Capstone

Small-Scale Anaerobic Digestion for the Family Farm

Team Members: Matt Pirog (BSEN, Lincoln, NE), Skylar Falter (BSEN, Lincoln, NE), Isaiah Krutak (BSEN, Lincoln, NE), Linkai Mei (BSEN, Hangzhou, China)
Faculty Consultant:Dr. Minarick
YearSpring 2015

We designed an anaerobic digester for managing the bedding and manure resources at a small-scale family farm in a manner that reduces labor, generates energy and provides a nutrient by-product for field application.TOP

ConAgra Cookie Topper

Team Members: James Yong (BSEN, Omaha, NE), Claire Uryasz (BSEN, Kansas City, MO), Julia Burchell (BSEN, Kearney, NE), Brian Burris (BSEN, Lincoln, NE)
Faculty Consultant:Dr. Curtis Weller
Client:ConAgra
YearSpring 2015

The team has designed a mechanism that will more efficiently top cookies with granulated sugar in an assembly line. The design will minimize the loss of sugar that is not deposited on the cookie, thus decreasing the amount of sugar lost onto the belt. This increase in topping efficiency will lead to a more efficient process overall as ConAgra team members won’t be required to clean caramelized sugar from the conveyor belt as frequently.TOP

Solar-Powered Water Purifier

Team Members: Felipe Alves (BSEN, Santo Andre, Brazil), Hillary Stoll (BSEN, Lincoln, NE), Spencer Moore (BSEN, Columbus, NE), Lisa Gran (BSEN, Lincoln, NE)
Faculty Consultant:Dr. Milford Hanna
Client:-
YearSpring 2015

The design of a device that purifies water using solar power and can be built, disassembled, and shipped in a cost-effective way in order to reach developing countries.TOP

Water Pressure

Team Members: Paula Andrie (BSEN, Gillette, WY) (Not in picture), Anna Sorensen (BSEN, Creighton, NE), Philip Hochstetler (BSEN, Strang, NE), Alexander Boyce (BSEN, Burlington, KS)
Faculty Consultant:Dr. Santosh Pitla
Client:-
YearSpring 2015

The goal of our project is to automatically regulate the water pressure in a pivot. When the end gun on a pivot shuts off, pressure spikes in the pivot. The main objective of our project is to design a control system that adjusts the pressure automatically by speeding up and slowing down the engine. We intend to do this with a microcontroller that will use a pressure sensor at the well to determine if and when the pressure is at the proper level and also use a stepper motor to adjust the engine speed.TOP

Lake Zorinsky Water Quality Basin Design

Team Members: Emily Klimisch (BSEN, Omaha, NE), Megan Lush (BSEN, Plymouth, MN), Tu Doan (BSEN, Lincoln, NE), Amy Fosler (BSEN, Panama, NE)
Faculty Consultant:Dr. Francisco Munoz Arriola
Client:-
YearSpring 2015

The project establishes the preliminary design for the last of four water quality basins for Lake Zorinsky in Omaha, Nebraska. After analyzing and updating four existing alternatives and offering a no-action alternative, a recommendation for action by the Papio-Missouri River Natural Resources District is made. Building upon the existing alternatives, an ideal design is presented, with a tiered approach to demonstrate the costs and effects associated with each tier.TOP

ASABE Fountain Wars: Task Two Basketball Shootout

Team Members: Bethany Brittenham (BSEN, Superior, NE), Mitchell Goedeken (BSEN, Dodge City, KS), James Sinclair (BSEN, Omaha, NE), Mallory Morton (BSEN, Lincoln, NE)
Faculty Consultant:Dr. Derek Heeren & Dr. Dean Eisenhauer
Client:-
YearSpring 2015

