The Magnificent Seven:

U of I Students Solve Engineering Problems in Africa

 

URBANA - Seven students from the University of Illinois spent a good portion of their summer vacation in Africa, working on ways to produce biodiesel, measure tractor torque and break the world record speed for a pedal-driven watercraft.

           

Last July, these students traveled to South Africa on a study tour sponsored by the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) and the College of Engineering. They were teamed with students from the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa and given the challenge of solving real-world South African-based engineering design problems.

           

U of I students Jonathan McCrady and Joshua Vonk were on the team that worked on the design and construction of a production unit for biodiesel. The goal, said McCrady, was to produce high-quality biodiesel in a continuous, automated process that has a high degree of repeatability.

           

Much of the design work was completed via e-mail and internet research with their teammates, and the South African students had already produced one batch of biodiesel before McCrady and Vonk arrived.

           

"But there were some differences in the way we made the second batch, and we got a lot of details ironed out that didn't seem to translate too well through e-mail. We were able to fix some errors," said McCrady.

           

Those changes included maintaining a set temperature during the reaction time of the production process, and using agricultural spray nozzles to spray a fine mist of water on top of the biodiesel during the washing procedure.

           

McCrady said the South African students will continue to experiment with the production process throughout the rest of their semester.

           

Paul Davidson and Luke Zwilling, meanwhile, worked on the design and construction of a pedal-driven watercraft. "Our purpose was to make a lightweight, man-powered watercraft that could break the world record of 15.5 kilometers per hour (9.6 miles per hour)," said Davidson.

 

A picture that features Davidson, Zwilling, and their South African teammates with the mold for their pedal-driven watercraft.  The students are (from left to right): Alasdair Harris, Darran Boote, Paul Davidson, and Luke Zwilling

           

The team constructed the mold for the boat by cutting ribs from plywood, placing blocks of foam between each rib, then cutting and sanding the foam to take on the necessary shape of the craft. Once the shape was complete, they covered it with several layers of fiberglass cloth and resin to harden it. The craft was sanded several more times and then covered with a gel coat, followed by more fiberglass cloth. The final application of fiberglass cloth is the actual mold, and the gel coat allows for easy removal of the mold from the base.

           

Davidson and Zwilling were able to finish construction of the mold before they left and Davidson estimates that, along with their two South African teammates, they spent about 400 hours total on the project. He recently received word from South Africa that the craft had been completed and testing has begun. Preliminary testing has shown the watercraft is capable of reaching speeds as high as 18 kilometers per hour (11.18 miles per hour).

           

The third team, which included U of I students Andy Lenkaitis, Amanda Olsen and Matt Whyte, designed a torque meter and fluid power control system for a tractor power take-off (PTO) dynamometer.

           

"The system we designed is portable," said Lenkaitis, "so you can take it out to the field or to a farm. You just hook it up to the PTO and run the tractor through its cycles to test how much power the tractor can produce."

           

Lenkaitis said there is no human interaction once the test starts. "You hook everything up, hit go and sit back and have a cup of tea. The test takes about 10 minutes, and when it's done, you're done."

           

The students worked with a company that had built an electric tractor, said Lenkaitis, and "they wanted no human interaction so they could use the test to determine if the electric tractor was as efficient as a diesel tractor." Although the electric tractor was not yet ready to be tested, Lenkaitis said their system is ready to go.

           

Alan Hansen, a U of I professor of agricultural and biological engineering and a native of South Africa, accompanied the students.

           

"This type of study tour is an amazing experience for the students," said Hansen. "Not only do they get involved in the engineering design process in a global context, they get a unique glimpse into the beauty and culture of another country."

           

"I would advise any student who has the opportunity to take a trip like this," said Amanda Olsen, a member of the torque meter team. "Don't let anything stop you. It changes your whole perspective."

           

Funding and support for the study tour was provided by ACES Global Connect, International Programs in Engineering and the Agricultural and Biological Engineering Department at the U of I, and Deere and Company of East Moline.

 

News writer: Leanne Lucas
phone: (217) 244-9085; email: llucas@uiuc.edu