Research and Projects
The first component in the Grand Challenge Scholars program is research and projects. In order to solve problems as large as the Grand Challenges, scholars must be able to work through real-life problems through hands-on research on projects. Please scroll down to read about my biogas feasibility study and my homemade anaerobic digester.
biogas Production Feasibility Study
University of Idaho Sustainability Center
In Fall 2017, I wrote and received a $1,500 grant from the University of Idaho Sustainability Center to explore the feasibility of implementing a biogas facility in Moscow, Idaho. Biogas is produced from the anaerobic digestion of organic waste and can be burned to produce heat and electricity. I analyzed the organic waste production of the University of Idaho and the City of Moscow and collaborated with professors, facilities, and city management to develop the feasibility study. Please see the full report in the Supplementary Documents tab.
Additionally, I received $1,100 in GCSP Pitch Event winnings to support the study. Using this funding, I traveled to Michigan State University and toured the campus biogas production facility (see below). I utilized this plant as a supporting case study in the feasibility report.
Since producing the feasibility study, a primary grant proposal has been submitted to the EPA for further feasibility funding.
Picture of Michigan State University's biogas facility. I am pictured in the bottom right.
Household Anaerobic Digestion
Idaho Space Grant Consortium
In Spring 2018, I received $2,750 in funding from the GCSP and Idaho Space Grant Consortium to pursue research on utilizing small-scale anaerobic digestion. If this process can be harnessed without the need for outside heat or mixing, it can potentially be used on a future Mars mission. Furthermore, households waste around 1.5 pounds of food a day. The picture on the left shows the unheated, unmixed anaerobic digester that I built. I am conducting research on whether food waste placed in this digester can be used to produce a sufficient amount of biogas to run a kitchen stove. This has the potential to reduce the footprint of the average household by limiting their energy usage and waste production. This project was continued in Spring 2019 when I worked with Dr. Robertson to write and apply for another Idaho Space Grant Consortium. We were awarded $18,000 to continue project testing.
UNiversity of Idaho Microgrid
Electrical Engineering Senior Design Project
My senior design project involves designing the initial controls that will allow the new UI Steam Plant turbines to provide power to select buildings in the case of a blackout on the grid. This project is a unique link to the projects I have completed in the program because the microgrid will allow the University to easily integrate renewable sources (such as a district anaerobic digestion plant) on campus. As part of my senior design project, I am utilizing SEL equipment and a Real Time Digital Power System Simulator to design the communication and control network that is required to run a microgrid.
Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories Internship
Engineering Services - Protection Intern
I currently work at Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories in the Engineering Services division. Projects I have completed include reviewing protection relay settings and constructing relay test racks for customer witnessed factory acceptance tests.
Energy northwest INternship
System Engineering Intern
In the summer of 2018, I worked in Richland, Washington at the Columbia Generating Station. Here, I received hands-on operation and maintenance engineering experience at a 1200 MW nuclear facility. Projects I completed included investigating the relay protection for the station and maintenance activities on the large power transformers and motor control centers.