Fung Institute for Engineering Leadership

Project Year: 2020-21

2020-21

Waves to Water: Extracting Drinking Water from the Ocean for Coastal Communities and Disaster Relief

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Team: Rita Chen (ME), Michael Kotur (ME), Danny Ma (ME), Ian Miller (ME) Advisor(s): Reza Alam (ME), Michael Kelly (ME) Coastal communities affected by natural disasters lack affordable and reliable access to drinking water. We aim to create a portable device that captures wave energy to drive seawater desalination and provide freshwater to communities without… Read More »

[Move2Play] Blowing Bigger Bubles to Get Kids Moving

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Team: Katie Henshaw (ME), Matthew Mesman (ME), Julie Yu (ME) Advisor(s): Jack Miller [Move2Play], Brenden McMorrow [Move2Play], Tarek Zodhi (ME) Kids spend on average 7.5 hours a day watching a screen. This unprecedented amount of screentime can lead to a range of health issues including increased obesity, decreased academic performance and decreased mental health outcomes.… Read More »

Addressing the Plastic Waste Problem Using Programmable Enzymatic Degradation: Market and Application Analysis

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Team: Gwenlyn Angel Cabiltes (MSE), Jonathan Chow (MSE) Advisor(s): Aaron Hall (MSE), Ting Xu (MSE) The world faces a severe plastic waste problem: Nearly 80% of plastic products end up in landfills or the environment. Biodegradable plastics like polylactic acid (PLA) are a promising solution but face extensive difficulties degrading and composting in most facilities.… Read More »

MEDiRoller: Revolutionizing Low-Cost Vaccine and Drug Delivery in Low-Resource Communities

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Team: Diego Espinoza (BioE) Advisor(s): Phillip B. Messersmith (BioE/MSE), Katerina Malollari (ME), & Kelsey DeFrates (BioE) Each year, millions die from vaccine-preventable illnesses, an inequality largely fueled by technical challenges surrounding the administration of vaccines with hypodermic needles. MEDiRoller, an automated microneedle device, revolutionizes vaccine and drug delivery through the elimination of trained medical personnel… Read More »