College of Engineering & Computational Sciences Capstone Design@Mines

Trade Fair

December 5, 2017

Capstone Design@Mines C O L O R A D O S C H O O L O F M I N E S College of Engineering and Computational Sciences G O L D E N , C O L O R A D O 8 0 4 0 1 - 1 8 8 7

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Cap s ton e D es i gn @M in es Col l eg e o f En gin eer i n g & Co mp u ta t i on a l Sc i en c es

1 5 0 0 I l l i n o i s S t . • Go ld en , CO 8 0 4 0 1 des ig n@ mines . e du

A Special Word of Thanks to Our Judges

It is my pleasure to offer a personal welcome to the judges of the Fall 2017 Colorado School of Mines College of Engineering and Computational Sciences Trade Fair. We appreciate your willingness to take time from your normal activities to evaluate our seniors’ capstone design projects. The opportunity for our students to get feedback from experienced engineers is invaluable.

CECS Capstone Design allows our students to demonstrate the engineering knowledge that they have spent four or more years acquiring. We encourage you to spend time with the design teams and to inquire about their projects and their designs. But also ask about their design process, because in the final analysis, capstone design is as much about learning the process of design as it is about creating a design. As these students enter the workforce, it is their ability to use the design thinking methods that they have learned that will serve them most in their careers.

We are proud of our students and their accomplishments and hope you are equally impressed. If you would like to get more involved in our program, we are always in search of more project sponsors. Let us know!

Again, thank you and Happy Judging!

Kevin L. Moore Dean, College of Engineering

& Computational Sciences

Colorado School of Mines thanks the individuals and families listed below who have provided valuable support to the students presenting today.

Program Partners

J. Don Thorson

Program Sponsors

Gerald & Karen Zink

Program Supporters

Al Cohen Family

Colorado School of Mines thanks the companies and organizations listed below who have provided valuable support to the students presenting today.

Program Sponsors

Shell Oil Company

Program Supporters

Realty Gift Fund National Renewable Energy Laboratory*

Program Donors Denver Urban Renewal Authority

CPChem

*Denotes donation of materials, services, or supplies to the program.

Sponsoring the Program The Capstone Design@Mines Program relies on the generosity of our program sponsors to fund our intercollegiate competition teams, humanitarian engineering projects, and outfit the Design Laboratory. If you, or your organization, are interested in supporting these elements of the program, please consider making a financial gift through the Mines Foundation or via giving.mines.edu. Make sure to clearly mark your gift for CECS Capstone Design@Mines. Your gift is tax deductible and will make a huge impact on our students.

PROGRAM PARTNERS Donate $25,000 or greater Your Funds support the needs of many teams. In addition, partners receive:

An invitation to the beginning-of-semester Project Kickoff event. All Sponsor, Supporter, and Donor benefits.

PROGRAM SPONSORS Donate $10,000 - $24,999 Your funds support the needs of multiple teams. In addition, sponsors receive:

An invitation to, and recognition at the end-of-semester Trade Fair event. All Supporter and Donor benefits.

PROGRAM SUPPORTERS Donate $5,000 - $9,999 Your funds support the needs of a single team. In addition, supporters receive:

Recognition on the program’s website, and on signage in the Design Lab in the Brown Building Basement All Donor benefits.

PROGRAM DONORS Donate up to $4,999 Donors receive:

Recognition in the end-of-semester Trade Fair Program and a formal letter of thanks from the Mines Foundation.

Colorado School of Mines thanks the individuals and organizations listed below who have served as clients for the student teams presenting today. Your donation of time, talent, and material support to our students is greatly appreciated.

AK Steel Ken Morales

City of Golden Anne Bierle

Colorado Parks and Wildlife Matt Kondratieff

CSM Mechanical Engineering Department Dr. Joel Bach; Dr. Neal Sullivan; Dr. Brian Thomas; Dr. Paulo Tabares

Denver Urban Renewal Authority Victor Caesar

Emrgy Emily Morris

Engineering Ministries International Uganda Dr. Kate Smits

National Renewable Energy Laboratory Elise De George; Mark McDade; Scott Jenne

CPChem Joe Schneider; Erik Lord

Individual clients Dr. Gregg Lage, DDS

Becoming a Client The Capstone Design@Mines Program pushes students to go beyond their classroom training and solve real-world design problems. Every semester the college has over 60 student design teams who need great challenges to engage with. What opportunities does your organization have that could be addressed by a student team?

SPONSORSHIP FEE Corporate project sponsors are asked to provide a sponsorship fee of $5,000, of which $2,500 is made available to the student team for purchasing materials. The additional amount is used to support program facilities, staff and overhead. Government agencies, NGOs and startups may request exemption from the suggested donation but are generally expected to pay for project materials.

TIME COMMITMENT

The involvement of the project sponsor is a key factor in the success of the project. Great project sponsors will commit one individual for approximately 1-hour per week to support the student team. In addition, any training or on-site resources that you can make available to the students are greatly appreciated.

OTHER Student access to construction sites, manufacturing partners, or other company resources is always appreciated by the students.

GETTING STARTED Check out our website at http://capstone.mines.edu/ for additional information on becoming a sponsor or send an email to design@mines.edu to start exploring opportunities with program staff.

General Information Regarding Trade Fair JUDGE’S AGENDA

Time Description Location

8:00 – 9:00 Breakfast & Awards Reception Student Center Ballroom E

9:00 – 11:00 Trade Fair Student Center Grand Ballroom

FINDING YOUR WAY AROUND

A floor plan of the Trade Fair is available on the back of this program for your convenience.

JUDGES LOUNGE

Snacks and beverages are available for judges in the Judges Lounge in the President’s Conference Room, immediately adjacent to the Grand Ballroom. Please feel free to take a break from talking with the teams and grab a beverage or snack in the lounge at any time.

GRADING

We seek to achieve consistency in grading between judges. With that in mind, the CECS Capstone Design faculty have developed the Trade Fair Ballot to aid your judging. Each row includes prompting descriptions that are intended to guide the evaluation process. Each description has an associated point value with it.

To completely grade a team, please select a single number from each row of the grading matrix. Sum the numbers (one from each row) and enter the total team score at the bottom of the ballot. Please return the form to the registration table when it is complete.

Fall 2017 Design Projects Each year senior students in the civil, electrical, environmental, and mechanical engineering programs in the College of Engineering and Computational Sciences take a two-semester course sequence in engineering design targeted at enhancing their problem-solving and communication skills. This semester, we are proud to present the work of 12 design teams. Their collaborative design work culminates in today’s Capstone Design@Mines Trade Fair. A list of the teams is provided below. In addition, each team has provided a one-page synopsis of their design challenge which is included in the following pages.

TABLE OF PROJECTS

Team Number

Team Name Project

1 NAZTEK Innovations Denver Idea Spaces

2 Pb-B-Gone Lead Service Line Challenge

3 Hydrokinetics Hydrokinetic Power Generator

5 Dentium Engineering Dr. Sluggo’s A-45 Oscillator Toothbrush

6 Team NH3 Energy Storage Fuel Cell Reactor

7 Hydrologistics Flume for Testing Hydrokinetic Power Devices

8 Team Nackle Salt Dome Storage Challenge

9 Steel Stoppers Stopper Rod Flow Control

10 Uganda Solar eMi Solar-powered UV Disinfection

11 White Water Parks White Water Parks Challenge

12 Efficient Mine(d)s Wellness Center Energy Retrofit Package

13a Human Centered Design Studio Adaptive Climbing Rig

13b Human Centered Design Studio Wheelchair Curling Stick

13c Human Centered Design Studio Golf Arm

13d Human Centered Design Studio Prosthetic Hand & Forearm for Kids

13e Human Centered Design Studio Motocross Foot Positioner

13f Human Centered Design Studio Prosthetic Foot for Dancing

Denver Idea Spaces 1

Client(s): Denver Urban Renewal Authority Faculty Advisor: Robin Steele Technical/Social Context Consultants: Kirk Ellis, Karen Wolfer Team Name: NAZTEK Innovations Team Members: Nolan Sneed, Alex Sauer, Zachary Waanders, Thomas Ladd, Emily Quaranta, Kristen Smith

As part of the Denver Urban Renewal Authority’s (DURA’s) ongoing efforts to inspire a thirst for knowledge in local children in the areas of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), which is a proven factor in increasing socio-economic levels, the NAZTEK Design Team was tasked with creating a learning module targeting children ages 6-12 in the Northeast Park Hill Area.

After meeting with the client, community members, and walking the neighborhood, several module options were presented to stakeholders. Following careful review, a scaled solar system was chosen as the module that would best inspire a curiosity and passion for STEM among the children in the area.

A patio containing an interactive sun dial, representing a scaled down version of the sun, will serve as the basis of a solar system with the planets, represented as pole mounted fiberglass hemispheres, being placed to scale to represent their true distances in the solar system. Additionally, plaques located at the sun and each planet will contain information and interactive activities, which will promote learning and further the DURA mission to inspire a passion for STEM in local children.

