Georgia Tech undergraduate seniors in architecture, industrial design and mechanical engineering recently captured first through fourth place for their humanitarian inventions at the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering’s Senior Capstone Design Expo, a competition that featured 40 team projects representing more than 200 students.

The inventions—ranging from a water acquisition and distribution system in Nicaragua to a birthing kit for Papua New Guinea—were the result of a first-of-its-kind course taught by Jon Colton and Sabir Khan, professors in the Colleges of Engineering and Architecture, respectively.

Assignments were guided by actual project coordinators from the World Health Organization; UNICEF; Project Optimize of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; and Amigos for Christ, an NGO focused on water in Nicaragua founded by Georgia Tech alumnus John Bland (MgtSci 1983). In addition to project objectives, these “mentors” provided continuous feedback and direction throughout the semester.

Projects included:

• Dawn System (first prize): A water acquisition and distribution system for a Nicaraguan village. The system is powered by a solar- and biofuel-driven steam engine.
• NZEHC: A health care clinic for Tunisia. Using solar photovoltaic cells and geothermal energy, this grid-tied system generates more energy than it consumes, allowing it to sell excess energy to the grid and hence is energy and cost neutral.
• Immunization and Wellness Kit (second prize): A portable health care worker post to support immunization and well-being outreach programs in tropical climates, such as Papua New Guinea. The kit consists of a banner-like structure which holds the equipment and supplies on one side and provides a chalkboard-like surface on the other for communication and education.

“Multi-disciplinary design teams are the hallmark of innovative commercial and government initiatives globally,” said Khan, associate dean for undergraduate education in the College of Architecture. “Professor Colton and I challenged the students to work within and across disciplines in order to tackle complex, large-scale problems through both clear design thinking and rigorous analysis.”

Other projects included a novel vaccine cool box; a birthing kit for Papua New Guinea (third prize); and a net zero energy standalone vaccine cold room for Tunisia. Full project reports and presentations are available online.

The course was a section of the ME 4180 Senior Capstone Design class, which culminates each semester with the Expo to showcase team projects in a competition. The judges, including Georgia Tech faculty and practitioners from sponsoring organizations, review projects based on innovation, utility, quality of analysis, proof of concept and communication skills.

According to Dr. Bill Wepfer, Eugene C. Gwaltney Jr. Chair of the Woodruff School, “these projects not only captured the imagination and passion of our students, they also provided a truly integrative experience that challenged them to make critical tradeoff decisions.  I do not think any of these students wanted to see their projects end.”

Colton and Khan are calling for ideas and mechanisms to transfer the work into practice. “The keys to the projects’ successes were the dedication of our students and the interdisciplinarity of the teams, which allowed them to develop innovative and appropriate designs. We look forward to hearing suggestions from our colleagues, alumni or business leaders for follow-up projects or for new projects,” said Colton. “We are committed to building on this success and will be teaching the course in the fall to a new group of seniors.”

For more information on the Humanitarian Design Studio:

Sabir Khan, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education, College of Architecture

Jonathan Colton, Professor of Mechanical Engineering

For more information on the Capstone Design Expo:

Craig Forest, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering