| Affiliations: | STEM Research Leadership |
| Project Leader: | Jared Lilly jplilly25@tamu.edu Aerospace Engineering |
| Faculty Mentor: | Darren Hartl, Ph.D. |
| Meeting Times: | TBA |
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Team Size:
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6 |
| Open Spots: | 3 |
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Special Opportunities:
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The FOODS project offers a unique opportunity to learn and gain experience in FEA (a highly valued engineering skill), optimization methods (including topology optimization), and how to carry out experiments focused on validating a new design. Conference publication is the final deliverable for this project. Excellent performers may be offered research lab employment.
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Team Needs:
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Interest in structural analysis and design, |
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Description:
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In this project, students will design a single-use plastic fork to minimize its time in a landfill. Students will use finite element analysis tools to optimize a fork geometry that must perform adequately as a fork (i.e. carry loads applied by stabbing food) while optimizing quantities such as surface area to promote biodegradation. Students will then compare the degradation rate of their optimized design to a commercially available design by tracking the degradation of each fork in a tank of water. No prior experience required. |