Experiences from a Cross Disciplinary Student Project: Biosensor Enclosure Design and Build

Rahul Sharan Renu; Paul Zwiers

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Conference: 2024 South East Section Meeting
Location: Marietta, Georgia
Publication Date: March 10, 2024
Start Date: March 10, 2024
End Date: March 12, 2024
Tagged Topic: Diversity
Page Count: 14
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--45527
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/45527
Download Count: 15

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Paper Authors

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Rahul Sharan Renu Francis Marion University

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Dr. Renu is an associate professor of mechanical engineering at Francis Marion University. He also serves as the program coordinator for mechanical engineering. His research interests are in the fields of digital manufacturing, AI in design, and engineering education.

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Paul Zwiers Francis Marion University

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Dr. Paul Zwiers is an associate professor of Biology at Francis Marion University. His research interests are in the fields of evolution, animal behavior and genetics specifically focusing on the evolution of traits and mate choice decisions of white-crowned manakins on the eastern Andean slope in Ecuador. His teaching philosophy is based on inclusive teaching practices and active learning to enhance student knowledge and skill development.

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Abstract

Biology faculty at Francis Marion University (FMU) have need for an enclosure to contain, secure, and protect from the elements multiple internal and external environmental sensors, cameras, microphones, computational boards, and power supplies. Two enclosures are needed, one for terrestrial use and the other for aquatic applications. These enclosures are part of a larger project whose goal is to create an autonomous system of nodes to collect and wirelessly transmit microhabitat data to a central data repository for use in monitoring environmental conditions and overall biodiversity. This is a multi-disciplinary project involving students and faculty from the fields of Biology, Physics and Engineering, and Computer Science. FMU has two undergraduate programs in engineering – Mechanical Engineering, and Industrial Engineering. These programs share several courses including Materials Engineering (ENGR220) and Manufacturing Processes (ENGR350). These two courses are offered once a year with the former being offered in the Spring and the latter in the Fall. In addition, ENGR220 is a prerequisite for ENGR350. This affords a unique opportunity to conduct two-semester design and build projects. This system was used in a collaborative effort by faculty in engineering and biology to design and build the biomonitoring enclosures. During the spring semester, in ENGR220, students were tasked with creating the geometric design and material specifications of the enclosure. In the fall semester, in ENGR350, students executed the designs from ENGR220 and constructed functional prototypes. Prior to the start of ENGR220, both the ENGR220 instructor and biology professor were in contact to discuss engineering requirements, deliverables, and available resources (list of hardware internal and external electrical components). The discussions resulted in the development of a project description that included a problem statement, a list of must-haves, a list of nice-to-haves and a list of deliverables. This project structure was implemented twice – once during in 2022 and again in 2023. In the former, the project involved design of an enclosure for terrestrial biomonitoring, and the latter involved design of an aquatic biomonitoring enclosure. The goal of this paper is to report on the experience of conducting a two-semester multidisciplinary project which has design and build components. In Spring 2021, students who were enrolled in ENGR220 were introduced to the terrestrial biomonitoring enclosure project during the last quarter of the semester. At the end of ENGR220, students provided a report that explained their enclosure’s design and necessary material specifications. In the following semester, in ENGR350, student teams were provided the reports from the ENGR220 class and asked to produce a functioning prototype. As many students were in ENGR220, student teams were reassigned to ensure that every student had new teammates. In addition, reports were assigned to teams such that every team received a report that was authored by students outside of that team. At the end of ENGR350, students built functional prototypes of the enclosures that were assigned to them, performed required testing, submitted a technical report, and presented their work as a business pitch. In Spring 2022, students in ENGR220 were assigned a project to design an aquatic biomonitoring enclosure. In comparison to the terrestrial design, this project has unique challenges considering the environmental placement and incorporation of new aquatic sensors. The other difference was that student teams were not jumbled this time, and students were allowed to execute their own designs in ENGR350. In terms of developing and executing such a project, the following factors need to be considered by faculty. The value of using open-source software and readily available hardware components is that cost for many items is minimal. The challenge comes when incorporating specific sensors such as the water quality sensors as they typically cost between $200 and $300. If true testing is to be performed, then multiple units of these sensors will be needed which can increase the cost significantly. The multidisciplinary two-semester design-and-build project was successful in simulating multiple real-world scenarios. It allowed students to discover aspects of engineering that go well beyond a textbook. None of the logistical challenges identified are too big to solve. Such projects will continue to be implemented in the engineering curriculum at FMU.

