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The ME SPUR Experience: Doyle and Levy research environmental impacts of consumer product manufacturing

Anonymous — Fri, 04 Sep 2020 06:00:00 +0000

The ME SPUR Experience: Doyle and Levy research environmental impacts of consumer product manufacturing Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 09/04/2020 - 00:00

Mechanical engineering undergraduate researcher, Anika Levy.

The ME SPUR Program, modeled after CU Summer Program for Undergraduate Research, enabled undergraduate students to work with mechanical engineering faculty during summer 2020 on research that could be conducted remotely. As participants, Christopher Doyle and Anika Levy worked with Scholar in Residence Dan Riffell to compile and organize a standard resource that would allow consumers and designers to determine the environmental impacts associated with consumer products to contribute to a user-friendly database which could enable consumers to make informed choices about which products to use or purchase based on energy costs of those products. Their summer research project was titled, Environmental Impacts of Consumer Product Manufacturing.

Doyle is a proud American, husband, father and veteran. Prior to returning to higher education, Doyle served as a nuclear electronics technician aboard two aircraft carriers for the U.S. Navy. He plans to continue supporting the country by working for a defense contractor upon graduation. Anika Levy is a fourth-year student at CU Boulder studying mechanical engineering with a minor in energy. In the future, Anika hopes to focus on improving the efficiency of current technologies and increasing global access to sustainable energy. Doyle and Levy's insights below provide a window into their research experience with ME SPUR.

Mechanical engineering undergraduate researcher, Christopher Doyle.

Describe your summer research.

Our goal was to create a way for consumers to have easy and understandable access to information about the environmental effects of consumer products. The focus of this project is Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) research. We analyzed the effects of a product during its life cycle and output factors including, but not limited to, Global Warming Potential (GWP) and weighted GWP at every stage of the products’ life cycle. We focused on single use products and their multi-use alternatives such as a plastic straw versus a washable stainless steel straw. We used a ‘cradle to grave’ approach to evaluate the energy consumption of products which looks at data from the initial creation of the product until it is brought to a waste disposal location.

Currently, the software used to conduct these models is not affordable, accessible or easy to use for the common public. In response, our team sought to create a generalized equation to help simplify the process. That equation can be developed into a user friendly app to allow consumers to input information about a product that they hope to purchase and see its relative environmental impact as compared to alternative products. With the production of our general formula and creation of a user interface, which will be continuously updated by future research group members, consumers will have easier access to LCA on products to assist in making more educated purchasing decisions.

The life cycle of a product, using the cradle-to-grave approach which incorporates energy use from material creation all the way through disposal. This flow chart shows a product moving from material choice to manufacturing to the store to consumer use to the landfill.

What was it like conducting research remotely?

This project involved a lot of data collection and management in order to develop the generalized LCA equation. The biggest problem we ran into was finding a way to visualize the data from the previous students compared to the data we collected. This was solved by importing all of the data collected into Excel and graphing all relevant data to give a clear picture as to what was happening. This ended up being instrumental in devising the general equation.

What about this project was rewarding?

This project felt rewarding when we had enough research data to be able to share important and applicable information about how to be more environmentally friendly on a daily basis. One example is talking with a friend regarding buying plastic bottles versus glass. I was able to make an informed argument in favor of buying plastic bottles because their production has 11 times less Global Warming Potential.

Did you have any research experience prior to ME SPUR?

Doyle: My previous background in research is heavily related to my mechanical engineering senior capstone project. In that project, I was tasked with finding a way to actuate a very small and sensitive single-use sensor multiple times and record accurate data. That project taught me that there is always something else to research and another method to use in order to accomplish your intended goals. I found that my previous experience was helpful, because it taught me to be resilient in my research and that helped me push through a lot of the data mining involved in this project.

Levy: I have not had previous experience with research, and this project was unlike anything I have been a part of before. I believe that my experience with group projects throughout my schooling was the largest benefit. Focusing on being an active team member who is accountable for their work proved to be essential. In addition, always having the ‘learning mindset’ and being open to new tasks or learning a new skill was useful throughout this project.

What advice would you share with other students considering getting involved in research?

It’s important to look at the research projects taking place around CU. Looking at the work being done could spark an interest in a new area or inspire you to begin focusing on something new. In addition, it is important to let the facts of the research be the key when reporting on what was found. When researching something, especially something that you have a prior interest in, it is important to be open to see what the research tells you and not to let preconceived ideas lead the results. Look for something you can be passionate about, be open to new discoveries, and present only the facts.

