Archive for the ‘Events’ Category
March 12, 2009
Design Lab Presentation
Update on Status of the Solar Autoclave and Sterilization Indicator
On February 13th the new design team currently working on the solar autoclave system presented the status of the project to their sponsors. Among the attendees of the presentation were Executive Director Lori Hanna, myself (Director of Product Research, Daniel Hensel), longtime sponsor Dr. Margaret Pinnell, and the ETHOS field team accompanying me to Sabana Grande, Nicaragua this summer. The presentation provided a brief overview of the project, the status of what they are working on now, and their plans for the immediate future. The members of the design team, those who presented, are Staci Grey, Christopher McGuinness, Ryan Smolik, Corey Vossler and Kyle Zeller.
To begin with, Lori and I were impressed with how obvious it was that the design team had carefully read through our own team’s work the previous semester. They are carefully and constructively criticizing our work and finding ways to improve the product wherever possible. The design team has essentially split up into three teams: two working on testing and modifying the pressure vessel, two finalizing the sterilization indicator design, and one looking at improving the system as a whole including the solar box cooker.
The students working on the solar autoclave pressure vessel reported that they had repeated the pressure tests performed by our previous team. They noted that they had a similar problem as we did with hydraulic fluid leaking through an end cap, as well as showed that the butyl rubber seal broke at 10psi, ending the testing. After testing, the team reported noticeable deformation in the bottom of the coffee can used as the cylindrical pressure vessel. They plan to improve the seal of the solar autoclave pressure vessel, use aluminum end caps instead of wood, paint the can with the black paint that is already used in Sabana Grande, and use lock nuts on one stationary end of the pressure vessel to reduce handling and hassle.
The work on the sterilization indicator has produced a nifty hourglass design that utilizes Polywax 2000 to show whether or not the proper sterilizing conditions have been maintained, and thus whether or not the instruments are sterile. US Sterilization standards dictate that, to reach sterilization, 121 degrees Celsius (250 degrees Fahrenheit) and 15psi must be held for 15 minutes. Therefore, the design team has devised an hourglass device that will contain an appropriate amount of wax such that when all the wax heats up, turns to a liquid and falls to the bottom chamber, the time and temperature have been reached. The team is working on mass balancing the design to determine the size and amount of wax needed, then testing can begin.
The team is on task and plan to order the materials needed for the final design and conduct testing, as well as manufacture the final sterilization indicator design. Lori and I reminded them that it is pertinent that we have a final working design by the end of this semester that I may take to Nicaragua with me for final testing and production rollout. I am urging them to try testing with water as well as to come up with a plan for testing that I may use while in Sabana Grande.
The design team will present again at their 2nd oral presentation Friday, March 13th at 8am. They will provide us with more updates and their plans for the remainder of the semester, and another update will be provided here on saluddelsol.org. Until next time!
La Paz y Salud,
Daniel J. Hensel
Director of Product Research
March 4, 2009
The 2008-2009 University of Dayton Business Plan Competition Presentations will be help March 21 on UD’s campus (exact location and time TBA). This year’s five finalist to present include:
Free Copying 101, which offers free printing to college students by selling advertising on the papers.
Musky Fever, which created a new mechanism for one-man fishing nets.
Patron Industries Safety Cone, which offers a lightweight lit safety cone to improve safety conditions on construction sites and event locations.
Sample Scan envisions a new hi-tech tagging system to allow laboratories to more easily locate cryogenic samples in storage tanks.
KDVS Greenhouse Lighting Design has developed prototypes for greenhouse lighting using LED technology. (Named finalist Jan. 6, 2009)
The competition winner will take home $15,000, second-place $10,000, third-place $5,000, and the fourth- and fifth-place winners $1,500 each. Final presentations will be held March 21, 2009, and winners will be announced later at UD’s entrepreneurship program banquet on April 1.
For more information, contact: Dean McFarlin at 937-229-4928 or mcfarlin@udayton.edu
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February 11, 2009
March 27-29, 2009 Daniel Hensel will be presenting at the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Student Professional Development Conference at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. The presentation titled “Solar Autoclaves in Rural Nicaragua” will be a technical overview of the Solar Autoclave research.
See the below link for more information on this ASME conference.
http://districts.asme.org/SPDC/OH/Index.htm
January 29, 2009
Come to Nicaragua this summer and engage your head, heart, and hands in the real work of developing countries. These hands-on courses allow you to be immersed in the daily life of rural Nicaraguans by living with host families and working alongside local community members to create their vision of a model community through renewable energy and sustainable practices.
This 11 day course is held July 6th – July 16th 2009. It is a great introduction to the science and use of appropriate renewable energy technologies such as solar cookers, dryers and photovoltaic systems.