Figure 1: Solidworks Model of Solar System (Size Scale Only)

Lead Service Line Challenge 2

Client(s): The City of Golden – Ms. Anne Beierle Faculty Advisor: Dr. Kristoph Kinzli Technical/Social Context Consultants: Dr. Darren McSweeny Team Name: Pb-B-Gone Team Members: Rick Petersen, Marcus Harper, Nathan Girkins,

Jake Sawaya, Quentin Geile, Thomas Tarcha

Due to the recent events in Flint, Michigan, public concern has risen regarding lead service lines and the negative consequences. Now, municipalities are encouraged, if not required, to find and remove lead service lines within their city limits. The purpose of the Golden Lead Service Line Challenge is to locate the lead service lines within the Golden city limits and produce a cost estimate for the removal of the lines. Due to a lack of records, a method for detecting lead beneath the ground is necessary to achieve this goal. The detection method must be accurate and non-invasive to homeowners while not disturbing the protective scaling within the line. Team Pb-B-Gone began by pursuing use of electromagnetic radiation (EMR) to detect service line materials. The materials used in service lines have different magnetic properties and characteristics that would affect the way they interact with and reflect radiation. The team has performed magnetic experiments on service line materials, but after extensive research the team elected to pursue another detection method. The research and experiments performed using EMR have been well documented for a future team to continue. The Pb-B-Gone team then pursued a probability-based solution to predict the presence and length of lead within a service line. This approach uses known resistivity values of typical service line materials in

conjunction with a field-measured resistance of the entire system. With these measured values, it is possible to apply mathematics and probability to make an estimate of material types and lengths present in the system. Figure 1, shows a schematic of this method.

Figure 1: Shows the resistivity methodology

Hydrokinetic Power Generator 3

Client(s): Emily Morris, Emrgy Faculty Advisor: Henrik Hofvander Technical/Social Context Consultants: Dr. Kristoph Kinzli & Dr. Pk Sen Team Name: Hydrokinetics Team Members: Nana Adu, Logan Bock, Jesse Gettert, Jakob Howard, Haley

McManus, Konstantin Rehbein, Daniel Shackelford, Brian Vogel

Context Have you ever eaten at a restaurant next to a creek? And have you ever considered how much power is contained in water? What if the next time you were sitting out on the patio at that restaurant, there would be a turbine in the water providing power to the entire building. The exciting part about Emrgy, the client, is not that they are converting moving water into power, but that they can do this cost-effectively for small streams and slow-moving sources. This pilot project with Denver Water, the US Bureau of Reclamation and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is the first of its kind. Problem Hydrokinetics has been approached to assist in the installation of hydrokinetic turbines in the South Boulder Canal. Ten hydrokinetic turbines need to be strategically placed throughout a two mile stretch of the canal to maximize power output. Solution In order to harvest the greatest amount of power in a cost-effective manner, Hydrokinetics created a tool called Hydroboss. Hydroboss, is a simulation template used to create installation plans which optimize power in any existing waterway while determining potential profits. From, flowrate, river geometries, and turbine specifications, the tool analyzes these inputs to create accurate velocity profiles using HEC-RAS, a computational fluid dynamic program. From the velocity profiles, Hydroboss will output the dynamic distances between turbines which allow for maximum power generation. Results By creating a tool that determines the power output of an installation strategy, Emrgy can begin to plan for the expansion of their company. All business ventures incur a certain degree of risk, but a tool that can predict the overall profitability of such venture will drastically decrease the risk of failure. Hydroboss will not only determine the viability of an installation decision, but also optimize the installation strategy leading to 40% more power produced. Since the power produced is directly proportional to the revenue generated, this portion of Hydroboss will play an integral part in Emrgy’s future success.

Dr. Sluggo’s A-45 Oscillator Toothbrush 5

Client(s): Dr. Gregg Lage Faculty Advisor: Henrik Hofvander Technical/Social Context Consultants: Jered Dean Team Name: Dentium Engineering Team Members: Gage Cullum, Duncan Melton, John Kater, Brock Morrison,

Cesar Navejas, Matt Lewis

The “Bass Technique for Brushing” is a revolutionary method for teeth-cleaning that has been championed by dentists worldwide over the last two decades. Designed to be gentler on the gums while simultaneously targeting the areas of plaque buildup, it is widely preferential to standard brushing procedures due to smaller time requirements and an overall cleaner mouth. The Bass technique has two standard requirements: that the user holds the brush at a 45-degree angle to the plane of their teeth, and a “scrubbing” method is exchanged for tiny back-and-forth movements along the gumline.

Enter Dr. Sluggo, the superhero alter-ego of dentist Dr. Gregg Lage, who encourages children throughout the Denver metro area towards greater brushing habits. An integral part of Dr. Sluggo’s oral health campaign, A-45 Oscillator toothbrush is Lage’s vision of an electric toothbrush which intuitively guides the user towards correctly implementing the Bass technique. This is the essence of what our toothbrush does – it encourages the user to hold the brush at a 45-degree angle while providing a motorized back-and-forth oscillation at the proper frequencies.

We are accomplishing these feats through integrated methods, considering every component of what makes a “toothbrush”. The 45-degree angle, for example, is encouraged through the implementation of a square cross-section on the handle near the brushhead, with the bristles pointing at a 45-degree angle relative to the grip. The back-and-forth oscillation required for the Bass Technique is provided by a motor-driven cam mechanism, similar in concept to a Scotch Yoke. These requirements, however, are only the beginning of the design process. Due to the demands of the consumer, the toothbrush had to meet a second list of utility-driven requirements, to include: non-toxic, waterproof, silent, rechargeable, programmable, long-lasting from both wear and fatigue standpoints; and above all, cost-effective enough to be profitable.

Energy Storage Fuel Cell Reactor 6

Client(s): Dr. Neal Sullivan Faculty Advisor: Henrik Hofvander Technical/Social Context Renewable Energy Storage Research Consultants: Buddy Haun, Darren McSweeny, Lee Ann Underwood, Barb

O’Kane, Marie Pisciotta, Tyler Pritchard Team Name: Team NH3 Team Members: Evan Anundsen, Cameron Bennethum, John Kargar, Anthony

Lariva, Duncan Oliver, Steven Vlajic, Evan Wong

Purpose: The largest impediment to renewable energy expansion is cost effect and high efficiency energy storage solutions. Fuel cell’s application in electrolysis to create fuel may unlock the key to energy storage. In order to improve fuel cell’s performance in electrolysis, a fuel cell must be subjected to high temperatures and pressures.

Task: Design and assemble a pressurized fuel cell reactor. The entire project can be split into four subsystems: Upstream fluid delivery, Reactor, Downstream exhaust, and electronic control hardware.

Solution: The Upstream system deliveries reactants using pressure regulators, mass flow controllers, a water evaporator, and a high pressure liquid chromatography pump to achieve the necessary gas and water vapor compositions to the fuel cell within the reactor. The Reactor, designed by another student team, uses heating cartridges to maintain the temperature inside the pressure vessel where the fuel cell is held. In the exhaust system the two exhaust flows are combining to limit pressure differential across the fuel cell, and pressure regulators monitor and control the pressure in the system. Using the components listed above along with pressure transducers and thermocouples, the electronic control hardware and software subsystem monitors, controls, and records the operational conditions to provide experimental results, and ensure the safety of the users at all times.

Flume for Testing Hydrokinetic Power Devices

7

Client(s): National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Faculty Advisor: Robin Steele Technical/Social Context Consultants: Dr. Andres Guerra, Dr. Navid Goudarzi (UNC Charlotte)

Team Name: HydroLogistics Team Members: Moustapha Agrignan, Matt Andersen, Martin

Bergstrand-Reiersgard, Andrew Gudal, Nick Kincaid, Frank Knafelc, Stephen Mulligan, Chris Ransom, Elyse Schrader, Levi Skaare, Jon Webb

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) currently hosts the Collegiate Wind Competition each year where they invite college teams from around the nation to design, build, and then test wind turbines in their competition wind tunnel. The goal of this project was to design and build a water flume for the development of a similar competition that will foster learning, innovative design, and testing of hydrokinetic power devices.

HydroLogistics designed and constructed a scaled water flume based off the characteristics of a local Ralston Reservoir canal. The system begins with filling the piping and the flume hull with roughly 500 gallons of water. Once turned on, the water will be pushed up from the pump into the flume hull. The water passes through an insert that features vanes, which changes flow direction and maintains a uniform velocity profile throughout the test section. The water then enters a diffuser to further develop a laminar and uniform velocity profile. The outlet of the hull has a fin insert similar to the inlet that reduces backflow in the test section and redirects flow back into the piping network below.

Devices to be tested will be installed on supports that are attached from the top of one side of the hull to the other, and will hang down into the flume. There is a large window on either side of the flume hull to allow viewing of the device under test. The large size also allows for the testing of several devices in sequence. The team additionally designed a secondary containment system that sits under the flume.

The system as a whole takes into account all of the performance, space, and safety needs of NREL. The design allows for the future development of the competition, as well as provides a modular design for further development of inserts to mimic different types of environments.