Life Cycle Assessment of Single-Use Products Infographic

As ME SPUR participants, Christopher Doyle and Anika Levy worked with Scholar in Residence Dan Riffell to compile and organize a standard resource that would allow consumers and designers make informed choices about which products to use or purchase based on energy costs of those products.

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Interning with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Anonymous — Thu, 03 Sep 2020 19:54:04 +0000

Interning with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 09/03/2020 - 13:54

Kyle McDonnell

Kyle McDonnell is an undergraduate student in mechanical engineering. He interned with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during summer 2020.

Kyle McDonnell

2020 began like no other year with COVID-19 impacting unemployment rates and changing what work and internships looked like across the world. I happened to be one of the lucky few who didn’t lose their summer internship, accepting a position at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Due to the pandemic, my summer internship with the Corps looked a little different than the typical summer internship, but I was grateful they were able to adapt and provide this experience. A lot of the work I did was done remotely, and I was provided a laptop and any gear I needed to work from home. We did fewer site visits than usual, though we were still able to do some in a very controlled and socially distanced manner. Despite changes like these, I stayed busy and worked on many projects, making for an informative summer internship experience.

For my summer with the Army Corps of Engineers, I was assigned to the construction branch of the Portland District office. The Portland District office works on projects across Oregon and in parts of Washington. Within the construction branch, there are multiple departments including cost engineering, the small projects team and three field offices. The field offices have project engineers that oversee the construction of projects; they work with the design branch who use CAD and other programs to develop project designs. The small projects team does all the cost, design and construction work themselves for low-risk projects.

I was assigned to the cost engineering team. Cost engineering is a vital step in every project, yet before working for the Corps I hadn’t even thought of it is as an engineering path. The way it works is when someone needs something built or fixed at a government site, they consult the cost engineering team. The cost engineering team is consulted in the planning/budgeting process to formulate a budgetary estimate that is used in the decision-making process on whether to embark on a project or not and how much to budget for that project.

As the cost engineer, your job is to build that project in your mind and on paper and add up the cost of material, workers and equipment required for the build. It requires going through design specs, looking at old projects that were similar, and considering the environment in which the building will take place to determine a rough estimate for the project. If the project is within budget, the design team begins creating plans to build. As plans are laid out, the cost engineer updates the estimate, so it incorporates the new specs and materials that the design team chooses. Once the design plan is complete and you have a final cost estimate, the government opens the project for bidding to private construction companies and uses your cost estimate to decide which company is offering the fairest price. Once the project is awarded, the construction department works with the contractors to complete the project.

Above: A fish ladder at John Day Dam allows fish to travel upstream for mating. Kyle McDonnell visited this dam during his summer internship with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Top: A generator room at John Day Dam. John Day Dam has 16 generators with turbines that each generate 135 megawatts of power.

After the first few weeks of training, I was treated like any other cost engineer on the team, entrusted with real projects and expected to have estimates completed by a certain time. I started with smaller projects that didn’t require much detail, but by the end of the summer, I was working on multi-million-dollar projects. It gave me a real taste of what working at the Corps would be like and a taste of the construction field in general. I enjoyed the cost department specifically, because it allowed me to work through many different construction projects. I was able to see projects across the state, talk with specialists in areas of design and construction to get a better understanding of how things like hydropower dams work, and used all this information to create the best estimates possible.

The desire to finish school as quickly as possible can be enticing, but if you can spare a summer or two to sample a career path, it can be helpful when applying for jobs after graduation. Like it did for me, an internship will provide job experience and insight into what career path you might see yourself working in the future. I had a great experience my first summer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and would recommend it to anyone looking for a rewarding paid summer internship.

Kyle McDonnell is an undergraduate student in mechanical engineering. He interned with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during summer 2020.

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Honoring Duane Chesley as students receive gift of education

Anonymous — Fri, 28 Aug 2020 13:54:42 +0000

Honoring Duane Chesley as students receive gift of education Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 08/28/2020 - 07:54

Oksana Schuppan

Duane Chesley (MechEngr’58) valued education because of how it impacted his life, taking him from humble beginnings on a farm in Nebraska to full colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves.

