Design I Final Competition
Fall 2022WELCOME TO THE URBAN MINING VALUE FROM WASTE CHALLENGE
Welcome to the Fall 2022 Urban Mining Value From Waste Challenge where the top Cornerstone Design I teams (as picked in preliminary in-class competitions across 25 sections) showcased their final solutions and competed for prizes in an in-person digital poster pitch competition. The semester’s wicked problem was ‘Urban Mining,” where we were seeking opportunities to address the dangers facing communities of humans, other living things, and the environment in the extraction of valuable materials from waste and recycling streams. Solutions designed by student teams should represent creative, novel responses to some facet of the challenge. With emphases on social dimensions of the problem and the socio-technical intersection, the brunt of solutions are technical in nature, but may touch on any technical field: electrical, mechanical, civil, environmental, computer science, chemical, geological, materials, mining, industrial, etc. (read the full Call For Proposals here).
Teams compete for cash prizes, including a special Subject Matter Expert Pick. Below you can see the grand prize winning teams as well as all of our finalists. Check out their poster presentations next to the team information below. For more information on Design I, click here.
THE WINNING TEAMS
1ST PLACE: TEAM CUT IT OUT
Problem Statement: How could we repurpose fabric waste to reduce the environmental impact of the textile industry?
Team Members: Dillon Alcouffe, David Young, Lauren Quinn, Jessie Ledesma, Jakob Walker
Instructor: Cara Juergenson, Section I
2ND PLACE: LAWN BROS
Problem Statement: How might we improve the efficiency of sprinkler systems for homeowners?
Team Members: Trevor Hart, Meghan Slaninka, Rory Alspaugh, Makenna Marshall
Instructor: Garrett Erickson, Section O
3RD PLACE: LOS FRIJOLES
Problem Statement: 1/4 kidneys are lost or damaged during transport. How might we reduce this number?
Team Members: Benjamin Andrews, Anthony Berger, Xavier Dibben, Whitney Madler, and Akemi Ozoa
Instructor: Trish Littman, Section W
SME AWARD: THE TOXIC TAILERS
Problem Statement: How might we safely and efficiently mitigate acid mine drainage from legacy mines?
Team Members: Scott MacDonald, Eddie Silva, Dylan Hebinck, Emi Jedryka, and Sam Hansen
Instructor: Kate Youmans, Section P
THE FINALISTS
Section A
Team: Mirco-P Solutions
Problem Statement: Reducing microplastics fibers from household effluent for the benefit of municipal plants via the MicroSack.
Members: Andrew Regensburger, Ethan Pfister, Aidan Cooper, Jack Egolf, and William Johnson
Professor: Cindy Athanasiou
Section B
Team: Food-Inators
Problem Statement: Reducing microplastics fibres from household effleunt for the benefit of municipal plants via the MicroSack.
Members: Robert Campbell, Lauryn Dressman, Matthew Lui, Owen Welch, and Bryce Weyer
Professor: Carlos Goncalves
Section C
Team: Mech-E’s
Problem Statement: How might we make the recycling of unused U.S. household smartphones more accessible to the individual?”
Members: Luke Sikkema, Eddie Barrett, Andrew Brady, Graham Adleman, and Micaiah Will
Professor: Cindy Athanasiou
Section D
Team: Best Budz
Problem Statement: Making cannabis waste easy, efficient and affordable for the average home-grower to prevent home-growers breaking the Colorado cannabis laws.
Members: Connor Downey, Madison Stelley, Naveen Maghbouleh, and Ritchel Widjaja
Professor: Garrett Erickson
Section E
Team: E-waste Engineers
Problem Statement: How can we improve the methods in which E-waste is sorted to minimize the danger to informal workers engaging with harmful constituents of E-waste?
Members: Neel Jasti, Jeffery Meller, Macy Algrim, Olivia Aust, and Fernando Martinez-Briones
Professor: Cindy Athanasiou
Section F
Team: Echo Bio Gas
Problem Statement: How might we repurpose food waste?
Members: Alyssa Hanson, Javiar Mah, Ellie Musson, Kayly Sefcik, and Isaak Velasquez
Professor: Donna Bodeau
Section G
Team: Team Teal
Problem Statement: Reduce plastic bag waste in American grocery stores by providing a hygienic, accessible alternative.
Members: Alex Eke, Dom Girish, Hannah Nau, Tony Salgado-Chami, and Ryan Wolny
Professor: Cara Juergensen
Section H
Team: Group 6 Innovation
Problem Statement: Reduce medical waste in landfills and address social issues resulting from the impacts of the recent Hurricane Ian in Florida through disaster relief furniture
Members: Najib El-Dirani, Reagan Fisher, Ella Miller, and Rylie Ward
Professor: Aubrey Wigner
Section I
Team: Team Cut It Out
Problem Statement: How could we repurpose fabric waste to reduce the environmental impact of the textile industry?
