Personal Reflections
Abby
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Sterle
At the beginning of the semester, I was slightly hesitant to dive into a project about which I had basically no prior background knowledge. However, I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to explore an entirely new topic and further my research and team building skills through Engineers for a Sustainable World. The Solar Oven project was unlike any project I have ever worked on at Cornell in that the research we were completely was going to have an influence on the health and well-being of several Nicaraguan communities. I have never been apart of a global project like such. This experience truly opened my eyes to the need for more collaboration between communities of the Global South and inspired students and graduates like ourselves who have been blessed with an education that has provided us with the tools to make a difference.
As a team, I was incredibly pleased with the dynamic of our project team. I enjoyed have the opportunity to work with engineering students of different disciplines and found that each team member added something unique to the group. In my "Personal Goals" statement from the beginning of the semester, I wrote that I was interested in broadening my understanding of environmental and sustainable engineering research and career possibilities. The Engineers for a Sustainable World class discussions, conversations with team members, and the Solar Oven project itself have heightened my understanding of the importance and feasibility of providing sustainable solutions to all people of the world.
I am satisfied with the efficiency results from my sub-team this Fall, but only wish that we could have had more time to continue with our work. I would definitely recommend this course to anyone who is interested in learning about sustainability and/or providing practical service to others. Plus, as I have discovered this semester, there is always more work and research that can be done.
Leif Paulson
At the beginning of the semester, I was excited to take part in a class, which would allow students to put engineering skills to practice. The goal I set out for myself was to simply be able to apply engineering practices to a real life situation in a useful, creative way. Looking back, I feel that I was able to achieve the goal I set out for myself and have gained many more positive experiences then I had expected.
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Apart from working in our subgroup, I think the solar cooking team as a whole has succeeded this semester in that we have been able to successfully address a number of different issues regarding the solar cooker. In order to accomplish this we have embodied a team atmosphere and have communicated very well with each other over the course of the semester. Looking at everything we have accomplished over the semester, and they way our solar cooking team has interacted with each other to reach our goals together, I feel I have been able to get what I set out to achieve in this course and much more.
Katie Weible
I really enjoyed being on the solar cooker team and I have learned a lot this semester. That being said, the solar cooker team was definitely not what I expected! Rereading my original goals for the semester, I think I certainly achieved some of them but I had one very specific goal that I did not end up working towards. After our first meeting as a team, I thought that I would have the opportunity to work on researching a PV encapsulate. As our group work progressed, this was not an avenue that our group chose to pursue. Thus, I was not able to achieve that goal but I was able to redirect my interest towards other aspects of the project.
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One of the greatest lessons that this experience has taught me is the importance of taking advantage of the opportunities we have as Cornell students. It is so inspiring to see Los Mujeres de Totogalpa succeed at designing and building solar cookers in Nicaragua- even to the point of winning "First Prize in the Business category for the 2009 ERA prize. Seeing their success encourages me to get the most out of my Cornell education so that I'm able to use my engineering skills for the greater good, whether that means continuing work with the solar cookers or something else, I'm excited to continue growing as an engineer for a sustainable world.
Jessica Bloom
At the beginning of the semester several solar oven team members made a decision to deviate from the box oven group and develop a new product. We envisioned a product that would allow the women of Nicaragua to fry tortillas, a staple of their diet which could not be cooked by the traditional box cooker already being tested. Throughout the semester we researched possible designs and solar conditions of Nicaragua, modeled our ideas, and finally decided on a product to be built and tested.
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Throughout the semester I have accomplished only a third of goals I set in August. I am satisfied with how I was able to delve into design, and learn more about the global south, yet I am disappointed I was not able to establish communication with the women's group in Totogalpa as well as work thoroughly on the website. However, before the semester is over, the website will be up to date and complete, and hopefully I will establish a relationship with the women of Totogalpa in future semesters.
Hyuk Jeon
In the beginning of the semester, I joined the Solar Oven Team simply to learn more about the technology and see the extent of its practicality for public use. I did not know this project has been continuing from previous years and I was not aware of the team's connection with the users in Nicaragua. As I learned more about the project and its impact on the community in Nicaragua, I was glad to be a part of a team that pursued global sustainability in a local level and brought improvements in the lives of the users in Nicaragua.
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Due to conflicting schedules the last few weeks, the glass strain experiment has been moved back and I am yet to analyze the data. However, I am expecting to obtain the strain and stress over time with the data provided. This will fill in the gap where the previous team left empty (since the strain gages came off as the glue melted under high temperature).
Brian Macpherson
Over the course of this semester, I have come to learn a good deal about the Solar Oven group. While I knew nothing about the Solar Oven group coming into the semester, it sounded the most similar to the AguaClara project that I have previously worked on. I had few goals coming into the semester other than gaining more experience working with sustainable technology for the Global South, but quickly learned that it would be necessary to work well as an overall team-member, work well in sub-groups and communicate with the larger team, and to complete my own mini-project.
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