Role

Team Lead

Team Members

Caitlin Ramos, Calvin Zau, Imaan Ibrahim

Responsibilities

Lead team in design and prototype of the glass crusher, communicate with partner organization and collaborators in Kenya

Skills

3D printing (FDM), CAD, laser cutting, prototyping

Challenge

  • Design a two-part glass crushing mechanism to crushing recycled glass bottles into fine sand for repurposing into bricks or beads
  • 6 month collaborative project between the Maa Trust and Engineers for the Sustainable World (ESW)
    • Intended to create jobs and empower youth in the Maasai Mara region

Action

  • Designed around user requirements, such as:
    • Materials widely available in the Maasai Mara
    • Powered only by diesel or solar power
    • Portable for use in different villages
    • Easily repairable for non-technically trained operators
  • Conducted extensive research and interviews with locals in the Maasai Mara to validate the design
  • Integrated a crank-and-slider with an impact mill to serve as primary and secondary crushing mechanisms respectively
Group prototyping session Foamcore preliminary prototypes First 3D printed prototype

Result

  • Focused on developing the impact mill and created a reduced-scale 3D printable model that could be replicated by the partner organizations in Kenya
  • Validated the design through crushing potato chips and successfully crushed full chips into sand-like particles

Poster