The capstone design course pushes students’ abilities to utilize their engineering education and cooperative internship experience in formulating solutions to design problems. For this iteration of the class, the researchers from the Conn Center provided renewable energy and energy efficiency problems for the students to solve and also worked directly with the students as technical mentors. Students responded with targeted, data driven analysis that led to the design and production of prototype technologies from research-based findings developed at the Conn Center. The projects drew on a number of the center’s research themes, including solar energy, biofuels, advanced energy materials, solar fuels, and energy efficiency to highlight the need for renewable energy solutions in our energy-intense society. The students formed 10 teams, with several that included design and business students. In the spirit of entrepreneurs, they named their companies. The companies from this class are:

2017

LiON focused on using renewable energy to improve an existing vehicle system. They developed a lithium-ion battery system for an older electric scooter. Their goal was reach a 30-mile range. To accomplish this, they studied and optimized the charge and discharge cycles of lithium-ion cells and operational parameters of solar cells at the Conn Center. Their solution fit the batteries to the existing vehicle, managed the cycles of the batteries, and included the design of a solar charging station.

Copper Droppers focused on producing useful materials in new ways. Specifically, this team worked with formulations of copper that could be applied to plastics. The challenge, which arose from Conn Center research on printed solar cells, required properly supplying copper “ink” to a plasma printhead. To accomplish this, the team studied the how the plasma interacted with fine copper particles and designed a system to atomize the ink, which optimized its deposition. For a marketable product, the team drew on the antimicrobial properties of copper. In the end, they developed a working method of coating existing surfaces in hospitals with copper to eliminate bacterial growth in high touch areas.

Splitter Cell integrated solar absorption, hydrogen generation and storage into a single power supply package for off-grid applications, such as remote telecommunications towers. For this proof of concept project, they built a complete solar hydrogen generation station prototype, one using sunlight and a catalyst to break the hydrogen-oxygen bond in water. The team found that hydrogen produced from splitting water has better long-term, seasonal energy storage viability than alternatives such as batteries. Also, this approach requires less maintenance and operating expense than the common method of trucking diesel fuel to a generator. The team’s complete demonstration prototype system includes a well-designed photovoltaic module integrated with electrolysis components in a chassis for ideal hydrogen formation and collection, as well as low-cost hydrogen storage.

SunBleach developed equipment to produce medical grade bleach from salt water using solar energy as the power source. Bleach can be produced by passing an electric current through a brine solution. Their design challenge was to distill the bleach manufacturing process into an inexpensive piece of equipment that can be ported and operated in remote locations. To accomplish this, the students had to characterize the requirements for making bleach with a limited power supply. From this information, they built a portable bleach maker utilizing an inexpensive and light weight solar panel. The prototype unit continues to undergo testing and is expected to be deployed within the next year.

Breezer designed a lightweight device for personal and portable cooling that uses thermoelectric technology to output cool air. Instead of relying on evaporative cooling, their device uses high capacity lithium-ion batteries to produce cooling of 5 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit. This device’s small size and portability allow for operation in nearly any environment, both indoors and outdoors. It is quiet for places like the office or the classroom, while still being durable for places like assembly plants or worksites. This product design demonstrated that the ability to meet an established demand at a maketable pricepoint can often require further technical innovations to be successful.

Hydrosink focused on an energy efficient technology for condensing water from air. Current technologies used to harvest water from air expend a high amount of energy, HydroSink’s product utilizes a patented desiccant technology with greater adsorption capacity, lower desorption temperature, and faster charge and discharge times compared to other commercially available desiccants. This allows HydroSink to collect greater volumes of water over a shorter period of time while using low amounts of energy. HydroSink has developed a prototype that demonstrates its water collection capabilities.

Hemp Plastics produced an eco-friendly and durable industrial hemp composite featuring superior structural performance at a reduced cost. Current composite materials use fiberglass or carbon fiber to reinforce a matrix material. Both carbon fiber and fiberglass require extensive manufacturing to produce, resulting in an increased cost and large carbon footprint. Students studied the integration of natural fibers into plastics using traditional processing, then utilized applied shear force during film formation to align the fibers in one direction. This alignment improved the distribution of the fibers and yielded predictable material properties. Their composite material using hemp as the reinforcing fiber was produced with higher strength for a fraction of the price, as hemp provides a 30% increase in tensile strength, is grown locally in Kentucky, and requires low-cost manufacturing to produce. The skiing and snowboarding industry was identified as the prime candidate for this product.

Solar Bears integrated solar energy into a small and lightweight form-factor while providing sufficient personal cooling. They designed a solar-powered thermoelectric fan that attaches to a baseball-style cap. This product utilizes a temperature differential to provide extended hands-free cooling to those who are exposed to the sun while utilizing clean, renewable energy in its operation. The 2” x 2” fan is small enough to be integrated onto a helmet or hardhat and can deliver sufficient air flow to provide localized cooling. Unlike personal fans powered by solar panels, the Thermoelectric Fan utilizes a temperature differential, so when the sun goes behind the clouds, the device continues to run despite not receiving direct sunlight. It is also ergonomically friendly and hands-free, which allows the user to work or play outside without losing functionality by carrying a fan around with them.

Watt Air developed a technology to extract clean water from air using solar power. The team addressed worldwide access to clean water as well as remote and indoor farming needs, where access to consistent water sources are required. Their product, the WattAir Harvester, uses a material with a low temperature requirement for releasing captured moisture, thus reducing the overall energy budget, which can be met with a solar cell. This could enable food production in adverse locations as well as sustain 783 million people worldwide do not have access to clean drinking water at 20L/day.

Spartan Shield created a simple and transportable energy solution that supports 4 standard solar panels and is easily deployed by two people for remote generation of one kilowatt of power. The structure collapses to the size of approximately a single panel, making it portable. The team determined the manufacturing cost could be $750 and sold for $900. This gives a 16.7% gross margin, which is competitive in the solar industry. Spartan Shield would use their funding during the first year to improve upon the design to make it more efficient, affordable, and profitable.

KANned Solutions created a modular attachment for standard extrusion 3-D printers to allow for the build of metal parts. Most consumer based low cost 3-D printers using plastic extrusion as a means to produce parts; however, metal poses a challenge as the temperatures required exceed the capacity of most printers. The final prototype works with commercially available low melt metals.