Figure 1: System CAD Cut-Away Rendering

Salt Dome Storage Challenge 8

Client(s): Joe Schneider, CPChem Faculty Advisor: Henrik Hofvander Technical/Social Context Consultants: Dr. Nils Tilton, Logan Ripley, George Swain Team Name: Team Nackle Team Members: Andrea Benefiel, Conrad Evans, Ilman Surghani, Brittany

Thang, Andy Torkelson, Aaron Bilek

In the United States, one of the methods in which oil and gas products are stored is underground in salt dome chambers. These chambers are naturally occurring and carved out of massive, impermeable, salt deposits. An example of a typical salt dome storage chamber can be seen in Figure 1. The main risk of using this method to store gas is the potential for leaks in the system. Leaks could allow the gas, which may be flammable, to escape the salt dome and be exposed to a spark or other ignition source, which would pose an immediate danger to the surrounding area. The purpose of the Salt Dome Storage Challenge is to design an automated detection and isolation system for one of Chevron Phillips Chemical Company’s underground salt dome storage chambers that is used to store ethylene. At any given time, the chamber will be filled partially with brine and ethylene. As ethylene is pumped into the chamber for storage, the brine is forced out through the brine piping. Likewise, when the ethylene is needed for use, brine is pumped into the chamber and the ethylene is forced out of the chamber through the ethylene pipe.

Major safety issues can arise if any ethylene escapes through the brine piping, and preventing this scenario is of upmost importance. The Salt Dome Storage Challenge is focused on detecting the presence of gas in the brine piping, as well as defining the logic that will enable the system to interface with the existing isolation structure.

The solution proposed by the team is a system with two distinct components: a sensing subsystem, which utilizes two independent sensors to detect the presence of gas in the brine pipe, and a control system, which uses logic written by the team to send shutdown signals to an automated valve as well as the on-site control room.

The team created a prototype of the full system as a proof of concept, and delivered to CPChem a final report including the system control narrative and recommendations for on-site installation.

Figure 1: Example of Salt Dome Storage Chamber

Stopper Rod Flow Control 9

Client(s): Dr. Ken Morales, AK Steel

Faculty Advisor: Dr. Brian Thomas Consultant: Dr. Robert Amaro Team Name: Steel Stoppers Team Members: Sabre Cook, Erich Deutsch, Matt French, Brooke Nezaticky, Philip Oxford

Continuous Casting is a steel making process where molten steel solidifies into slabs of steel that are further processed in several finishing operations (primarily rolling & cutting). Continuous casting allows steel plants to increase production volume and maintain greater quality (while reducing costs). The continuous casting system, shown in Figure 1, primarily consists of the ladle (1), tundish (2), mold (3), cutting torch (4), stopper rod (5), and rollers (6). Our team has been tasked to design and build a physical water model for the Continuous Casting Center (CCC) to model the flow of molten steel. We have also been asked to develop, test, and optimize new shapes for stopper-rod and tundish floor combinations that will improve system wide flow stability. The model must be versatile and easily modified for future projects, some of which could include: minimizing liquid level fluctuations throughout the system, responding to surface profile changes, or managing surface slag entrainment. Building a full scale model of the continuous casting process is not at all feasible, given our time, budget, and building space. We can instead build a scaled down model (and design it using several fluid flow similarity criterion including the Weber and Froude numbers), which allows us to accurately model flow through the caster while fitting within our other constraints. To satisfy these requirements, we elected to build a 60% scale water model. Our water model includes the tundish, submerged entry nozzle (SEN), mold, interchangeable tundish floor geometry (also called the furniture), and stopper-rod. The ideal stopper-rod controls all flow out of the tundish, minimizes tundish pressure drops, and doesn’t create severe flow disturbances. Some of the other constraints our team had to work around include: a $13,500 budget, two semesters to complete the project, and keeping the entire model under 10 feet tall.

Figure 1 - Depiction of the continuous

casting process.

Figure 2 - Solidworks photo of our

water model.

eMi Solar-powered UV Disinfection

10

Client(s): Engineering Ministries International Uganda Faculty Advisor: Robin Steele Technical/Social Context Consultants: Junko Munakata Marr, Chris Coulston, Robert Huehmer Team Name: Uganda Solar Team Members: Shaojun Liu, Cole Alexander, Chad McFarland, Barron Keith,

Caitlyn Smith

What is it about the water that most concerns you, when you simply turn on a water tap? In some developing parts of the world, the answer may be: is the water safe to drink?

According to the 2017 Progress on Drinking Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene, prepared by the WHO and UNICEF, nearly 22 million residents that live in rural areas of Uganda lack access to safe, clean drinking water. Currently the most common water treatment method in Ugandan households is boiling, which has potential negative health and environmental impacts. Smoke trapped inside homes can result in respiratory irritation and diseases. The use of wood for boiling is also ineffective and has adverse impacts on the environment. The goal of this project is to design a sustainable and economic point-of-use water disinfection system powered by renewable solar energy that can provide safe, clean, and affordable drinking water to rural Ugandans.

The disinfection system utilized UV-LEDs rather than a traditional mercury vapor lamp as shown in the figure below. By 2020, a range of products containing mercury will be banned for production, export, and import by the international Minamata Convention on Mercury. Thus, advantages for UV-LEDs versus a mercury vapor lamp include: mercury free, longer lifetimes, instant sterilization with no warm-up time, etc. UV-LEDs that fall within germicidal wavelengths (240 -280 nm) are also called UVC-LEDs. However, these LEDs are expensive and have relatively low power outputs for disinfection application. Nevertheless, current UVC-LED trends suggests that price will decrease and light output will increase in the future.

Our design integrated UVC-LEDs into a lid design that can be attached to a reactor chamber shown in the figure on the right. The system was modeled in MATLAB and SolidWorks to determine the optimal UV reactor size and UVC-LED selection in order to achieve 99.99% bacteria removal at a design flow rate of 4 liters per minute. The system is later validated by a computational fluid dynamic model and bioassay test.

White Water Parks 11

Client(s): Matt Kondratieff, Colorado Parks and Wildlife Faculty Advisor: Kristoph Kinzli Technical/Social Context Consultants: Kurt Smithgall Team Name: River Rangers Team Members: Trey Richard, Shima Aghaei, Samantha Beck, Heidi Fronapfel,

Estevan Trujillo, Kayla White

The prevalence of manmade whitewater parks has grown immensely in the past few years, with much of this growth coming from within Colorado. Designers used different techniques to create hydraulic conditions for recreational kayakers and rafters; oftentimes, a stream’s flow is laterally constricted into a steep chute, then directed over a steep drop structure and into a downstream pool. This series of instream structures creates large hydraulic jumps, which make the ‘whitewater’ conditions that recreational users

enjoy (as shown at left).

While whitewater parks provide economic benefits to communities throughout the state through recreational tourism, park implementation can also cause harmful effects to natural ecosystems. The modifications made to streams to create the fast-moving whitewater conditions best for recreation cause higher-than-normal velocities across the entire channel, as well as increased turbulence and lower flow depths than in natural channels. Studies have proven that these altered hydraulic conditions have disrupted longitudinal connectivity of streams and severely inhibited upstream fish passage, already causing a decline in fish populations in Colorado and beyond. Being

able to move up and downstream as a response to changing environmental conditions is what enables local fish species to find food, habitat, and to reproduce; inhibiting passage disrupts fish life cycles and stream ecosystems.

Since January of 2017, The River Rangers have been working with Colorado Parks and Wildlife to develop designs that will enable fish to more effectively pass through hydraulic jumps in whitewater parks without limiting the recreational potential of Front Range waterways. Hydraulic conditions over existing drop structures as well as through proposed passage structures were evaluated using Flow-3D software. Velocity, depth, Froude number, and turbulence were evaluated around existing and proposed structures to determine how best to mitigate severe hydraulic conditions and facilitate fish passage. Innovative designs that balance ecosystem health with stream modifications that are recreationally and economically beneficial will allow continued growth of Colorado tourism while preserving precious ecological resources.

A whitewater kayaker enjoying a hydraulic jump in Clear Creek Whitewater Park in Golden. Source: Mike Hendrix

Wellness Center Energy Retrofit Package

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Client(s): Dr. Paulo Tabares Faculty Advisor: Dr. Brian Thomas Technical/Social Context Consultants: Adam Hilton Team Name: Efficient Mine(d)s Team Members: Ryan Gimbel, Annabel Marruffo, Elvis Molina, Ben Moser,

Michael Sonnabend, Erik Trenary

Efficient Mine(d)s has been tasked with creating the next energy package for an existing campus-wide initiative. Dr. Paulo Tabares has been involved in multiple energy retrofit projects for buildings across the Mines campus, including but not limited to the Starzer Welcome Center, Elm Hall, and Maple Hall. Efficient Mine(d)s has undertaken the energy retrofit project for the Student Wellness Center. The objective of this project is to reduce the peak electric energy usage of the building by at least 20%, and the retrofit package itself needs to have a payback period of no more than 10 years. To accomplish this, the team has developed a virtual energy model of the Wellness Center using OpenStudio software and local weather data. A snapshot of the OpenStudio model is shown in Figure B. With this program, our team has been able to implement multiple different energy saving solutions in the energy model and record the effects they had on the building’s electric energy consumption. A few of these energy saving solutions include ice storage, lithium-ion battery packs, photovoltaic panels, LED lighting, electrochromic windows, and a green/cool roof. There are two ways that these solutions can reduce the peak electric demand: shift energy usage away from peak hours, or reduce overall energy consumption of the building. Due to Xcel billing, the greatest potential for monetary savings lies in shifting the peak demand, regardless of the total electric energy consumption.

