For the college's "Introduction to Engineering Design" course, 10 students have built working prototypes of inventions of their own devising. They will be making presentations concerning their individual projects on Friday, Dec. 5, from 3 p.m. to 3:50 p.m. in room 104 of VanderWerf Hall.

For the college's "Introduction to Engineering Design" course, 10 students have built working prototypes of inventions of their own devising. They will be making presentations concerning their individual projects on Friday, Dec. 5, from 3 p.m. to 3:50 p.m. in room 104 of VanderWerf Hall.

 

The opportunity for students to pursue individual projects from start to finish is uncommon at colleges and universities, according to course instructor Dr. John Krupczak, associate professor of engineering, because it is labor-intensive in terms of both supervision and facilities. Hope makes the approach a priority, he noted, because students benefit from experiencing the entire development and production cycle personally. The course and perspective, he said, provide valuable perspective as they move into a team-oriented course that follows and into careers where teamwork is the norm.

 

The 10 projects are:

beach toy inflator using environmentally-safe chemicals; senior Serge Badiane of Dakar, Senegal;
hand-cranked cooler/refrigerator; senior Dorian Bako of Tirana, Albania;
computer keyboard heater; senior Amanda DeYoung of Holland;
retractable dashboard computer; senior Kevin Dubois of Holland;
blowdryer/curling iron/appliance holder with retractable cord; junior Jennifer Folkert of Zeeland;
demonstrator for fluid mechanics principles; senior Eric Jongekryg of West Olive;
adjustable picture frame; senior Martha Luidens of Holland;
cell phone with working brethalyzer; senior Luke Olinyk of Holland;
water-cooled, silent computer; senior John Siehling of Zeeland;
bike-powered, bike-portable cooler; senior Brian Worrel of Muskegon.