Discuss the theory behind solar energy and the challenges of development with your instructors and other course participants over lunch. Spend your days learning how to construct solar cookers or install photovoltaic systems. Laugh along with your host family as you try to recall your high school Spanish, balance water on your head or make tortillas. Most activities and classes are held in the new adobe Solar Center. Housing will be simple, like that of a typical rural Nicaraguan family.
Explore a beautiful country and its culture while learning about renewable energy and sustainable development in the field. The courses provide a unique travel experience that is educational, rewarding, and fun!
See the following link for more information, http://www.grupofenix.org/courses.html
January 20, 2009
Physicians for Human Rights is sponsoring a national conference, Health and Human Rights in 2009, beginning Friday, Janurary 31 thought Sunday, February 2. The conference will be held at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.
Conference keynote speakers include,
- Stephen Lewis, Co-Director of AIDS-Free World and former UN Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS to Africa
- Julio Frenk, MD, MPH, former Minister of Health, Mexico, Dean of Harvard School of Public Health.
The conference program is available at conference09.phrblog.org/program
Registration closes Janurary 23. Questions about the conference can be sent to Danielle, the Student Program Coordinator of PHR, at dfox @ phrusa.org.
November 3, 2008
The 11th Annual Colloquium on International Engineering Education will be held in Newport, Rhode Island November 6-9, 2008. Lori Hanna, Executive Director of Salud del Sol, will be co-presenting the research of the solar autoclave with Dr. Malcolm Daniels of the University of Dayton School of Engineering. The conference focuses on how to create an globalized curriculum to prepare engineering students for successful careers in the global workplace.
Please see the University of Rhode Island website for more information and conference registration.
August 24, 2008
Wednesday, August 28, 2008 (6:00-8:00pm)
An appreciation banquet dinner for ETHOS students returning from international summer experiences will be held Wednesday, August 28 at Kennedy Union, University of Dayton. ETHOS (Engineers in Technical and Humanitarian Opportunities of Service) is a service learning program that allows students to solve engineering problems in developing countries by focusing on solutions of appropriate technology. This dinner is an opportunity for students to share their experiences with University faculty and staff; Salud del Sol Executive Director Lori Hanna, Director of Development Anna Young, and Director of Product Research Daniel Hensel will participate to share reflections of summer 2008 in NIcaragua.
July 27, 2008
October 12-19, 2008
This course is an 8-day, condensed version of the Solar Culture Course, but focuses more on community development and sustainable lifestyle. It is open to everyone and offers working professional the chance to participate in a shorter course.
For more information about this workshop, email “info@grupofenix.org”. Or, if you speak Spanish, call Grupo Fenix in Nicaragua at (505) 278-3133.
July 26, 2008
January 5-15, 2009, Managua & Sabana Grande, Nicaragua
Come to the hills of northwestern Nicaragua to help build a dream. In the community of Sabana Grande, Totogalpa you can witness a wave of environmental change and perhaps see a transformation in yourself. This 11 day course allows you to be immersed in the daily life of rural Nicaraguans by living in homestays and working alongside locals in their vision to create a solar culture in their community.
This is a chance to engage your head, heart, and hands in the real work of the world. Discuss the theory behind both solar energy and the challenges of sustainable development with your instructors and other course participants over lunch. Spend your days learning from local community members how to construct solar cookers or install photovoltaic systems. Laugh along with your homestay family as you try to recall your High School Spanish or balance water on your head.
Course sponsored by Grupo Fenix, a Salud del Sol partner. Cost is $995. For more information about this workshop, email “info@grupofenix.org”. Or, if you speak Spanish, call Grupo Fenix in Nicaragua at (505) 278-3133. See link below for course brochure and information on travel, housing and local conditions.
June 4, 2008
The conference session on Monday was very interesting. It consisted of three parts. The first was a presentation of three finalist universities competing for a large grant from the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Partnership Foundation (JRCPF). These community service-learning projects were very interesting and inspiring to hear about. California had a project called “Tutor Connection” for foster children, Georgia had CAD–Computer Assisted Debate program for at-risk students, and Oregon had a Portland Community Watershed Stewardship Program. The winner, Oregon, was announced yesterday.
The second part of the conference was about us students–the CASE grant winners. CASE stands for Carter Academic Service Entrepreneur, and these are $1000 grants to promote community service-learning, sponsored by the JRCPF and the Kellog Foundation. They chose four winners to present… each showed YouTube videos (watch mine here), gave each two minutes to provide an update, then moderated a question and answer session. The other three students were Andrea Walker (watch her CASE grant project here), Mary Gossett (watch YouTube here), and Joseph Hamby (watch YouTube here). All of the projects were wonderful, and the energy in the audience was incredible. After the first two parts of the session, all in attendance could see how beneficial university-community service-learning projects can be.
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