WKU Mechanical Engineering Program Collaborates On ASME Project To Build Human-Powered Water Purification System

May 22, 2008

Bowling Green, Ky. - Competitors. Collaborators. Innovators.

After months of working in a virtual research environment, five mechanical engineering students from around the world arrived at Western Kentucky University last week to build a human-powered water purification system.

By the end of a marathon three-day session, the students also had done their part to change the image of engineers, according to David Soukup, a representative of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

In a recent ASME survey, “we found that too often people think of engineers as people who sit behind computers,” Soukup said. “Showing how engineers contribute to humanity is a different thrust for us.”

The project is a continuation of the ASME’s 2007 Student Design Competition and was the group’s first “open source” design project that allowed about 60 engineers and engineering students worldwide to participate as part of a virtual design community.

“This was our first time to try and get people to have input on this sort of thing,” Soukup said.

Earlier this year, ASME selected WKU’s Department of Engineering as the host site and named five students to participate. They were William Hagen, University of Miami; José La Verde, Lunds University in Skane, Sweden; Javier Lopez, Simón Bolívar University in Caracas, Venezuela; Ken Ruble, New Mexico State University; and Zach Pearl, WKU.

WKU mechanical engineering faculty members Robert Choate and Kevin Schmaltz served as advisers with assistance from WKU staff engineers Chris Moore and Ron Rizzo.

The team’s goal is to create a design that is technically feasible and demonstrates the potential for practical use and commercialization.

The students were excited about the opportunity to design a product that could benefit impoverished nations or communities hit by natural disasters.

“As Hurricane Katrina demonstrated, there is a huge need for something like what we’re working on,” Ruble said.
Clean water is an issue around the world, Hagen said. “We need to look at ways to eliminate poverty. One way is to provide clean potable water to all people,” he said.

Lopez and La Verde said the project allowed them to use their engineering and technical skills to help society and improve the quality of life.

Each student brought different skills and interests to the project. “It was an interesting dynamic that came to a common agreement on the design methodology,” Soukup said of the collaborative effort.

Schmaltz said the group tested several different concepts for the device. “I think that we have come together with a viable design,” he said.

Pearl commended ASME for implementing the open source project and bringing together engineers from around the world with an array of design ideas. “It’s good to see that we have an organization that is interested in helping a good cause,” Pearl said.

Even though the students left Bowling Green on Sunday morning (May 18), the project will continue as Choate and Schmaltz await test results on water samples. Based on the water quality tests and the lessons learned from the initial prototype, a second prototype will be constructed later this summer that may allow the concept to be refined into a more effective, efficient and marketable product.

“This may not be the final product, but it will lead to the final product,” Pearl said.
“This is the beginning of a device that could be used by people around the world,” Lopez said.

Exposure for WKU’s engineering program
Hosting the ASME design team May 15-17 provided an opportunity to showcase WKU’s engineering program and facilities at the Complex for Engineering and Biological Sciences.

Schmaltz said the project was an excellent example of the project-based learning that WKU’s engineering students receive. “This seemed like a natural fit for us,” he said.

Choate agreed. “Our students are asked to apply their knowledge to solve a problem,” he said.

“Our students, as well as the others we hosted, are exposed to engineering theory and analytical problem-solving,” Choate said. “But applied research is really where the problem-solving activity is demonstrated.”

In an email after he returned to New Mexico, Ruble told Choate and Schmaltz that WKU’s engineering department is a first-class operation and that he would recommend the program to others.

“That type of validation is one example of the impact hosting the ASME project has for WKU and for raising the awareness that project based engineering education is effective in preparing future engineers, like these students, to solve global problems,” Choate said.
               
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For information, contact Kevin Schmaltz at (270) 745-8859.