INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY BASED SENIOR DESIGN PROJECTS: SANTA CLARA UNIVERSITY AND UNIVERSIDAD CENTRO AMERICANA

摘要

As part of an initiative to promote community based engineering education, Santa Clara University engineering students undertook two ambitious senior design projects during the 2004-2005 school year that have direct impact on communities in El Salvador. The two projects were coordinated through our sister school, Universidad Centra Americana, in San Salvador, and also involved other local and international partners. The first project consisted of the design, purchase, and installation of a 3 kW solar powered water pumping system for Isla Zacatillo off the southwest coast of El Salvador. The new system replaces a standard electrical system that was dependent on an expensive undersea power connection to the mainland. The new system promises higher reliability and independence while also promoting sustainable energy and water solutions. The second project involved the design and construction of a prototype Human Powered Utility Vehicle (HPUV) for use in rural transportation of goods and people. The team faced a number of challenges in order to improve upon existing designs. The primary goals were to create a design that was robust, reliable, highly functional, and inexpensive. The paper will discuss the planning and logistics involved in accomplishing these international senior design projects, the challenging communication issues, the benefits to students and faculty beyond those of a conventional engineering design project, the impacts on the local society, and the final results of the projects.