Course Reflection
Professional Practice for Biosystems Engineering
Professional Practice is designed to prepare graduating students for their senior design projects and life after graduation. We hear from past graduates about opportunities for employment and/or how they came to be in their current roles. We complete assignments geared toward developing professional skills as well as improving our engineering knowledge. In this course, we plan for the Fundamentals of Engineering Exam and register to take the exam before graduation.
​
This course has helped prepare me for more professional roles and exposed me to career paths upon graduation. I have also been able to refresh my CAD knowledge through Fusion 360 assignments. To view on of those assignment, click the button below.
​
​
​
In this course, we have just began preparing for our senior design projects that will be completed in the Spring.
Hydraulic Transport in Biological Systems
Hydraulic Transport in Biological Systems is a course that I have taken that introduces students to fluid mechanics, fluid properties, non-Newtonian fluids and biological systems, fluid statics, energy equation, mass and momentum balance, pipe flow for Newtonian and Non-Newtonian fluids, external flow, open-channel flow, turbomachinery, dimensional analysis.
Below is a link to my favorite lab report that I have written for this course. This lab focuses on the use and calibration of a Bourdon Gauge.
​
​
​
​
This class has helped me better understand questions that I had about fluid mechanics applications such as:
​
1) Why do some liquids move differently than others?
This course has helped me better understand the above question in our study of fluid properties. The property that represents a fluids internal resistance to motion is called viscosity. When parts work against a fluid, shear stress acts on the fluid layer. For a fluid layer between two large parallel plates, the equation for shear stress is:
​
​
where F is a constant parallel force on the upper plate while the lower plate is fixed and A is the contact area between the plate and the fluid. During a differential time interval dt, the fluid's sides rotate through a differential angle db and the upper plate moves a differential distance da = Vdt. The deformation rate can be expressed as:
​
From the relationship between rate of deformation and shear stress, viscosity can be determined as it is the slope of a graph between the two. This is what explains why oil and water do not move the same.
​
2) How does water produce energy in hydroelectric power plants?
In a hydroelectric power plant, water is used to produce electricity. A plate (like a gate valve in a dam) is subjected to pressure from the water the dam is storing. On this surface, hydrostatic forces form a system of parallel forces. The absolute pressure at any point on the plate is:
​
​
Water is stored in damns and has potential energy that is converted into electrical energy. With different parts of a plant system, there are different equations to determine mechanical power, energy, or work from efficiency.
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
3) How does the main steam system in a nuclear power plant work?
Both this course and one of my courses for my Nuclear Power Generation Systems minor have helped me understand this part of a nuclear power plant more. From Hydraulic Transport I have learned about how all types of turbines work. Dimensionless parameters for turbines are:
​
​
​
​
​
In my Nuclear Power Generations System course, I learned that the main principle behind a nuclear power plant is the Rankine cycle. To calculate the power output of the turbine, the following equation is used:
​
​
Degree of reaction is an important part of the design of steam turbines called degree of reaction. The equation for this term is:
​
​
​
Through this semester, I have improved as an engineer because I have been able to work on projects and lab reports that have given me a better understanding of the engineering design process and key concepts in engineering. I have learned how to write lab reports better and what must be included in a thorough report. I know that I have learned how to be a better writer because I have felt more confident with each lab report I have written, and my grades have improved. I feel that the only thing that got in the way of me improving even more was my own procrastination. I intend to work on this in the upcoming semester. One example of a lab report that I have written that I liked was included on my e-portfolio. I chose this lab because when I was writing it, I felt I was starting to understand the material for this class. Being able to write lab reports on topics is important for my career plans as I was to continue my education in graduate school and work as a researcher for the Department of Energy after obtaining my PhD. This lab helped me improve upon the learning outcome of understanding the use of dimensionless analyses in engineering modeling and simulation.
The implications of the knowledge that I have gained in this course as well as the creation of my e-portfolio is confidence to continue my education and that making the switch to Biosystems Engineering was the right decision. Since I enjoy the course material for this major, I need to focus on my tendencies to procrastinate. I can easily feel overwhelmed and push things to the side that seem easy then I realize they require more work than I thought. Before I put something off for later, I will evaluate the workload and time requirement in order to determine when to start back on the assignment to finish it in time and with accuracy.