Figure A: Wellness Center Figure B: OpenStudio model of Wellness Center

Human Centered Design Studio: Adaptive Climbing Rig

Client: Chris Read Faculty Advisor: Dr. Joel Bach Technical/Social Context: N/A Team Name: Adaptive Climbing Rig Team Members: Chad Brockman, Chelsea Gibas,

Paris Gorman, Matt MIschler, Hayden Rutherford _________________________________________________________________________________________________

When someone has an unfortunate incident or a birth defect that causes paraplegia, many physical activities seem to

no longer be within their reach. The students in the Colorado School of Mines Human Centered Design Studio

(HCDS) work to bring those activities back into reach. The activity we are bringing back into reach with this

climbing rig (see below) is indoor rock climbing.

Figure 1: Current Climbing Rig to be Updated

Currently, the only way for a person with paraplegia to participate in this sport is to have someone hold

tension on their harness while they use their upper body strength to climb up. This causes their feet to hang without

any control and puts much more stress on the person keeping tension on the harness. Our climbing rig will safely

allow someone who suffers from paraplegia to scale an indoor rock wall. This will be done by first attaching a

regular harness to the user, securing their legs in the bucket, and securing their chest to the translational chest piece.

After this is done, the harness will attach to the rig to allow for some weight to be absorbed and the person will be

ready to climb. In order to protect against exhaustion in the user’s upper body, “feet” have been added to the bucket

allowing for weight bearing much like a non-paraplegic climber would use their feet for.

Our team had this project passed down from seniors in last semester’s HCDS who began work near the end

of the year. They were able to create a very good prototype which we then further designed to make it more

functional, comfortable, and universal. This was done by redesigning the “foot holds”, replacing the padding in the

interior of the bucket, adding more secure straps, and making the chest piece translational.

We want to thank Dr. Bach for creating the Human Centered Design Studio, the graduated students who

started this project, and our client, Chris Read, for allowing us to work on this project for the Adaptive Sports

Center.

13a

Human Centered Design Studio:

Curling Delivery Stick13b

Client(s): Quentin Way of Denver Curling Club

Faculty Advisor: Joel Bach, Jered Dean

Technical/Social Context:

Consultants:

Adaptive Sports Equipment

Steven Emt, Meghan Lino, Patrick McDonald

Team Name: Human Centered Design Studio

Team Members: Aaron Richner, Jacob Oppenheim, Ben Harju

The purpose of the Curling Delivery Stick project was to design an improved attachment for

throwing a curling stone in the sport of wheelchair curling. The design addresses the limitations

of current offerings that do not allow for neither significant articulation nor for the stone to be

pulled back prior to the throw. The new version of the delivery stick allows for the thrower to

easily maneuver the stone before they throw, so that they can line up and prepare for the throw as

necessary. Another part of this project is for the user to be able to provide more articulation for

their throws, without overcomplicating the throwing process.

The intended use for this project is to make wheelchair curling more intuitive and easier to learn.

Since it will be used in recreational settings and not in competition, the design was not subject to

the rules and regulations competitive curling. This allowed the project to be more open ended,

and enabled it to be more focused on providing a better experience for the user.

Figure 1: Curling Delivery Stick attachment

Human Centered Design Studio: Golf Arm

Client: TRS

Faculty Advisor: Dr. Joel Bach

Technical/Social Context/Consultants: Zach Harvey, Bob Radocy

Team Name: Golf Arm

Team Members: William Bellis, Chris Olsen, Collin Kinder

_____________________________________________________________________________________

The Colorado School of Mines Human Centered Design Studio(HCDS) is program which gives

students the opportunity to recognize, address, and solve problems brought to their attention by

those with a disabilities. Some projects brought forward concentrate on baseline functionality

issues centered around everyday life activities, while other projects are more oriented towards

adaptive athletic activities and performance related devices for recreational hobbies.

The team opted to work directly with TRS, a company which specializes in adaptive athletic

devices for those with disabilities, in this case specifically upper extremity amputees. As an able

bodied person it is difficult to understand the restrictions a person with a disability faces when

wishing to engage in an athletic activity. TRS was able to help the team understand what it was

like to be an upper extremity amputee by use of a body powered prosthetic simulator. This

experience alongside the guidance of TRS designers and developers gave the team a firm

understanding of the parameters needed to

design a Golf Arm for a trans-humeral amputee.

TRS presented the team with their version of a

prototype golfing arm as an example. The team

expanded their concept through multiple design

iterations until performance criterion were met.

Once a design was selected and approved it was

put through a rigorous set of simulated tests

through Finite Element Analysis modeling in

SolidWorks. After FEA's were conducted and

the results evaluated the model was 3D printed.

The 3D printed model was then used to form a

mold which would be injected with a

proprietary polyurethane compound. Multiple

polyurethane models with slightly differing

mold inlay patterns were produced and then

submitted to an amputee golfer for performance evaluation and use.

The team has developed a creative and innovative solution to the problem presented to them by

TRS. The next stages of development will be to form multiple molds which vary in overall

length for persons with differing residual limb sizes, and market the Golf Arm to the adaptive

community for recreational and professional use.

13c

Human Centered Design Studio:

Kids Prosthetic Hand & Forearm 13d

Client(s): Dr. Joel M. Bach

Faculty Advisor: Dr. Joel M. Bach

Technical/Social Context Consultants: Dr. Joel M. Bach

Team Name: Hands-On Technologies

Team Members: Robert Waite, Adam Young

The Human Center Design Studio is a senior design

group tasked with designing and manufacturing sports

adaptive equipment for people that have physical

disabilities. The Studio is run like a design firm in the

sense that multiple projects are underway concurrently

within the Human Center Design Studio senior design

group. Students are encouraged to collaborate

together and contribute to multiple projects. Students

are also encouraged to manage and lead a project

before they complete senior design and graduate. A

prosthetic for youth who have transradial amputation,

including a forearm, wrist, and detachable hand, is one

of this semester’s projects.

The design of the prosthetic should allow for the child

to do activities such as riding a bike and swimming.

The project aims to minimize costs. Children grow

rapidly and are more prone to damaging components

making affordability a key priority. The first

prototype was comprised exclusively of plastic

components. In addition, it used Boa system cables to tighten down and secure the prosthetic to

the child’s arm. The wrist utilized a twist and lock design to

attach the hand and socket together.

The newest prototype uses more substantial materials to

increase the life of the prosthetic without a significant cost

increase. The new materials are anti-corrosive and will

withstand more wear. The wrist component has been

designed to fit a range of hands for different tasks. These

improvements in the prototype offer a more versatile and

durable prosthetic. Moving forward the focus will be on

designing and implementing a range of hands options for

different purposes and activities.

Human Centered Design Studio: Motocross Foot Positioner Client: Spencer McGinnis Faculty Advisor: Dr. Joel Bach Technical/Social Context: N/A Consultants: Dr. Derrick Rodriguez Team Name: Motocross Adaption Team Team Members: Megan Koehler, Kayla Hounshell,

Rheana Cordero, Lauren Harrison _________________________________________________________________________________________________

Spencer McGinnis contacted the Human Center Design Program regarding a project to adapt his motocross bike to his specific needs. The client is a transtibial amputee of the right leg and when he performs in motocross races he wears a prosthetic foot. This poses the problem of keeping his prosthetic foot on the foot peg of his bike and operating his rear brake. In order to solve these issues, the client wanted our team to design a foot positioner incorporating his prosthetic foot and the foot peg so that the system would keep his foot on the peg while he is riding. He also wanted his rear brake to be configured so that he could operate it using his left-hand thumb.

There are many possible configurations for the foot positioner, however, the instrumentation used to maintain a connection between the client's prosthetic and the bike’s foot peg was magnetics. A metal plate was shaped and cut to the specific measurements of the foot’s sole so that the plate would sit in the instep of the foot and not impede the client’s comfort when walking. A magnet of was then installed into the negative space of the foot peg. This gave the client the ability to connect his prosthetic to the foot peg while riding, but allowed him to detach his foot when making right hand turns. Both the metal plate and the magnet could be detached to allow them to be installed on other bikes or prosthetics.

13e

Human Centered Design Studio:

Prosthetic Foot for Dancing13f

Client(s): Amy Purdy, Joel Bach

Faculty Advisor: Joel Bach

Technical/Social Context

Consultants: Joel Bach

Team Name: Human Centered Design Studio

Team Members: Chelsea Gibas, Ashlyn Eitemiller,

Barathwaj Murali, Megan Auger, Adam Laine, Abby Reuland

We have created a design for a prosthetic dancing foot that allows a transtibial amputee to

quickly move from flat footed to the ball of their foot without having to switch out prosthetics.

Current designs on the market allow for one specific height and angle without allowing the user

to manipulate the prosthetic for different movements or shoe styles. Our goal was to come up

with a design that would lock into place at different intervals allowing for user customization,

while still maintaining a degree of control.

Figure 1: Solidworks rendering of dancing foot

The design is an underactuated system that couples the degrees of freedom at the toe and ankle

together in an attempt to mimic natural plantar/dorsiflexion motion. An underactuated system

typically has less actuators than it does degrees of freedom. The frame is designed to be

lightweight, but strong and durable. The loads used in analysis were based on loads seen while

running, which has similar loads on the body while dancing. The biggest challenge of this design

is overcoming the lack of stability in the ankle and toe joints and providing a sense of control for

the client. The locking system is a user friendly pin system that is inserted into a position which

locks the foot at a desired angle.

