Design-Build 1

The primary goal of this project was to immerse students in a hands-on, problem-based engineering project, emphasising teamwork and collaboration. And students to become familiar with the different stages of the engineering process, particularly focusing on the Design and Build (Implementation) phases. 

 

Through this experience, we developed an understanding of how the engineering process operates in real-world applications and encouraged to engage in cooperative problem-solving within a project team setting.

 

The course focused around a specific engineering challenge: designing and building a device to measure the growth of single-cell organisms, specifically in batch cultivations. Our team task was to create a comprehensive project plan, outlining sub-tasks and setting a timeline for each phase of the build. Our device was constructed to measure cell density in liquid cultures over time by assessing light absorption, which correlates with cell concentration. Once built, the performance of the device was evaluate based on its accuracy, precision, and detection range.

 

Additionally, the measurement device integrates with a microcontroller for real-time data acquisition. We conducted a batch cultivation of baker’s yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and measure the cell concentration online and through sampling methods. The data collected during the yeast's exponential growth phase analyzed using a software system developed by our team in Python. Finally, the results of the project, including the performance of the device and findings from the growth experiments, was presented in the form of a video presentation.