The Fountain Wars senior design team strives to maximize the number of competition points earned with a design for the Basketball Shootout technical task as outlined in the 2015 American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) Fountain Wars competition rulebook. Points are awarded on the following basis, and the team scoring highest earns 75 points. Five points are awarded when the flight of a launched ball enters the hoop set at 39.5 inches, and three points result if the ball hits the hoop or rim, but doesn’t complete the basket. If the ball travels for at least 4 feet, one point will be awarded. To maximize points, the team will develop a design to shoot all three provided balls into the hoop within the three-minute contest period. The hoop is positioned 6 feet from the edge of the pool. Within the $200 specified budget, the team will utilize piecewise comparison to develop an economic design. Factors of focus include accuracy, precision, and quality of materials with an emphasis on the use of biological materials. All energy used to move the ball must originate from work done by the pump. In preparation for competition requirements, the team develops a systematic method to assemble the materials quickly and without error. The material transport method serves as a guideline for natural breakdown of any large structural pieces. The team design will compete in July at the ASABE International Meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana. TOP

Vein Attachment

Team Members: Eric Hofferber (BSEN, Lincoln, NE), Tasneem Bouzid (BSEN, Lincoln, NE), Tuan Nguyen (BSEN, Lincoln, NE), Erica Carder (BSEN, Albion, NE), Matt Benson (BSEN, Omaha, NE)
Faculty Consultant:Dr. Angela Pannier
Client:-
YearSpring 2015

The time between removing the donor liver from ice to completing the surgical anastomosis of blood vessels in the recipient is too long. Our goal is to design a biocompatible system to reduce the time of each vein anastomosis to less than 10 minutes during a liver transplant while withstanding physiological conditions.TOP

Noise Abatement

Team Members: John Bader (BSEN, Gresham, NE), Sara Hutcheson (BSEN, West Allis, WI), Brenden Lopp (BSEN, Omaha, NE), Elizabeth Phillips (BSEN, Omaha, NE)
Faculty Consultant: Dr. Jeff Woldstad
Client: Schneider Electric
YearSpring 2015

Schneider Electric is a global specialist in energy solutions for efficiency, power control, and renewable energy with operations in more than 100 countries. Their plant in Lincoln specializes in the manufacturing of circuit breakers. Manufacturing of these devices involves many metal parts and processes that produce excessive amounts of noise. A major source of this noise is the process of using the “hoppers,” which pick up and shake bins of metal parts onto a line to be plated. According to OSHA standards, there is a maximum amount of noise that workers can be exposed to on a daily basis. Our objective was to analyze and reduce the noise created by the “hoppers” and experienced by Schneider Electric employees. Implementation of our design will result in a safer work environment. TOP

Ebola Challenge

Team Members: Nick Vandenberg (BSEN, Tomahawk, WI), Ye Hui Zhang (BSEN, Omaha, NE), Rudolph Lackner (BSEN, Lincoln, NE), Ethan Monhollon (BSEN, Lincoln, NE),
Faculty Consultant:Dr. Mark Riley
Client:-
YearSpring 2015

Our project is outlined in a Broad Agency Announcement from the United States Agency for International Development. Our group is to engineer improvements in current personal protective equipment protocol and/or design so as to maintain the utmost standard of safety while augmenting the comfort levels of and duration of time a singular protective suit can be worn by an Ebola care worker.TOP

McKenzie’s Mobility Team

Team Members: Kelli Rice (BSEN, Lincoln, NE), Ted Kocher (BSEN, Lincoln, NE), Emily Harrison (BSEN, Omaha, NE), Jared Beyersdorf (BSEN, Bellevue, NE)
Faculty Consultant:Dr. Jennifer Keshwani
Client:McKenzie
YearSpring 2015

Our client, McKenzie, has athetoid cerebral palsy. Because her condition is severe, she must use a wheelchair. When she is at home, she sits in a tomato chair, which provides her with more comfort. Unfortunately, she has outgrown the base that goes along with the chair and needs a new chair base to allow her to move about the house on her own. Also, while using the tomato chair and base, McKenzie uses a tray to assist her in holding her Kindle, phone, etc. This is outdated, so she would like a new tray as well. Therefore, our goal is to design and fabricate a new chair base and tray table to give McKenzie more independence.TOP