Broader Impacts Essay This semester all CECS Capstone Design@Mines students were assigned to write and submit an individual essay about how their engineering choices impact the social, environmental, and/or economic lives of communities and individuals. The topic for this semester’s essay is:

Designed systems can impact the behaviors of people and environments. Present a discussion, using a contemporary, concrete example, of how an engineered system has positively or negatively impacted the

behavior of society, the environment, and/or the economy. The essay should be either related to your project or your field of engineering.

The top 5 essays from this group of 79 senior engineering students were chosen by the course faculty and are included in this packet for your review.

Essay Title Author How Robot Taxi Fleets Could Drop-Kick Global Warming John Kater Different Shades of Green: Ivanpah Solar Nick Kincaid How Safer Playgrounds are Harming Your Child Kristen Smith The Smartphone Revolution and Its Unintended Consequences Michael Sonnabend Prosthetic Misconceptions Chris Olsen

The top five essays have been judged by a panel of volunteer judges and winners of the best essay contest will be announced along with the Trade Fair results. This year’s judges were:

Ron W. Pritchett Eric Phannenstiel

John McEnroe Scott Sanford

Martha Sanchez-Hayre

Carol Weber John Agee

Ken Witherell Robert Bruzgo Hans Hoppe

Jim Schwendeman

We thank you very much for your time and effort involved in choosing the top essays!

How Safer Playgrounds are Harming Your Child

Kristen Smith

Playground adventures have been a staple of the American childhood since the structures

first came to San Francisco, California, in 1887 [1]. Now, playgrounds are commonplace and

even expected to be utilized by nearly all American elementary schools. While the basic

playground structures have evolved over the years to become much more involved and complex,

there has been a prominent move over the past 15 years to make the equipment as safe as

possible. At first glance, this focus on keeping children safe seems to provide only positive

ramifications. But while there are several beneficial aspects of this shift towards safer designs,

many negative ramifications have surfaced in environmental and social settings.

One trend that has been observed for decades is the fact that playgrounds “stimulate the

local econom[ies]” surrounding them [2]. A neighborhood centered around a play structure is

significantly more appealing than one without, as parents actively seek places to take their

children for a fun way to burn off energy. Moms and dads can easily plan play groups for these

locations; the kids can entertain themselves for hours, and the parents can take a much-needed

break. While this trend began well before the movement towards safer equipment, the increasing

attention to safety has only made these structures more appealing to parents, and therefore has

provided an even greater contribution to the communities and local economies around them.

In addition to this positive economic contribution, the new focus on playground safety

has made two noteworthy changes to the ways in which the equipment affects the environment.

First, the outlawing of wood treated with chromate copper arsenate (CCA) has significantly

reduced the amount of contamination of the surrounding groundwater by these toxic chemicals

[3]. The use of CCA as a wood treatment was outlawed in 2003, though many wooden

playgrounds still stand. The phasing out and remodeling of wooden playgrounds is definitely a

worthwhile movement, as it will prevent both the children and the wildlife from exposure to

these toxins. The second positive environmental effect of safer playgrounds is the use of recycled

tires to create softer flooring. Playgrounds of a few decades ago relied upon asphalt, wood chips,

and pebbles to cushion the landings of the children who leapt from swings and slides. The new

trend is to blanket the entire area with softer materials, such as rubber mats or ground up tires. In

2015, 62 million tires were saved from landfills by getting recycled as playground bases,

representing nearly 25% of the used tires discarded in America that year [4]. This reuse

decreases the pollution from burning the rubber while satisfying the safety standards that have

come to revolve around softer landing surfaces. Unfortunately, health concerns have been raised,

as many scientists postulate that the recycled tire rubber is laced with carcinogens and much less

healthy for children to play in than wood chips or rocks. But with the relatively recent

development of this use for the rubber, much more research will have to be done to make a

definitive argument against its use in this context.

Judging by the environmental and economic impacts of safer playground equipment, the

new focus on safety appears extremely advantageous to today’s youth. But the societal impacts

of the new safety regulations on playgrounds are by far the most concerning. Overall,

playgrounds are very beneficial to children. They provide an easy way for kids to exercise, act as

a safer alternative to playing in other venues like streets and ditches, and promote social skills as

children play with one another. But the new laws requiring slides to be completely encased if

they reach above a certain height and the outlawing of structures like merry-go-rounds and

teeter-totters are proving to have adverse affects on the children being deprived from the old

methods. Banning the “unsafe” equipment such as high monkey bars, slides, and the like rob

children of opportunities to take risks and push themselves outside of their comfort zones. While

it may seem counterintuitive, studies show that children who are injured by a fall in their early

years are less likely to develop a fear of heights as teenagers or adults [5]. Every parent dreads

the scene of their child screaming on the ground after having fallen from a playground structure.

But by prioritizing the avoidance of these minor bumps and bruises as children, society is

increasing the lifelong pain that accompanies a phobia of heights.

Perhaps the most shocking data revolving around the focus on playground safety is the

fact that not only have playground injuries neglected to decline, but in fact the rate at which

children are injured on playgrounds has increased since 2005 [6]. With the advent of soft,

cushioning flooring and regulations on platform heights, slide enclosures, and disappearance of

“dangerous” installations, one might find this inconceivable. But upon further investigation, it

becomes clear that the two main contributors to increased injury on safer structures are

complacence and creativity. When playgrounds focus so hard on safety, both parents and

children become complacent and shirk their previous playground precautions that had formerly

prevented harm. Parents feel free to let younger children run free, unsupervised, leading to a

higher rate of falls and collisions. Similarly, children view themselves as invincible when they

know that a rubber mat waits to greet them below a platform. While children playing on a tall

slide mounted on hard asphalt would take extra care to avoid falling, children who view a shorter

slide and softer landing as the epitome of safety will allot much less energy towards not falling.

This lackadaisical attitude is partially to blame for the increase in injury [5]. The other downside

of the safely-engineered playground systems is blatantly that children find them boring. As a

result, they either spend less time playing (and therefore less time exercising), or they get

creative to make the boring structures more fun. It is this creativity that leads to the misuse of the

equipment, and subsequently unanticipated injuries.

The safety regulations that have been put in place over the last few decades may have

saved millions of tires from a landfill and several heads from getting cracked on asphalt. The

metal structures painted in bright colors are much more attractive, and much less laced with

arsenic than the old wooden ones. But the broader impacts of the obsessive attempts to engineer

the safest playgrounds possible are beginning to overshadow the obvious perceived benefits.

Children are lacking in cognitive development because they do not have the same chances to

take risks and conquer phobias at a young age as they used to. If playground designers cannot

find a way to mitigate their primary safety issues without increasing the rate of playground

injuries, they might as well go back to building the high, risky, but much more fun structures.

(1133 words)

Works Cited

[1] K. Hart. (2017) “History of Playgrounds” [Online]. Available:

https://www.aaastateofplay.com/history-of-playgrounds/

[2] M. Miller. (2007). “Community Impact” [Online]. Available:

http://recmanagement.com/feature_print.php?fid=200703gc02

[3] Healthy School Networ, Inc. (2010). “Playgrounds and Toxic Threates” [Online]. Available:

http://www.healthyschools.org/HSNPlaygrdGuide.pdf

[4] U.S. Tire Manufacturers. (2015) “Scrap Tire Markets” [Online]. Available:

4https://www.ustires.org/scrap-tire-markets

[5] J. Tierney. (2011) “Can a Playground Be Too Safe?” [Online]. Available:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/19/science/19tierney.html?_r=2

[6] Center for Disease Control. (2016) “Playground Safety” [Online]. Available: ]

https://www.cdc.gov/safechild/playground/index.html

How Robot Taxi Fleets Could Drop-Kick Global Warming

John Kater

Self-driving cars, or Autonomous Vehicles (AVs), are one of the most controversial topics

in technology today, with debates ranging from the ethics system governing on-board computers

to the depth and extent of their implementation. The issues surrounding AVs have recently earned

the attention of the U.S. Congress, with the recent SELF-DRIVE Act passing the House of

Representatives with unanimous support on September 6th [1]. Most of the self-drive hype resides

in their capacity for improving the lives of commuters, however the impact AVs will have on the

environment is also significant. The optimal way to realize the eco-friendly potential of

autonomous vehicles is through the propagation of self-driving taxi fleet.

In February 2017, taxi titan Uber released self-driving cars onto the roads of Arizona that

could be hailed through their smartphone application [2]. Their publicized next step is developing

automated truck fleets that can handle deliveries nationwide, a market that competitors Lyft and

Google also hope to exploit. The reason ridesharing companies are interested is simple: analysts

have shown that a self-driving taxi could be driven for as little as $0.35 per mile, a cost less than

1/10th of current ridesharing expenses – even cheaper than owning and maintaining a personal

vehicle [3]. Due to this strong economic impetus, the spread of self-driving vehicles is almost a

certainty. Their impact on the planet, however, extends far beyond their return on investment.

