SC Part 1: EPICS

During my sophomore year, I participated in the FSE 104: EPICS Gold I course. EPICS (Engineering Projects in Community Service) is a Fulton-based program focused on social entrepreneurship and engineering for charities, schools and other not-for-profit organizations. The class is structured by dividing up the different projects into teams of 4, with each team having a student leader based on prior EPICS experience, and an industry partner. The goal of the project was to develop it into the next phase to be able to either complete it or prepare it for hand-off to the next semester. The unique aspect of this project was the near independence to problem solve freely, while being able to budget and secure small funding to create prototypes.

During the course, our project was focused on creating a rainwater harvesting system that gathers rain water for an underground storage tank to use for irrigation. It began initially by receiving the information surrounding the customer, who was a professor at ASU seeking more optimal methods for water retention to improve the irrigation system of his garden. Through conducting a thorough needs assessment, directly asking the customer questions such as the current state of the garden, the desired outcome of the project, the gaps to reach the desired outcome, and other general limitations. From this conversation, we identified that the garden recently renovated and has additional parts to account for,  the system must catch at least 10 ccf of rainwater annually and must cost <$30 a unit, with the limitations largely being minimal prior research and creating a balance between function and aesthetics. From this information, we began brainstorming as a group through our weekly class meetings and even outside of class by pitching potential solutions to the problem, which concluded to some device that was designed similar to the shape of an inverted umbrella. Finally, after creating this design, we began testing a protoype uses simple plastic materials and the project was able to handed off as a concept for the next semester, and at the end of the course we created a final report (shown below) and gave a final presentation. Overall, the team was able to create a prototype with financials described for mass production, creating detailed sketches for future semesters to build on. 

This experience aligns with Security by addressing water security, which is vital to sustainable resource management for households. This rainwater harvesting system can be utilized in the yards of several homeowners, which enables additional access to water for many, reducing dependancy on water from municipal supplies. If all households take steps to conserve and more effectively retain water by implementing tools such as this, then the glooming concern of water scarcity can be alleviated. 

EPICS I provided me professional skills to address a stakeholder need / business concern almost fully from the ground up. By being given the freedom to prototype, gain funding, and experiment at the project site, I received exposure to complete product development. Furthermore, this exposure involved working directly with a stakeholder/client, a skill that will be valuable to me as I plan on pursuing consulting as a career. Overall, this hands-on work exposed me to navigating client expectations, adapting to constraints, and then improving the solution based on feedback.