(581d) A Vertically Integrated, Multidisciplinary Student Design Team Project to Develop Integrated Biodiesel and Biochar Technology for Sub-Saharan Africa

This contribution will describe the organization and development of a multidisciplinary, vertically integrated student design team project involving the design, construction and implementation of a novel apparatus to produce biodiesel and biochar from locally available resources in sub-Saharan Africa.  The project was conducted by the University of Kentucky Appropriate Technology and Sustainability (UKATS) Design Team.  UKATS is a multidisciplinary, vertically integrated design team at the University of Kentucky – Paducah Extended Campus focused on the application of appropriate technology to solve sustainability and renewable energy problems in underdeveloped regions of the world.  The UKATS team is comprised of students from Chemical and Mechanical Engineering and includes both Senior Capstone Design as well as underclass students.  Additionally, a group of local high school students also participated, giving the project an outreach component as well. 

The first project taken on by the UKATS Team was implemented through the newly established Embedded Study Abroad Program model at the University of Kentucky.  This program allows a travel component to be embedded into a traditional core class or elective. This is significantly different from the traditional study abroad model, which typically includes a semester of international travel.  For this vertically integrated student design team project, a traditional independent study elective was combined with the embedded study abroad model to create a unique design experience for the students.  This model has the benefit of allowing students at different experience levels to work together in a way that allows all participants to participate at a level that is appropriate to their experience.

This project was conceived through a partnership with an NGO called the African Center for Renewable Energy and Sustainable Technology (ACREST), an NGO located in Bangang, Cameroon (www.acrest.org).  ACREST operates a small technology center where they work to design and adapt renewable energy and sustainable technologies for the use of rural villagers in Cameroon and throughout sub-Saharan Africa.  Recently ACREST has entered into partnerships with U.S. universities, whose students work to develop technologies as part of internships and capstone design projects.  The primary objective of the project with the University of Kentucky - Paducah Extended Campus is to develop technologies to allow rural villagers in Cameroon to manufacture biodiesel from locally available vegetable oils such as palm oil or jatropha oil, and biochar from field crop residues and waste biomass. 

Seven UKATS Team members and their faculty advisor have recently traveled to Cameroon to implement this unique vertically integrated, multidisciplinary project.  This contribution will describe the organization of the project and the results achieved by the students in the field.  In additional, student perspectives from the field will be included in the presentation.  This project was funded in part by a US EPA People, Prosperity and the Planet Design Competition grant (No. SU835303).