Transportation is a significant contributor to the global carbon dioxide (CO2) output. Of

the roughly 10 trillion metric tons of CO2 produced worldwide in 2010, over 25% was produced

by transportation [4]. If employed properly, AVs will reduce the carbon emissions from vehicle

traffic by ginormous amounts, with estimates from the National Renewable Energy Lab running

as high as an 87% reduction of the total output [5]. This massive increase in vehicle efficiency

comes from a multitude of sources: platooning, an AV movement technique where groups of cars

can follow closely behind a leader in order to reduce drag, was modeled to lead to 10% efficient

increases. “Green Routing,” a practice that encourages smart vehicles to avoid traffic and pick the

most fuel-efficient route, was shown in a 2011 study of the City of Buffalo, NY to decrease the

amount of overall emissions by 20%, even when only a fifth of all vehicles were re-routed [6].

Limiting accelerations and stops through car-to-car communication can lead to the greatest fuel

efficiency increase of all, with conservative estimates of nearly thirty percent [5]. Through only

minor changes in driving behavior, we can cut vehicle carbon dioxide outputs in half!

These benefits will be capitalized by any realization of autonomous vehicles, but many

environmental advantages are specific to only once AV usage becomes widespread. Perhaps the

most obvious of these examples is an expansion upon ideas also applicable to privately-owned

AVs – a general decrease in the number of starts and stops that a driverless car will have to make.

While even modern AVs make a more efficient use of their fuel than their non-automated

counterparts, if the self-driving trend becomes widespread enough, it is within the possible future

to eliminate the need for stoplights altogether in favor of more ergonomic intersections [7]. This

elimination of stoplights would lead to less idle time, and therefore even further increased fuel

efficiency. Additionally, self-driving cars become the norm, it will rapidly become possible to

eliminate many of the safety features in modern vehicles as travel on the nation’s roads becomes

safer for the occupants. This is due to the “chatter” effect between vehicles – AVs are able to relay

their exact position, orientation, and speed data to other nearby cars, a feature which, when

produced en masse, would make collisions all but impossible on inter-city roads as cars would be

able to avoid any potential hazards far in advance [5]. The elimination of certain safety features

leads to overall lighter vehicles. Lighter cars are known to travel considerably more miles per

gallon, and therefore consume less fuel and create less carbon by-product.

A decrease in the number of car accidents would have a secondary effect – a need for less

new cars. Multiple entities in both automotive and finance industries, to include the National

Highway Traffic Safety Administration, have predicted an enormous decrease in the number of

accidents, anticipating a change of nearly ninety percent [8]. With a significant drop in the number

of auto collisions, there would be an equal and corresponding drop in the demand for new cars as

older vehicles are able to stay in service longer. A continued use of old vehicles, rather than the

frequent replacement of cars, leads to less waste and is therefore a greener approach. Additionally,

car factories produce an enormous amount of greenhouse gases when manufacturing new vehicles,

often equal to or exceeding the total carbon emissions from the car over its entire lifespan [9].

While the impact of a single car may not be significant, when the use of autonomous vehicles

becomes prevalent, there will be a noticeable decrease in the number of new vehicles required for

production.

All of the benefits mentioned thus far are only amplified when considering fleets of

autonomous taxis. If people in future cities rely upon ride sharing for transportation, for example,

there will be an even larger decrease in the number of cars on the road, and congruently the

consumer demand for new vehicles. Currently, cars sit unused ninety-five percent of the time – it

doesn’t require much imagination to realize that society could benefit enormously from a fleet of

well-maintained, commonly owned vehicles that would sit idle only when refueling [8].

Additionally, it would be a simple matter to mandate that vehicles purchased for autonomous taxi

purposes would be electric – indeed, industry leaders like General Motors, Jaguar, and Tesla have

all promised to produce exclusively electric self-driving cars in the future [10]. When looking at

the next twenty years of the automotive industry and how it will comply with tomorrow’s green

standards, a University of California Berkeley research team found that the largest contributing

factor to lower greenhouse gas emissions wasn’t whether the vehicles were electric or autonomous

[11]. The deciding factor which lowered the per mile greenhouse gas emissions was whether or

not those vehicles were shared.

We exist in a time of rapid change for the automotive industry. Faced with a significant

share in the ever-continuing destruction of the ozone layer, paired with the steady depletion of

non-renewable oil supplies, those intimately involved in auto making and transportation have come

to realize that change is necessary for cars to survive. The introduction of hybrid vehicles and even

full-blood electric cars has changed the landscape of the buyer’s market, but there is still more

change required. When autonomous vehicles are fully introduced into the world economy, it is

imperative that society is able to use their potential money, time, and environment-saving benefits

to the utmost extent. The icing on the cake is that we’ll get to look cool when it happens.

(1160 words)

Works Cited

[1] Marshall, Aarian. "Congress Unites to Spread Self-Driving Cars Across America." Wired.

Conde Nast, 06 Sept. 2017. Web.

[2] Hawkins, Andrew J. "Uber's Self-driving Cars Are Now Picking up Passengers in

Arizona." The Verge. The Verge, 21 Feb. 2017. Web.

[3] Muoio, Danielle. "Here Are the Key Things to Know about Uber's Ties to the Self-driving

Startup Accused of Stealing Google's Technology." Business Insider. Business Insider,

24 Feb. 2017. Web.

[4] "Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions Data." EPA. Environmental Protection Agency, 13 Apr.

2017. Web.

[5] Gonder, Jeff, Brittany Repac, and Austin Brown. "Autonomous Vehicles Have a Wide

Range of Possible Energy Impacts." NREL (2012): n. pag. National Renewable Energy

Laboratory. Web.

[6] Hsu, Charlotte. ""Green Routing" Can Cut Car Emissions Without Significantly Slowing

Travel Time, Buffalo Study Finds." University at Buffalo, The State University of New

York. N.p., 14 Dec. 2011. Web.

[7] Zipkin, Nina. "Will We Still Need Stoplights in the Self-Driving Future?" Entrepreneur.

N.p., 21 Mar. 2016. Web.

[8] Davies, Alex. "Self-Driving Cars Will Make Us Want Fewer Cars." Wired. Conde Nast, 03

June 2017. Web.

[9] Berners-Lee, Mike, and Duncan Clark. "Manufacturing a Car Creates as Much Carbon as

Driving It." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 23 Sept. 2010. Web.

[10] Thompson, Cadie. "GM Will Use Lyft to Launch Its First Self-driving Car." Business

Insider. Business Insider, 18 July 2016. Web.

[11] Chao, Julie. "Autonomous Taxis Would Deliver Significant Environmental and Economic

Benefits | Berkeley Lab." Berkeley Labs News Center. University of California Berkeley,

12 Aug. 2015. Web.

Different Shades of Green: Ivanpah Solar

Nick Kincaid

Current topics of national debate are often polarizing. The same is true for renewable

energy. Although it’s fair to suggest that a general shift towards increased renewable energy

deployment has occurred, there is still resistance. When looking at factors such as, economic,

environmental, and grid stability, the topic of the U.S. energy portfolio becomes undoubtedly

complex. Renewable energy plays a key role in developing a more sustainable future. Despite its

importance, there is danger in the polarized classification of energy generating technologies being

labeled as “green,” or “dirty.” The reality is that technologies encompass a wide range of

sustainable qualities, and accurately representing a technology is critical to gain public trust and

ensuring achievable goals. Being disconnected from reality, on both sides of the argument, can

lead to the stagnation of technology. Implementing renewable energy technologies without

detailed analysis can have adverse effects and mar the reputation of a promising technology. One

such case of interest is the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System (ISEGS), currently the largest

concentrated solar power (CSP) plant in the world. Ivanpah is undoubtedly a momentous landmark

for renewable technology, but how truly “green” is it?

Since Ivanpah’s construction, there has push back on how sustainable of a solution CSP

truly is and raises the question why build a CSP plant when that same area could be used for a

photovoltaic (PV) plant? To gain a better understanding of the specific case study, it helps to have

a general understanding of how solar technologies work. The energy from the sun can be harvested

by two main classifications, CSP and PV. PV, generally being the more familiar of the two, has

become a much more frequent sight due largely to a decrease in the price of required materials.

PV cells absorb photons from the sun and directly generate electricity. CSP on the other hand, uses

mirrors to concentrate the sun’s energy and heat fluid. Why go through the trouble of CSP when

PV can directly generate electricity? CSP lends the opportunity to use conventional and well

developed industrial scale power generating technology. Typical fossil fuel plants generate

electricity by heating water to generate steam and then passing that steam through a turbine. CSP

can act as a replacement of these conventional heat sources. The other major advantage to CSP is

the ability to store the energy as heat and then use that heat to continue producing energy even

after the sun goes down. Thermal energy storage (TES) is simpler and can be employed at larger

scales relative to batteries coupled with PV.

As the largest CSP plant, Ivanpah alone is a modern marvel, and is a testament to the power

and potential of renewable energy generation. Ivanpah, located on the California Nevada border

near the Mojave Desert, is comprised of 3 separate 460 ft towers, each with roughly 860,000 m2

of mirrors pointing at the top of the towers [1]. That equates to a total of nearly 500 football fields

worth of mirrors. The combined plant capacity from the three towers is nearly 400 MW, which is

approximately enough to power 140,000 U.S. homes [1]. Ivanpah is also roughly 4 times larger

than the biggest PV plant to date. Coming online in 2014, the plan cost an approximate $2.2

billion, with $1.6 billion of that cost in federal loan guarantees. With the awe and wonder of

Ivanpah as an engineering feat, it’s important to recognize it is not without its faults.

