Project Goal: Design the first regulated medical waste recycling and disposal operation in southern Arizona.

Medical waste, which needs to be managed properly to prevent public health and environmental issues, has valuable materials that, after treatment, are safe to recycle and reuse. Typical treatment methods involve separating medical waste into color-coded bags that are sent to landfills and incineration facilities. There are few facilities nationwide, and none in Arizona, that extract recyclable materials before waste disposal.

A regulated recycling and disposal operation involves charging waste-generating sites to collect, transport and process their medical waste. Equipment would store, sterilize, shred, dry and separate the waste. Designed equipment includes an autoclave to sterilize the waste, a rotary drum dryer to remove moisture, an air jet separator to extract paper and plastic, and an electromagnetic separator to extract metal. After separation, end products would be sent to recycling facilities, landfills and incinerators.

Income from charging medical facilities for pickup, along with selling reclaimed recyclable materials, more than offsets initial maintenance and utility costs of the operation.

Project Goal: Develop and scale up an mRNA vaccine production process for the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19.

mRNA technology has become a novel way to protect individuals against biological threats, including viruses. This model shows a way to produce 600 million vaccine doses annually.

Based on the mRNA vaccine production of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine formulation, the process design involves a combination of bioreactors and filtration systems in parallel and series to safely scale up the high throughput mRNA vaccine formulation. Safety mechanisms on two major reactions ensure quality control and consistency between batches. T7 RNA polymerase reaction and DNAse 1 reaction yield the mRNA product and are closely monitored using process control techniques. The filtration sequence maximizes purification of mRNA while minimizing product loss.

An analysis of material and energy considerations for the overall system seeks to reduce operating costs and maximize the purified mRNA product.

Project Goal: Create a continuous process to manufacture monoclonal antibodies for metastatic breast cancer.

Treatment for certain breast cancers includes the combination of oral chemotherapy and HER-2 trastuzumab, which is a recombinant humanized IgG1 monoclonal antibody. Antibody manufacturing is processed as a batch system, which results in product inconsistency and requires charging and discharging between reactor batches. A continuous manufacturing simulation for monoclonal breast cancer antibodies addresses some of these issues.

This project modeled the behavior of a continuous stirred bioreactor and subsequent purification steps. The design takes into account eight processing steps – centrifugation, capture chromatography, low pH virus inactivation mixer, depth filtration, anion and cation exchange chromatography, small virus filtration and ultrafiltration. The process results in a mixture dried to a powder and stored for distribution.

High-performance liquid chromatography verified the final samples meet the desired concentration.

Project Goal: Develop an efficient and systematic mine plan for the annual student design competition put on by the Society of Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration and the National Stone, Sand and Gravel Association.

This competition called for an optimum design of the Greenback Quarry in Loudon County, Tennessee. The company ordered an extensive Request for Proposal, including operational and reclamation plans, market analysis and a financial overview.

A minerology analysis of core logs taken from the site showed primarily dolomite and limestone, indicating that the quarry operation would be successful. Hexagon's MinePlan-3D software calculated the feasible resources and reserves. With this information and a production requirement of 380,000 tons per year, the team developed multiple pit designs and an operational plan that limited unnecessary haulage routes to an aggregate processing facility. The pit design consisted of 26 million tons of minable reserves, resulting in a scheduled quarry life of 62 years. The shutdown plan focused on reclaiming the site as a butterfly sanctuary to help boost local tourism. The quarry design plan had net present value of $3.1 million and a 21% internal rate of return.

The team of University of Arizona seniors placed first in the annual international contest.

Project Goal: Determine and calculate the resources, skills and techniques needed for constructing an additional tunnel and ramp entrance for the San Xavier Mining Laboratory.

The San Xavier Mining Laboratory, run by the University of Arizona as a hands-on educational resource for students, also is available for companies to test equipment and practices. Expansions of the underground mine are underway to accommodate all of its uses. With an eye toward an environmentally friendly operation, this team worked on finding the most efficient design for a new mine entrance.

This design for a new adit, or horizontal mine entrance, factors in scale and schematics. It integrates analysis of source, amount and cost of electricity as well as construction equipment and labor costs. Calculations of ground support needs and appropriate blasting and drilling techniques also informed the design. Additionally, the planned waste pile location lent itself to an environmentally sound design.

