Undergraduate students in the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering were members of two multidisciplinary teams that competed in the 2015 Engineering Project Showcase at Reed Arena May 1. One of the teams won first place in two separate categories.
The team earned the first place prize of $1,000 in the category of Multidiscipline/Vertically Integrated/Research. The team also placed first in the High School Students’ Choice Award category for best overall project, which was voted on by high school student attendees. The project was titled, “On-Demand Manufacturing of Rapidly Deployable Super-Absorbents of Oil Spill Cleanup,” and discussed ways oil could be recovered from waterway spillage. The group presented its solution to embed a 3D-printed oil-absorbing polymer “sponge” in an autonomous robotic skimmer to enable inexpensive routine cleanup of small-scale spills.
Team member Courtney Ann Prestwood, a freshman in the department of chemical engineering, said the process of coming together in the development of the project concept began as only an idea.
“Coming into college, I did not see the entire picture of engineering. Through this project, I was able to learn how to carry out a project and take an idea to new heights," she said. "I learned how fun it can be to work on a team, explore new ideas and see all of your work become a success. We discovered something revolutionary, but we never forgot to have fun along the way."
The success of this year’s engineering showcase has motivated Prestwood to continue to enter this competition in the years to come as an undergraduate student at Texas A&M University.
“I will 100 percent be participating again in the engineering showcases," Prestwood said. "Our team worked so hard on our project, and I had a blast conveying my passion and my drive to the judges and the high school students at the showcase. The high school students appreciated our team slowly explaining what it was like to take a project and build upon it. It is unusual to be successful with both high school students and judges from industry.
“Our project can revolutionize the way small scale oil spills are [handled], and I want to tell as many people as possible."
Other team members include Raquel Belnap, Neshme Colmenero, Danielle Cope, Ryan Fernando, Andres Mena, Adriano Pangelinan, Nathan Retherford and Jiacheng Sheng. Four of the team members were from other departments in the Dwight Look College of Engineering.
The graduate student mentor was Duanduan Han in chemical engineering.
The event showcased the work of Capstone Design projects, AggiE-Challenge and student research projects. Overall, 165 teams represented the work of 729 students who registered to participate in the event. Additionally, over 130 industry representatives attended the event.