Members: Dillon Alcouffe, David Young, Lauren Quinn, Jessie Ledesma, and Jakob Walker
Professor: Cara Juergensen
Section K
Team: ReSewage
Problem Statement: Hydroelectric power generation in sewers from a drop-in screw turbine
Members: Jane Poole, Anna Pearce, William Layne, Samuel Prince, and Nate Burns
Professor: Mark Florida
Section L
Team: Nitrile Neighbors
Problem Statement: Machine shredding, cleaning, then compacting used nitrile gloves into useable construction material.
Members: Mitch Wernlein, Isabella Leis, Johnathon Silva, Karl Ellis, and Zachary Russo
Professor: Mark Florida
Section M
Team: CryoCharge
Problem Statement: A safer and cheaper way to transport spent lithium-ion batteries by using cryogenic freezing to increase the percentage of batteries recycled.
Members: Zoe Lux, Finn McNamara, Jackson McCool, Pierce Miranda, and Ma’athir Al Balushi
Professor: Ryan Meyer
Section N
Team: Team BioEasy
Problem Statement: Given the excess accumulation of organic wastes in urban/consumer environments, how might we generate a means of directly collecting and recycling these types of materials?
Members: Trevor Tong, Nico Gagliardi, Alex Strong, Evan Bilter, and Grace Von Gorder
Professor: Mike Davis
Section O
Team: Lawn Bros
Problem Statement: How might we improve the efficiency of sprinkler systems for homeowners?
Members: Trevor Hart, Megan Slaninka, Rory Alspaugh, and Makenna Marshall
Professor: Garrett Erickson
Section P
Team: The Toxic Tailers
Problem Statement: How might we safely and efficiently mitigate acid mine drainage from legacy mines?
Members: Scott MacDonald, Eddie Silva, Dylan Hebinck, Emi Jedryka, Sam Hansen
Professor: Kate Youmans
Section Q
Team: Rowdy Rubbish Reducers
Problem Statement: How might we reduce food and packaging waste in corporate grocery stores?
Members: Orion Tanner Magill, Reid Norton-Brainerd, Landon Roberts, and Leonard Tardiff
Professor: Marie Kleine
Section R
Team: The Bike Women
Problem Statement: How might we improve the safety of cyclists on urban roads by limiting car-bike crashes?
Members: Jacob Altizer, Eoghan Cowley, Conor Hanna, Connor Pallis, and Eadyn Thompson
Professor: Mark Orrs
Section S
Team: Blueberries
Problem Statement: How might we, as engineers, formulate a way to limit the hazardous waste surrounding needles and begin to reuse materials, such as stainless steel?
Members: Brooke Ammidown, Alexander Fruge, Chandler Poggensee, Ashlynn Reid, and Ardyn Tubb
Professor: Yosef Allam
Section T
Team: Team Won
Problem Statement: How can we make trash incineration for energy more viable and safe?
Members: Sydney Andrews, Jason Balke, Stewart Erhardt, Alura Calder, and Thomas Applegate
Professor: Michael Sheppard
Section U
Team: Second Chance System
Problem Statement: How might we prevent the spread of food-borne illnesses in fast food waste that is recycled in the Denver Metro area while protecting this imprortant source of nutrition for homeless individuals?
Members: Katy Ayers, Taelyn Carter, Peter Murdock, Ethan Pozzi, and Andrew Yant
Professor: Sue Anderson
Section V
Team: The Blaster Boiz
Problem Statement: How might we reduce micro trash by limiting its creation or making it easier to manage, especially concerning food wrapper packaging?
Members: Cooper Hammond, Michael Farhy, Zackary Gonzalas, Keet Holdridge, and John Schille
Professor: Robert Earl
Section W
Team: Los Frijoles
Problem Statement: 1/4 kidneys are lost or damaged during transport. How might we reduce this number?
Members: Benjamin Andrews, Anthony Berger, Xavier Dibben, Whitney Madler, Akemi Ozoa
Professor: Trish Littman
Section X
Team: Constructive Critics
Problem Statement: How might we reduce textile waste from students on college campus’s?
Members: Grace Hernandez, Jakobi Wells, Caprice Agassounon, Hayden Crawford, and Porter Odenbach
Professor: Kate Youmans
Section Y
Team: Team2Cool4School
Problem Statement: How might we reduce lithium ion waste in order to better our environment?
Members: Ben Guevel, Stephen Hayner, Aidan Riter, and Ran Duan
Professor: Trish Littman