Project Goal: Determine the effect of an electric trolley assist system on cycle times, productivity and overall unit cost of an example mine.

Diesel fuel and engine maintenance is a significant expense at many mining sites. An electric trolley assist device can reduce unit cost of a mine. To save on fuel and maintenance expenses, this type of system enables haul trucks to run off external electric power, usually provided via an overhaul wire, instead of their internal engines.

This project used the example of Sunrise Dam Gold Mine in Western Australia, which has a permanent road infrastructure, to assess performance of three orientations of various trolley assists. Adapting the trolley assist model to Komatsu Ltd. equipment allowed for a mirror of the original non-trolley output for control purposes.

Analysis of Google Earth Pro data considered factors such as travel distance, slope grade and equipment speed relative to grade. Microsoft Excel was used to calculate and determine cycle times. Queuing theory factored in efficiency considerations. And, power available to the electric drive system affected limits on the number of vehicles the trolley could handle.

Project Goal: Create a small, portable microcontroller-based device for on-site testing of the Large Binocular Telescope.

A problem with the actuator in the Large Binocular Telescope Observatory has resulted in replacement of the entire assembly. This tool will enable workers to isolate actuator problems and target parts for replacement.

The test mechanism, fabricated with a portable, durable and reliable casing, focuses exclusively on the actuator board electronics. Novel hardware and software integrates with existing hardware and software on the M1 boards. The actuator boards’ Price Intelligent Controllers issue force commands that are read as a digital signal and sent with feedback to the actuator boards as an analog signal. A USB exchanges data with a command-and-control host computer, creating a simple communication procedure and allowing for controlled manipulation of test procedures to clearly define faulty controller routines.

With this tool, operating staff can determine the root cause of the problem, and the observatory has the option of replacing a problematic actuator board rather than the entire actuator assembly.

Project Goal: Design a system that maintains a positive pressure in a closed Moon and Mars habitat to prevent the introduction of foreign contaminants.

Maintaining a pressurized vessel is paramount to human survival in the hostile environment of the Moon or Mars. The Automated Pressure Regulation System will ultimately be attached to a high-fidelity Mars habitat analog at Biosphere 2 as part of research into off-world habitation.

The APRS prototype is attached to a one-tenth-scale model of the analog crew quarters. An array of sensors and a Raspberry Pi computer detect the internal pressure of the living quarters. Based on these readings, the system uses a compressor and solenoid valve to either store air in tanks or release air into the system to maintain a steady pressure. A user interface enables the crew to monitor real-time internal and ambient pressures. The system can be operated in either automatic or manual mode.

The scale model properly maintains the required positive pressure differential, thus validating the design. With testing concluded, the APRS is ready for full-scale implementation.

Project Goal: Design a serviceable high-temperature metal-to-ceramic seal for Honeywell's life support system aboard the International Space Station.

Long-distance space travel is possible with a closed-loop oxygen regeneration system that restores CO2 into breathable air. While this can be achieved using methane pyrolysis, conventional sealing designs cannot handle the required elevated temperatures of approximately 500 degrees Celsius. A better seal would improve this process.

The team designed a mechanical seal for the ceramic cylinder in the methane pyrolysis reactor. It uses Inconel and silicon nitride materials, capable of handling temperatures well above the requirement. Parametric modeling software facilitated the design, which was then verified with finite element analysis tools.

To minimize leakage due to thermal expansion, the metal interface uses a specific locking geometry and an Inconel 718 gasket. This provides an interface that is easy to service, resistant to changes in temperature and ensures a long and reliable service life

Project Goal: Develop an optimization model for a space-based thermal management system for a methane pyrolysis reactor.

Oxygen recovery rate for life support systems is currently limited to 50%, in part because modern systems vent waste methane. However, developments with methane pyrolysis mean that 100% oxygen recovery is feasible. The process requires extremely high temperatures, which must be properly managed for a space-based environment.

This model implements heat transfer and thermodynamic processes to calculate thermal properties of a theoretical thermal management system. It considers the constraints and limitations on the system, then calculates a range of potential dimensions and materials, giving the user a variety of options. The system converts the thermal and physical properties calculated to an equivalent system mass, which is used as a metric to choose an optimal design.

As a result, the most optimal design for the reactor is chosen from any set of provided information.