Buckeye engineering students solve critical challenges

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(from left) Alex Aurand, Samantha Fisher, and Andrew Stratton take a quick break
As a part of their Engineering Multidisciplinary Capstone Project, seniors Alex Aurand (integrated systems engineering), Samantha Fisher (food science and technology), and Andrew Stratton (food, agriculture and biological engineering) designed and installed a custom aquaponics system in a rural Honduras village.
Buckeye engineering students create transformative solutions to the world’s most compelling challenges, making a difference in Ohio and beyond.

In addition to providing powerful experiential learning opportunities for students, those solutions can radically change the future of developing communities. This year, in a small, rural neighborhood in Choluteca, Honduras, alternating wet and dry seasons commonly lead to limited harvests and often result in a shortage of fresh produce. A group of Ohio State seniors set out to fix that problem using their custom aquaponics system—a sustainable technique for food production that combines aquaculture with hydroponics to grow fish and vegetables without soil.

More than 900 hundred miles away in Haiti, a group of students spent spring break paying-it-forward by working with impoverished communities and installing solar panels to provide lighting and electricity in schools and community centers.

Closer to home, biomedical engineering major Kinshuk Mitra led a student team to win Ohio State’s Business Plan Competition and commercialize a novel cancer diagnostic test. One of the earliest physiological signs of cancer are the cells that shed into the blood stream from primary tumors. Oncofilter, the new biotechnology Mitra developed, can isolate circulating tumor cells from human blood samples. The filter is cost effective, easy to use, and provides quicker results than other available screening tools.

Meanwhile, The Ohio State University College of Engineering’s Buckeye Current electric motorcycle team impressed the motorsports world with a third place finish in the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy races. The only U.S. collegiate team to compete in the TT Zero, Buckeye Current steered to a podium finish with an average speed of 90.4 mph, besting both professional and collegiate competitors.

Category: Students