College of Engineering Unit:
This project was created by Dr. Benjamin Philmus from the pharmacology department at OSU. He wanted a way to effectively light and capture images of bacterial colonies on petri dishes or well plates. This is to improve the usually long and tedious process of counting bacterial colonies, which can provide useful information about the bacteria. Although the previous capstone team had presented a viable solution, Dr. Philmus challenged Team 24 to improve this design. The goals were to design a system that was affordable (under $600) and easily manufactured. These goals came with the ambition to provide an accessible system for labs, schools, and hobbyists. The team accomplished this goal with a product that is easy to build and costs the consumer under $100. The new design implements an array of LEDs with the ability to dim, as well as, be powered either by battery or wall power. It also features height-adjustability, easy cleaning, easy repair, and the option to be illuminated from the top or the bottom. All of this is done in a cost saving manner using either off the shelf, 3D-printed, or simple CNC parts.