As with the implementation of any large-scale technologies, Ivanpah has not been isolated

from environmental concerns. The plant’s construction was delayed by several months due to the

migration path of an endangered tortoise species, which led to costly downtime and rerouting

measures [2]. There have also been cases of bird mortality caused by the plant’s operation. In close

proximity to the towers, the concentration ray is hundreds of times stronger than the sun itself,

which can cause immediate death to a bird intersecting the ray’s path [3]. Currently the plant is

employing mitigation solutions similarly employed by airports to deter birds from the location.

The valid counterargument to claims that these environmental impacts discount CSP as viable

solution is that these issues are minute in magnitude when looking at the big picture of climate

change as a whole. It’s important to note that even with renewable technologies, there are adverse

effects that must be carefully considered.

There are other important aspects of the design to consider when analyzing Ivanpah.

Ivanpah was designed without any energy storage. The use of relatively low-cost TES, is one of

CSP’s biggest advantages over other renewable sources. Most of renewable technology is variable,

i.e. when the wind isn’t blowing, or the sun isn’t shining, no energy is produced. Meaning that

other more conventional sources of energy generation is required to inefficiently ramp to cover the

gaps. This leads to regional systems having to be oversized to meet the electric load during periods

of no generation. This in turn, decreases the amount of plants running at full capacity and

ultimately leads to an increase in the cost of electricity, by increasing the ratio of plant cost to

electricity generation. As renewable energy increasingly penetrates the market, without energy

storage, fossil fuel back-up systems must be oversized and inefficiently ramp to make up for

periods of no generation, and/or, the grid will become inconsistent, while simultaneously

increasing the cost on the consumer. If the goal is to create a more sustainable energy portfolio,

energy storage must be developed in conjunction with renewable energy generation to ensure

technology that is both environmentally and economically sustainable.

Ivanpah also uses a natural gas fired boiler to prime the system every morning, allowing

the plant to generate electricity as the sun comes out. In 2014, the corporations that own and

operate Ivanpah petitioned to increase the plant’s annual natural gas cap by 60%, from 328 to 525

MMSCF (Millions of Standard Cubic Feet) [4]. Which is roughly enough to power 17,000 homes

in a traditional natural gas power plant. At a worst-case scenario, i.e. Ivanpah using the maximum

allowed amount of natural gas, electricity for 17,000 of the 140,000 homes would be generated

from natural gas, which is only 12% of Ivanpah’s capacity but still noteworthy. The petition states

that when Ivanpah was initially designed, the auxiliary boilers were planned to preheat the system

for approximately 1 hour before sunrise. Upon actual operation and analysis, it was found that the

auxiliary boilers needed to run for 4.5 hours to continue generating electricity during sunrise. The

petition also states that during periods with prolonged clouds, auxiliary natural gas boilers were

needed for longer durations than expected to restart the system. So, is Ivanpah “cleaner” than

traditional fossil fuel plants? Yes. If looking strictly at the number of homes Ivanpah delivers

energy to, versus the amount of carbon dioxide produced, it is still indeed “cleaner.” However, it’s

not perfect. In a search of BrightSource Energy’s website (the company that designed Ivanpah),

the factsheet regarding the design of Ivanpah does not have a single mention of natural gas usage

[5]. From a marketing standpoint, this omission makes sense for a company dedicated to renewable

energy. Herein lies the problem. In a world where it seems that all debates become polarizing, it’s

important to not to misrepresent facts. As the country moves towards a more sustainable energy

portfolio, solutions will not be black or white, green or non-green but rather somewhere in-

between, and it’s important to represent as such, so the energy world can set realistic, achievable

goals.

With historically low prices of natural gas and PV panels, CSP without storage is not an

economical solution. The value of energy storage has been thoroughly analyzed and published in

literature [6]–[8]. In one NREL study, analyzing the value of energy storage in California’s

increased solar penetration market, it was concluded CSP with energy storage can increase the

value of CSP by 40% when considering time of delivery, fuel displacement, and plant costs [6].

Crescent Dunes another CSP plant that came online in 2016, is a 110 MW tower plant located in

northern Nevada, has the storage capacity to continue delivering electricity for 10 hours after the

sun goes down and uses zero fossil fuels [9]. To disregard CSP as a viable energy solution based

solely on one individual case would be irrational.

The misrepresentation of technologies and altering of facts hinders the ability to move

forward in creating a more sustainable energy portfolio. With a quick google search of “Ivanpah

News,” you may see phrases such as, “Big Fossil Fuel Consumer,” and “Tax Payers Get Burned,”

which may be partially derived from a truth, certainly doesn’t encompass the entire picture. For

renewable technology to be a viable solution, it must be both economically and environmentally

viable. Renewable energy technologies come in many shades of “green.” Similarly, accurately

representing a technologies true shade, its benefits as well as its faults, is critical continuing to

move towards a more sustainable future.

(1498 words)

References

[1] NREL, “Concentrating Solar Power Projects - Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System |

Concentrating Solar Power | NREL,” 2014. [Online]. Available:

https://www.nrel.gov/csp/solarpaces/project_detail.cfm/projectID=62. [Accessed: 31-Aug-

2017].

[2] D. Turney and V. Fthenakis, “Environmental impacts from the installation and operation

of large-scale solar power plants,” Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev., vol. 15, no. 6, pp. 3261–

3270, 2011.

[3] E. O. Kagan, R.A., Viner, T.C., Trail, P.W. and Espinoza, “Avian mortality at solar

energy facilities in southern California: a preliminary analysis,” Natl. Fish Wildl.

Forensics Lab., vol. 19, pp. 1–28, 2014.

[4] “Sierra Research Inc. Ivanpah Petition to Amend No. 4,” 2014.

[5] BrightSource, “Ivanpah Project Facts,” 2013.

[6] P. Denholm, Y. Wan, M. Hummon, and M. Mehos, “An Analysis of Concentrating Solar

Power with Thermal Energy Storage in a California 33% Renewable Scenario,” Contract,

no. March, p. 34, 2013.

[7] R. Sioshansi and P. Denholm, “The value of concentrating solar power and thermal energy

storage,” Nrel-Tp-6a2-45833, vol. 1, no. 3, pp. 173–183, 2010.

[8] J. Forrester, “The value of CSP with thermal energy storage in providing grid stability,”

Energy Procedia, vol. 49, pp. 1632–1641, 2013.

[9] NREL, “Concentrating Solar Power Projects - Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project |

Concentrating Solar Power | NREL,” 2016. [Online]. Available:

https://www.nrel.gov/csp/solarpaces/project_detail.cfm/projectID=60. [Accessed: 31-Aug-

2017].

The Smartphone Revolution and Its Unintended Consequences

Michael Sonnabend

Smartphone technology has had a profound effect on the way that information is

obtained. In the past, when a person had an interest in a particular subject, a concerted effort

needed to be made in order to learn about that subject. A trip to the library, and the subject

section of a card catalog, would be required. Once the desired subject section was found, a

collection of books and periodicals might be compiled. Perhaps a trip to the microfiche reader

would be required in order to browse through older periodicals. From there, these sources would

need to be read through to find the relevant information. Now, that same person can just type the

subject of interest into a smart phone and hundreds of potential sources are made available. The

results of this ease of access to information have been mixed. While it is true that easy access to

information can be beneficial when researching a subject, it can also be detrimental if the quality

of the source is poor. The current political climate is a prime example of where the blitz of

information at a person’s fingertips, both accurate and inaccurate, has had a negative effect.

Former President Barrack Obama summarized this by saying that we are currently living in a

time when “everything is true and nothing is true.” He then went on to add that this has led to a

situation where, “Democrats and Republicans cannot agree on an established set of facts to have

a policy debate and instead endlessly argue the facts on which to base a policy.” [1] This endless

argument is a direct result of the mistrust in others with different ideas and beliefs that has been a

side effect of the dominance of smartphones in society.

It is easy to forget how young the age of the smartphone is. In 2011, when the

Presidential election of 2012 was just beginning, only thirty-five percent of American adults

owned a smartphone. By the time the 2016 election process began, sixty-four percent of adults

owned a smartphone [2]. It is shocking how quickly the smartphone has gained a stranglehold

on our society. Studies are showing disturbing impacts that this stranglehold is having. For

instance, one study published in Plos One showed that “the more people relied on their mobile

phones for information, the less they trusted strangers, neighbors and people from other religions

and nationalities.” [3] The result of this study shows that the arguments and mistrust between

Democrats and Republicans described by President Obama are not limited to our political

leaders, but have infected society as a whole.