Citation
Format

Renu, R. S., & Zwiers, P. (2024, March), Experiences from a Cross Disciplinary Student Project: Biosensor Enclosure Design and Build Paper presented at 2024 South East Section Meeting, Marietta, Georgia. 10.18260/1-2--45527

TY - CPAPER
AB - Biology faculty at Francis Marion University (FMU) have need for an enclosure to contain, secure, and protect from the elements multiple internal and external environmental sensors, cameras, microphones, computational boards, and power supplies. Two enclosures are needed, one for terrestrial use and the other for aquatic applications. These enclosures are part of a larger project whose goal is to create an autonomous system of nodes to collect and wirelessly transmit microhabitat data to a central data repository for use in monitoring environmental conditions and overall biodiversity. This is a multi-disciplinary project involving students and faculty from the fields of Biology, Physics and Engineering, and Computer Science.
FMU has two undergraduate programs in engineering – Mechanical Engineering, and Industrial Engineering. These programs share several courses including Materials Engineering (ENGR220) and Manufacturing Processes (ENGR350). These two courses are offered once a year with the former being offered in the Spring and the latter in the Fall. In addition, ENGR220 is a prerequisite for ENGR350. This affords a unique opportunity to conduct two-semester design and build projects. This system was used in a collaborative effort by faculty in engineering and biology to design and build the biomonitoring enclosures. During the spring semester, in ENGR220, students were tasked with creating the geometric design and material specifications of the enclosure. In the fall semester, in ENGR350, students executed the designs from ENGR220 and constructed functional prototypes.
Prior to the start of ENGR220, both the ENGR220 instructor and biology professor were in contact to discuss engineering requirements, deliverables, and available resources (list of hardware internal and external electrical components). The discussions resulted in the development of a project description that included a problem statement, a list of must-haves, a list of nice-to-haves and a list of deliverables. This project structure was implemented twice – once during in 2022 and again in 2023. In the former, the project involved design of an enclosure for terrestrial biomonitoring, and the latter involved design of an aquatic biomonitoring enclosure. The goal of this paper is to report on the experience of conducting a two-semester multidisciplinary project which has design and build components.
In Spring 2021, students who were enrolled in ENGR220 were introduced to the terrestrial biomonitoring enclosure project during the last quarter of the semester. At the end of ENGR220, students provided a report that explained their enclosure’s design and necessary material specifications.
In the following semester, in ENGR350, student teams were provided the reports from the ENGR220 class and asked to produce a functioning prototype. As many students were in ENGR220, student teams were reassigned to ensure that every student had new teammates. In addition, reports were assigned to teams such that every team received a report that was authored by students outside of that team. At the end of ENGR350, students built functional prototypes of the enclosures that were assigned to them, performed required testing, submitted a technical report, and presented their work as a business pitch.
In Spring 2022, students in ENGR220 were assigned a project to design an aquatic biomonitoring enclosure. In comparison to the terrestrial design, this project has unique challenges considering the environmental placement and incorporation of new aquatic sensors. The other difference was that student teams were not jumbled this time, and students were allowed to execute their own designs in ENGR350.
In terms of developing and executing such a project, the following factors need to be considered by faculty. The value of using open-source software and readily available hardware components is that cost for many items is minimal. The challenge comes when incorporating specific sensors such as the water quality sensors as they typically cost between $200 and $300. If true testing is to be performed, then multiple units of these sensors will be needed which can increase the cost significantly.
The multidisciplinary two-semester design-and-build project was successful in simulating multiple real-world scenarios. It allowed students to discover aspects of engineering that go well beyond a textbook. None of the logistical challenges identified are too big to solve. Such projects will continue to be implemented in the engineering curriculum at FMU.
AU - Rahul Sharan Renu
AU - Paul Zwiers
CY - Marietta, Georgia
DA - 2024/03/10
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Experiences from a Cross Disciplinary Student Project: Biosensor Enclosure Design and Build
UR - https://peer.asee.org/45527
DO - 10.18260/1-2--45527
ER -