Engineering Methods for Biological Systems
Introduction to experimental design methodology, basic engineering design and problem solving methodology for Biological Engineering. In this course, I am able to learn visualization skills, computer-aided 3-D solid modeling of parts, 3-D assembly of solid part geometries, computation of mass properties, 2-D engineering drawings, engineering design process, safety, tools and fabrication processes and design, and hands-on shop fabrication of semester project.
​
With my teammates in the course, we developed a water filter that can filter turbid water around 500-700 NTUs down to 0-10 NTUs. Our group encountered problems with material choice as well as filter layout errors. The materials needed to be natural, so our beginning design featured materials found in nature; thus, the materials were not clean and made clean water dirtier. In order to troubleshoot these errors, we separated the layers and tested cleanliness of the parts before testing the whole. Once each layer was cleaned, we put the filter together with separate layers of sand, rocks, and moss. The filter was not quite there, so we increased layers with purchased materials that were cleaner. Our final filter contained two layers of each material with coffee filters in between the sand layers to ensure the other materials do not mix with the sand. Our last test produced an NTU of 5.64, so it can be assumed that our water filter worked.
The water filter with images of each layer makeup
Our original idea of what materials would work best was correct, we just needed more. We were surprised by how simple, yet challenging the assignment was. Everything mattered, from the material type, amount, and order. With our first design, we took a risk because all our materials were obtained outside and there was no telling how well they would work or if they worked at all, but they worked well enough to lead us in the right direction.
​
Throughout this course so far, my learning process has had to better adapt to the engineering design process. I have learned to plan better and to allot the time necessary for testing in order to improve the flaws in beginning designs. I am still developing these skills everyday as I am assigned new tests. With every challenge I become a better engineer who is less afraid and more confident in my skills.
​
Click below to view the lab report for this project. There you can see more details on our water filter.
Heat and Mass Transfer
In heat and mass transfer, there are three essential equations to successfully solve problems in this subject. Those being:
​
​
​
​
In regards to the concepts of heat and mass transfer, I have always wondering how ovens work and how humans use energy doing things like working out.
​
In this course, I have learned that ovens work because of heat transfer through conduction. Conduction is the movement within a fluid caused by the tendency of hotter material to rise, transferring heat. In the equation above, h is the convection heat transfer with units of Watts per meters squared multiplied by temperature in K, A is area in meters squared, and delta T is temperature (since it is the difference, specific units do not matter). The heat transfer coefficient is the one thing I wasn't familiar with before taking this course. It is a quantitative characteristic that represents the heat transfer between a fluid medium and the surface, so it changes with different fluids and surfaces. So think about a cake in the oven. In order to determine the rate of heat transfer (Q), you would need the heat transfer coefficient of air, the area of the cake, the initial temperature of the cake, and the temperature of the cake when it is fully cooked. Thinking about problems like this have helped me better understand how conduction can heat things up. Now the reactions of the different ingredients in a cake and how they are effected by this process, still have a little more learning to do to figure that out.
Next, in regards to my question about how we has humans are constantly using our own energy through heat and mass transfer. In the beginning, I struggled to understand the real world applications of these equations. Below is my first attempt at solving a problem like the situations I have always wondered about along with the correct answer.
​
​
​
As seen, understanding how to properly make assumptions and use the equations was not easy at first, but when asked to apply the same thinking on this courses first exam, I excelled on the problem.
​
This course has helped me improve as an engineer because it has helped me better understand the foundation of a lot of major components of engineering systems, specifically in my nuclear power minor. Solving heat and mass transfer problems has given me a better understanding of how heat is generated from the fission process in nuclear reactors and how this heat is used to power a generator and create electricity for the grid.
Scientific Illustration
I have always had a passion for art and design, so when the opportunity to mix this with science came about (APBT 5660), I signed up! In this course, I learned how to edit photos and draw in Adobe Creative programs. We began the class with Photoshop and ended with Illustrator, and all project videos were made in Rush. This class has given me the opportunity to draw my own diagrams for lab reports as well as submit digital artwork to publications and competitions. Below are some of my drawings from the course. To view the full image, please click on the photo.
Project 2 (no assigned theme) in Photoshop - textural piece depicting the characters of Steven Universe in gem form
Final project (no assigned theme) in Illustrator - engineering blueprint of a Rock'Em Sock'Em robot (not to scale)
Infographic challenge in Illustrator - how much of each power source Alabama relied on in 2021
Project 2 (no assigned theme) in Photoshop - textural piece depicting the characters of Steven Universe in gem form