talk to young students. These activities are part of John Warner’s vision to inspire kids to be interested in chemistry.
More Detailed Information - The Application of Nanotechnology in Developing Countries: A Case Study II
-
Course: 45.334 - Engineering Ethics
-
Instructor:
Eugene Mellican -
Partner: Village Empowerment Peru Project
-
A case study was developed by the Engineering Ethics students in which they argued the physical, environmental, economic and ethical consequences of introducing nano-based products and technologies into developing countries.
More Detailed Information
