College of Engineering Unit:
The team is sponsored by OSU SMILE, a group on campus dedicated to providing experiential STEM learning to rural, marginalized students all across Oregon. OSU SMILE creates lesson plans for teachers across the state to use in after school science classes to increase student exposure to STEM fields and provide STEM opportunities that do not require homework and other academic assessments that may demoralize students.
The team was presented with an open-ended project description, enabling plenty of creativity to take place. The team took on the problem of large amounts of trash generated by large public gatherings. The reality is that a large percentage of trash unable to be housed in a trash / recycling bin will blow off and end up in near by waterways and eventually the Ocean. The team came up with the idea of a rectangular-pyramid shaped, self-locking recycling bin that locks when full, preventing overfill. This bin is operable by one person and is foldable for portability. The special things bout this prototype is that the team specifically refrained from using complicated parts, assemblies, or processes. This was done to better demonstrate to students that engineering does not have to be a complicated process and can be done with simple everyday tools and parts.
With the prototype, the team was also able to document the engineering process in the form of short videos to better grab the attention of K-12 students.
OSU SMILE will use both the videos and the prototype as a take-off point for their Youth as Inventors program. This program is designed to mimic the engineering process for students and OSU SMILE will be using the same challenge of aquatic garbage along with our solution for the next round of students.
Industry Sponsor(s):
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
 poster_undergrad_expo_48x36_mime.pptx__4.pdf | 2.25 MB |