The mistrust that has infected society’s psyche is evident all around us. It is easy to see

how people’s dependence on their smartphones might be correlated to their distrustful nature of

others. Not too long ago, if a person were lost, they might have to stop and ask for help from a

stranger. Now, they just swipe their smartphone and ask for directions. If someone wanted to

meet another person, they might have to go out into a social setting and risk meeting someone

who doesn’t necessarily fit into their preconceived notion of who they are looking for. Now,

people will enter specific criteria into their smartphone app and never risk being exposed to

someone with an opposing viewpoint or lifestyle, and thus harboring a distrust for anything or

anyone unfamiliar. In the past, an airport bar would be a great setting to sit down and have an

interesting conversation with someone from another state, or maybe even another country. Now,

the airport bar is filled with people with their nose in their smartphones, who won’t make eye

contact with anyone let alone carry on a face to face conversation with another human being.

Multiple studies have shown that losing these social interactions threatens to destroy the fabric

that binds our society together. For instance, one such study shows the importance of these

interactions with strangers with regard to an individual’s overall feelings of trust and happiness

[4].

It is highly unlikely that as engineers were developing the smartphone they were

considering whether or not it would eat away at people’s trust for each other. It is more likely

that these engineers were focused on the many ways that they felt this new technology could

improve people’s lives. Without a doubt, engineers were aware of the massive amounts of

information that would now be at a person’s fingertips. They also must have known that much of

this information was exaggerated at best, and outright lies at worst. Whether or not they were

aware of the negative effects that easily accessible misinformation would have on society is not

as obvious. After all, these people were engineers, not psychologists and sociologists. Perhaps

they were naïve as to the effects that this powerful new technology would have. So, while the

negative effects of this engineering breakthrough have obviously not been as devastating as, say,

the development of the nuclear bomb, the same ethical dilemma played out in both of those

cases, as it has played out in many engineering projects. The dilemma is simple: in the mad rush

to see an engineering vision realized, no one ever stops to ask the question whether or not it

should be realized. And even though the technology was certainly going to come to fruition, if

more thought had been put into the potential negative consequences, perhaps there would be

more public awareness of these consequences and their impacts would be limited.

While the engineers who developed the technology may have had the best of intentions,

the societal effects of the advent of smartphones, and the corresponding ease of access to

information, have been a mix of good and bad. A world where every person with a smartphone

and internet access has a pulpit to voice an opinion has led to confusion and distrust of what to

believe. Furthermore, people with a predisposed opinion on a subject, can easily find sources

that back their beliefs. The difference between fact and opinion, and between a quality reference

and a poor reference, been lost in the murkiness of the information age. Finally, people’s

dependence on smartphone technology is threatening to tear apart the fabric of society.

(1049 words)

References

[1] Jacobs, Harrison. “Obama nails why the political climate is so polarized in just a few

sentences” Business Insider. Nov. 17, 2016. Web. Accessed 9/14/17.

http://www.businessinsider.com/barack-obama-explains-why-the-political-climate-is-so-

polarized-2016-11

[2] Byers, Dylan. “The Mobile Election: How smartphones will change the 2016 presidential

race” Politico. April 1, 2015. Web. Accessed 9/14/17.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2015/04/the-mobile-election-how-smartphones-will-

change-the-2016-presidential-race-204855

[3] Kushlev, Kostadin. Proulx, Jason D. “The Social Costs of Ubiquitous Information:

Consuming Information on Mobile Phones Is Associated with Lower Trust.” Plos One.

September 8, 2016. Web. Accessed September 14, 2017.

http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0162130

[4] Sandstrom, Gillian M., Dunn, Elizabeth W. “Is Efficiency Overrated? Minimal Social

Interactions Lead to Belonging and Positive Affect” Sage Journals. September 12, 2013. Web.

Accessed September 14, 2017. http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1948550613502990

Prosthetic Misconceptions

Chris Olsen

As a lower extremity amputee, I can confidently say that the most common question I am

approached with by strangers in public is “Can you run?” or “Do you have a running blade?”.

Advancements in adaptive prosthetic devices have fostered public awareness and an appreciation

for amputee athletes, but while shining the spotlight on high end performance prosthetic feet,

everyday devices for amputees, such as appropriately fitted prosthetic sockets or accessibility to

basic equipment, has been overlooked or ignored. High end performance prosthetic devices have

given amputees the ability to achieve a level of athletic prowess that may soon exceed that of

able bodied individuals, but they have also painted a false pretense to the general public about

the state of affairs and quality of life an amputee.

The Amputee Coalition of America states that “the United States has an estimated

population of 2 million amputees” and that the population will likely “more than double by the

year 2050 to 3.6 million”[1]. Two million people is a huge number, but with respect to the

worldwide population of amputees, it's a pretty small slice. In 2005, the International Society for

Prosthetics and Orthotics alongside the World Health Organization declared that “80% of the

world's disabled people live in developing countries”[2]. With such a large percentage of the

amputee population existing in developing countries, it is hard to grasp just how few people have

access to prosthetic equipment. In a study released by the Humanitarian Engineering Program of

Pennsylvania State University, it was concluded that of the 80% of disabled persons living in

developing countries “only 5% of them have access to any form of prosthetic care”[3]. If we

were to make the sweeping assumption that all amputees in developing countries (20% of the

population) have access to prosthetic care, and sum them with the 5% that have the care they

need in developing countries, that leaves us with at least 75% of amputees in the world that do

not have access to the equipment and care that they need to perform basic life functions.

It is statistically harrowing to consider that only 1 in 4 amputees have access to the

devices they need to perform everyday living activities. Another interesting aspect to consider is

out of the small percentage of amputees that have what they need, how many of them are able to

use high performance prosthetic devices or return to their previous field of work(assuming the

amputation was the result of an injury or medical condition, and not congenital). To examine this

aspect we will refer to data collected by the Military Amputee Database, wherein it was

concluded that only 16.5% of military personal who have suffered an amputation have returned

to active duty[4]. If we were to correlate this information to the civilian population, chances

would be that only 1 in 7 of amputees that you might meet would be capable of performing at an

“active duty” level of physical activity after an amputation.

Olympic television coverage of Oscar Pistorious in 2008(double below the knee

congenital amputee runner) or more recently the participation of amputees in the American Ninja

Warrior obstacle courses, has presented the public with examples of some of the best case

scenarios of amputee athletic performance and capability. It would seem that people are inspired

by technology that parallels the capabilities of the human body part that a prosthesis replaces.

The public interpretation as to relevant amputee technological advances has trickled down to

academia as well. The Colorado School of Mines Human Centered Design Studio(HCDS)

program is primarily athletic and activity based in its approach towards prosthetic development.

Colorado boasts one of the most athletic and active populations in the US, and this is

accurately reflected in the areas of interest in the HCDS program. Although the program is

making a change and building awareness with respect to assistive technologies, it begs the

question of whether the focus is in the right place. Students may find themselves relating more

easily to members of the disabled community simply because they have overlapping recreational

sports interests. This commonality may inspire students to find better solutions for the small

amputee population that is able to use a high performance activity specific athletic prosthesis, but

where do such advancements fit into the big picture? Out of the 16.5% of amputees that are able

to return to active duty, what percentage of them will try skiing? What percentage of them will

need a climbing foot optimized for a specific type of climbing? What about the other 83.5% of

amputees? Is it possible that they are being held back from such activities due to archaic

prosthetic socket fitment techniques and methods?

So much attention is given to prosthetic feet, hands, and adaptive sports

attachments while the real issue that may need to be addressed lies further up the device at the

socket interface itself. The creation of a prosthetic socket is performed over a casting of a

patients residual limb. From this casting a positive plaster mold is formed, and then a

thermoplastic rendering is fabricated over the positive mold. This thermoplastic rendering, called

a check socket, it used to check the fit of a prothesis on a patient prior to forming a prosthetic

socket from carbon fiber materials. The check socket is made from thermoplastic so that it can be

altered as needed to ensure proper fit on the patient. Once the check socket fits the patient

properly, it is filled with plaster and a final positive mold is formed. This final positive mold is

then used to manufacture a carbon fiber socket which will be the definitive product delivered to

the patient for extended wear. This process has lacked optimization or advancement in a number

of years, and without insurance this process can leave the patient with a bill upwards of $7,000.

Tack on a running blade to the tune of $15,000 to $18,000, and you've reached a total bill

upwards of $23,000.

In conclusion, accessibility to adaptive technologies and the financial prowess make a

winning combination for full functionality. That is truly a sad state of affairs. Media coverage of

amputee athletes has painted a falsified picture to the public regarding amputee functionality and

access to devices. The next time you meet an amputee and ask them “Can you run?” or “Do you

own a running blade?” perhaps the questions could be rephrased to “Do you have $23,000 worth

of disposable income for a running blade and socket?”, or “Do you have incredible insurance

with a reasonable deductible”, or most importantly “Do you have a dependable means for

acquiring the devices you need for everyday functionality?”. It is my hope that some day the

focus of prosthetics and amputee performance will shift from peak athletic activities and instead

concentrate on affordability and accessibility.

References

[1] Advanced Amputee Solutions. http://www.advancedamputees.com/amputee-statistics-you-

ought-know

[2] Guidelines for training personnel in developing countries for prosthetics and orthotics

services. http://www.ispoint.org/sites/default/files/img/ispo-who_training_guidelines.pdf

[3] Access to Prosthetic Devices in Developing Countries: Pathways and Challenges.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/285591611_Access_to_prosthetic_devices_in_developi

ng_countries_Pathways_and_challenges

[4] Return to duty rate of amputee soldiers in the current conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20068483

(1134 words)