With the help of a $45,000 grant awarded to MSU, senior engineering students coordinated with a local elementary school to create awareness of environmentally-friendly energy.
A team of four from the Department of Mechanical Engineering’s capstone course designed a solar-powered worm compost bin with the help of 26 Woodcreek Magnet School fifth-graders.
For five years, the school has used worms to turn its cafeteria food into compost instead of sending it to a landfill.
“What they found was during the winter months, the worms will go dormant and some will actually freeze, die off and the compost process would stop,” said Craig Somerton, a mechanical engineering professor. “The project the mechanical engineering students are working on is to provide solar heating of that compost bin.”
The greatest benefits of doing this outreach project, he said, is peaking an interest among elementary students in engineering.
“For many of them at Woodcreek, they would be first generation going to college,” he said. “In their community, there are not many role models with respect for engineers.”
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