For 30 years he served with the Army, and throughout that time also worked in engineering for the Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. General Services Administration, Dow Chemical, and Chen Northern Inc. Because he believed education could uplift a person’s life circumstances, he not only supported his two daughters and five grandchildren as they pursued schooling but also endowed a mechanical engineering scholarship at CU Boulder to support students who might otherwise be unable to attend.

Above: Duane Chesley (center) with his two daughters, Gretchen Goral (left) and Heidi Chesley (right).
Top: Duane Chesley (left) at the 2012 Engineering Scholarship Dinner with the recipient of his mechanical engineering scholarship (right).

It wasn’t until Chesley died at the age of 83 in February 2020, after a recent diagnosis of myelodysplastic syndrome, that his daughters, Heidi Chesley and Gretchen Goral, learned the extent of his donations.

“It goes to show his humility,” said Heidi. “He wasn’t one to give money to have his name listed in a brochure. He really just believed that whatever your position or background, education is the key.”

Chesley graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering in 1958. While at CU Boulder, he was a member of the Army ROTC and a member of the ski team. He loved the Buffs football team, became a regular at Macky Auditorium later in life, and even shared with his daughters that his name is written on the ceiling of The Sink, a restaurant on the Hill, a tradition among many CU Boulder students. Heidi said her father loved the institution, all aspects of it.

“When we were children,” said Gretchen, “he would purposely drive us through Boulder on our way to visit our grandparents in Longmont, even though he knew that wasn’t the fastest route.”

Unsurprisingly, both she and her sister followed in their father’s footsteps. They became CU Boulder alumni themselves, graduating from Leeds School of Business. Their spouses also attended CU Boulder, and Gretchen’s son, Geoffrey, graduated with his degree in architectural engineering in 2011.

“Even when my oldest son was at CU, Dad loved the new buildings around campus and all the ways the engineering school had grown and changed over the years,” said Gretchen.

“He wasn’t someone who was stuck in the past,” said Heidi. “He loved that the college was always evolving, whether its infrastructure and architecture, inclusivity, or philosophy.”

When Chesley's wife, Viola—Heidi and Gretchen’s mother—died in 1995, the university became a place of healing for their father. Heidi said continuing to learn and participate in university events was one way he immersed himself in things not wrapped in her memory.

Duane Chesley in 1958, the year he graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering from CU Boulder.

“The last event he attended at CU was the engineering scholarship dinner,” said Gretchen, an annual event that recognizes scholarship donors and recipients in the College of Engineering and Applied Science. “He had open heart surgery scheduled in October, but he specifically postponed it to be at the dinner.”

Growing up, Gretchen said, anything school- or learning-related, her father would want to be involved in and encouraged, whether it was piano recitals, sitting down to help his daughters with a math assignment or supporting their ambitions in graduate school. This support continued with his grandchildren as he attended almost every violin, flute or piano recital, choir concert, musical, sports game, and Grandparent’s Day at Colorado Academy, always “checking in” on their studies and progress.

“It didn’t matter that we were girls and not boys; we could do anything,” said Heidi. “When I told him I had decided to keep my maiden name, he was just like, ‘Of course you should do that!’ He was the type of person who allowed us to be very strong women. He was a feminist, although he would have never used that term.”

Chesley had high standards, likely tied to being in the military and an engineer, his daughters said. He demanded a high level of excellence and work ethic from himself and others, was extremely organized, made lists to stay on top of things, and demonstrated strong attention to detail.

“I think he would have wanted future generations to know that working hard is more important than being naturally gifted in something or being born into a certain circumstance,” said Heidi. “If you work hard, always giving that extra bit, you can attain a lot. At the same time, he would want future generations to have money saved for a rainy day and then to remember to give back.”

Heidi said she knows her father’s giving to the university brought him great happiness. It was part of who he was to share what he had been able to provide for his family and what hard work had afforded him.

91��Ƭ�� His Gift

Duane Chesley endowed a mechanical engineering scholarship, supporting students who have a sophomore standing or above. He also established a mechanical engineering earn-learn apprenticeship endowment that will allow students to earn income while working directly with faculty and performing engineering work while undergraduates.

Duane Chesley (MechEngr’58) valued education because of how it impacted his life, taking him from humble beginnings on a farm in Nebraska to full colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves. At CU Boulder, he endowed a scholarship and established an earn-learn apprenticeship to support mechanical engineering students.

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