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Energy Education
Students display product designs for energy harvesting, healthy aging to improve quality of life
WATERLOO - Engineering students at the University of Waterloo will display product designs to improve the quality of life for as many people as possible, focusing on healthy aging and harvesting ambient energy for mobility, living and communications.
Next week, nine student groups in a third-year systems design engineering course will present an exhibition on product design. The event runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Wednesday, July 23, in the William G. Davis Computer Research Centre, room 1301, on the UW campus.
"The two topics are timely given the world's preoccupation with energy needs and an aging demographic," says John Zelek, exhibit organizer and a professor of systems design engineering. "As people age, they get slower physically and mentally, so how do we improve the quality of life for them?"
Energy harvesting makes use of energy produced around people that is not used. The human body gives off heat and produces energy to move. So some of that energy can be used to power mobile devices, for instance.
The student groups in Zelek's course, Systems Design 361, were required to select a problem area, identify a design-problem objective and solicit needs from an associated demographic -- all to lay the groundwork to develop innovative concepts, which are prototyped for display at next week's exhibit.
Energy harvesting designs include:
* extracting energy from weightlifting machines to cool the weight lifter,
* using a hiker's motion to cool a water bottle,
* minimizing energy use for refrigeration during the winter by making use of the cold weather,
* warming the bathroom floor using the warm outflow from the shower,
* using rainfall kinetic energy to power the home, and
* using wind pressure in road tunnels to power street lights.
Healthy aging designs embrace innovative dental hygiene devices, a spatial memory reminding system and a device to assist elderly drivers in backing up.
The course and theme meet several engineering design learning objectives. It exposes students to relevant world issues which may lead to cost effective solutions. It also shows that engineering plays a key role in society, improving the quality of life for all.
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